Dunbeath air crash


The Dunbeath air crash involved the loss of a Mark 3 Short S.25 Sunderland that crashed in the Scottish Highlands on a headland known as Eagle's Rock near Dunbeath, Caithness on 25 August 1942. The crash killed 14 of 15 passengers and crew, including Prince George, Duke of Kent, who was on duty as an Air Commodore in the Royal Air Force on a mission to Reykjavik; a message of condolence was proposed in Parliament by the British Prime Minister. A Royal Air Force Board of Inquiry determined that the crash was the result of a navigational error by the crew.

Background

The aircraft, assigned to 228 Squadron, was based at RAF Oban. 228 Squadron was part of 18 Group, involved in long range maritime operations and particularly anti-submarine warfare, reconnaissance and long range liaison flights.

Flight details

The aircraft and crew were assigned a VIP transport mission to RAF Reykjavik, specifically to transport Prince George, Duke of Kent to Iceland. The aircraft departed from a seaplane base at RAF Invergordon on the Cromarty Firth at 1305 GMT on Sunday 25 August 1942 into foggy weather. The Sunderland veered off its flight plan track and crashed into the remote Eagle's Rock at 13:42 GMT. The official board of inquiry concluded that the plane crashed into the hillside due to an error of navigation; i.e. there was not enough allowance made for wind that caused the aircraft to drift off its planned track up the eastern coast of Scotland. Fourteen of the fifteen crew and passengers, including His Royal Highness The Duke of Kent, perished in the crash.
Among those who died in the crash:
Passengers
Crew
Sergeant Andrew Jack, the aircraft's Wireless Operator/Air Gunner, survived. Jack recovered from the injuries he sustained in the accident and would be later commissioned as a Pilot Officer in the General Duties Branch on 12 January 1945 and served in the RAF up until 1964; retiring as a Flight Lieutenant. Jack died in Brighton in 1978 aged 56.
Some of the 228 Squadron crew's remains were interred at Pennyfuir Cemetery in Oban and the Duke of Kent, the first member of a British Royal Family to die on active military service since the death of James IV of Scotland at Flodden in 1513, was buried in the Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore.
A Royal Air Force Board of Inquiry determined that the crash was the result of an error in navigation and noted that investigation at the crash site suggested that all four engines were at full power at the time of impact.