DescriptionThe remains of this aircraft are designated as a Controlled Site under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986. For further information on this Act and its administration with regard to aircraft, please contact the Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre, RAF Innsworth, Gloucester, GL3 1RZ.
There is wreckage at this location and 190m to the north.
Event and Historical Information:
On 17 January 1939, Avro Anson L9149 was being used for navigation and observers training flying by the Southampton Training Aviation Company based at Hamble. The plan had been to fly to Coventry via Cardiff, but the aircraft ran into thick cloud and rain and lost radio contact. Consequently, lost and disorientated, it flew into the ground to the south of Fan Brycheiniog at 770m. The crew comprised pilot Flt Off R N Coombes; aircraftsmen M Mabbot and two civilians, John MacDonald and L A Prescott. The pilot and aircraftsmen were badly injured and trapped inside the plane. Prescott went for help and raised the alarm at Tir y Cwm farm. The rescue party searched all night, but did not locate the plane until 6am the next day, by which time Mabbot had died from his injuries and exposure. MacDonald was able to walk down after receiving first aid. Combes was carried down in a parachute and transported to Swansea hospital, but died soon after. A plaque was erected in Callwen Churchyard by the Company to commemorate the crewmen who lost their lives and the local people who undertook the rescue in appalling weather conditions.
Sources include:
Brecon Beacons National Park, 1995, Identification Guide Aircraft Crashes in the National Park, ID 2
Doylerush, E, 2008, Rocks in the Clouds: High Ground Aircraft Crashes in South Wales, pgs 17, 106 and 111
Durham P and Jones, D, 1982, Warplane Wrecks of South Wales and the Marches, pg9-10
Halley, J J, 1979, Royal Air Force Aircraft L1000 to L9999, pg60
Halley, J J, 1993, Royal Air Force Aircraft L1000 to N9999, pg104
WWW resources:
http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/AboutDefence/WhatWeDo/Personnel/SPVA/AviationArchaeology.htm
