On 1 February 1945 an

Avro York The Avro York was a British transport aircraft developed by Avro during the Second World War. The design was derived from the Avro Lancaster heavy bomber, several sections of the York and Lancaster being identical. Due to the importance of L ...

carrying members of the British delegation to the

Yalta conference The Yalta Conference (codenamed Argonaut), also known as the Crimea Conference, held 4–11 February 1945, was the World War II meeting of the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union to discuss the post ...

crashed off the Italian island of

Lampedusa Lampedusa ( , , ; scn, Lampidusa ; grc, Λοπαδοῦσσα and Λοπαδοῦσα and Λοπαδυῦσσα, Lopadoûssa; mt, Lampeduża) is the largest island of the Italian Pelagie Islands in the Mediterranean Sea. The ''comune'' of L ...

. During the flight to Yalta, undertaken during night time, the crew became unsure of their position due to a navigation radio malfunction. The aircraft ended up over Lampedusa and circled for approximately one hour as crew members attempted to verify their position. The crew eventually determined the proper course to Malta but by then the aircraft lacked the fuel quantity to cover the distance. During an attempted

ditching In aviation, a water landing is, in the broadest sense, an Landing, aircraft landing on a body of water. Seaplanes, such as floatplanes and flying boats, land on water as a normal operation. Ditching is a controlled emergency landing on the ...

the Avro crashed into the sea, killing all four crew and 11 passengers. Some sources state there were four survivors. The aircraft crew consisted of Warrant Officer William Wright, Leading Aircraftman John Chicken - wireless operator, Flight Sergeant Alfred Claude Jack Walker – flight engineer and Flying Officer Arthur Applebey – air gunner. Results of the accident investigation were reported to Parliament by Air Minister Sir Archibald Sinclair. He stated in part, that the air crew had sufficient experience but had never previously flown together as a crew. Six victims of the crash were buried at

Imtarfa Military Cemetery The Imtarfa Military Cemetery (or Ħemsija Military Cemetery) is a cemetery in Mtarfa on Triq Buqana in the Northern Region of Malta. The cemetery contains over 1,400 interments and commemorations including 254 graves of military personnel kille ...

in Malta. Some of the CWGC graves are damaged due to bombing of a nearby airfield in the Second World War. Wright is buried in the Medjez-el-Bab War Cemetery in Tunisia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Avro York crash Aviation accidents and incidents in Italy Accidents and incidents involving the Avro York Aviation accidents and incidents in 1945 Disasters in Italy 1945 in Italy February 1945 events in Europe Accidents and incidents involving Royal Air Force aircraft 1945 disasters in Italy