The Exhall mid-air collision happened on Saturday 19 February 1949 over the village of

Exhall Exhall is a suburban settlement and former civil parish, now in the unparished area of Bedworth, in the Nuneaton and Bedworth district of Warwickshire, England.OS Explorer Map 232 : Nuneaton & Tamworth: (1:25 000) : History Historically, the ...

when a

British European Airways British European Airways (BEA), formally British European Airways Corporation, was a British airline which existed from 1946 until 1974. BEA operated to Europe, North Africa and the Middle East from airports around the United Kingdom. The a ...

Douglas DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II. It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper version ...

Douglas Dakota The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota ( RAF, RAAF, RCAF, RNZAF, and SAAF designation) is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II and remained in ...

collided in clear weather with a

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

Avro Anson T21. The Dakota was on a flight from Northolt Airport near London to Glasgow-Renfrew Airport in Scotland. With a crew of four it was carrying six passengers, and had taken off from Northolt at 09:13 hr. The

Avro Anson T21 was being operated by No. 2 Air Navigation School on a cross-country training exercise from

RAF Middleton St. George RAF Middleton St George was a Royal Air Force (RAF) and Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) Bomber Command station during World War II. It was located in County Durham, five miles east of Darlington, England. The station's motto was ''Shield an ...

. The two aircraft collided at 4500 ft near the village of

, near

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...

in Warwickshire. The wreckage fell near an old peoples' home, the Exhall Lodge Hospital. There were no survivors. Although the weather at the time of the crash was clear, the accident investigation concluded that the crew of neither aircraft saw each other, possibly due to glare from the sun, and blamed the accident on a failure on the part of both captains to keep a proper look-out for other aircraft.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Exhall Mid-Air Collision Aviation accidents and incidents in England Aviation accidents and incidents in 1949 Accidents and incidents involving Royal Air Force aircraft Mid-air collisions Mid-air collisions involving airliners Mid-air collisions involving military aircraft Accidents and incidents involving the Douglas C-47 Skytrain Accidents and incidents involving the Avro Anson 19490219 1949 in England 1949 disasters in the United Kingdom February 1949 events in the United Kingdom Airliner accidents and incidents in the United Kingdom