Jodel Mascaret G-ASPG.
On the 10th June 1966 a London business man, working for Bristol Siddeley Engines had flown up to Sunderland from Redhill in a Jodel Mascaret.
He was to visit a factory
making component parts for his company's engine assembly lines in Bristol and Coventry. The outbound flight went well, the weather was fine. He left Sunderland
for the return trip around 15.30hrs and headed south. Around 30-45 minutes later, whilst flying at around 5000 feet the aircrafts single engine
cut out without warning and would not restart. Left wit no option but to try and land the aircraft he headed for a relatively flat part of
moorland on Urra Moor, south of Ingleby Greenhow and landed on the rough heather. Up to now no serious damage had been caused but as the aircraft
slowed down a rock penetrated a port wing fuel tank and a spark ignited the fuel. Civilian crash reports stated that just prior to
touching down he reported the engine gave a burst of power and on landing the aircraft ran into a small gulley on the moor which
caused damage to the undercarriage and resulted in a wing striking the ground. The pilot, dressed in a business suit, grabbed his briefcase and
scrambled clear of the aircraft. His only injury was a cut to his finger. The aircraft then completely burnt out. The pilot then began walking
off the moor and headed roughly north and after being met by a farm labourer was taken to Midnight Farm and as press reports claim "given a cup
of tea" by the farmers wife. One can possibly imagine the shock on the farm labourers face seeing a man with a suit and briefcase coming down off Urra Moor !
He was later taken to Middlesbrough and continued his journey to London by overnight bus.
Of the aircraft, it was totally destroyed by the resulting fire press reports stated that only fuselage wires, engine and petrol tank were remaining.
The site was later cleared. Cat. 5/FA/Burnt(s) damage being recorded.
Pilot - Mr Michael Jolley, of North West London - slightly injured.
Mr Jolley with his wife to be, photo taken at Redhill in February 1966.
The aircraft came down on this ridge, when John and I visited the site in December 2005 a little of the aircraft was still present including the remains of a battery and possibly part of the altimeter.
The remains of what could have been the aircrafts altimeter.
Part of a battery from the aircraft.
A small peice of tubing found at the site.
Many thanks to Mr Jolley for recounting this crash in an email to John Skinn and for sending the photograph of himself and his wife.
Thanks also to Mr David Thompson for sending me a summary of the crash report.
Mascarets were originally owned by French flying clubs and used for circuit training as well
as advanced work. This actual aircraft was built by Societe Aeronautique Normandie at Bernay and purchased by
Norman Jones trading as Tiger Club at Redhill on 26th February 1964.
new from Bernay, the club was still the owner when it was written off. Mr Jolley had flown this specific aircraft
on a grand European tour two years previously, having flown non stop from Gatwick to Innsbruck, he had lunch then headed
south climbing up over the Brenner Pass and the Alps then cruised down the Adriatic to land at Dubrovnik for a three day
stay then onwards to Corfu. After a few days there they headed west to Palermo then home via Cagliari, Cannes and Dijon.