1951 Ringway Dakota crash
Air Transport Charter Douglas Dakota 3 · Icing leading to mechanical failure
From Manchester Airport (MAN) to Nutts Corner Airport, Antrim, Northern Ireland
Event
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- Event fatalities
- 2 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- Unknown
- Survivors
- 1
- InjuriesFatal: death within 30 days. Serious: over 48 hours in hospital within a week, most broken bones, severe bleeding, nerve or organ damage, or serious burns. Minor: anything less. Glossary
- 1
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- Airline
Douglas Dakota 3
- Aircraft type
- Douglas Dakota 3
- Category
- Airplane · from aircraft type
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- G-AJVZ
- Operator
- Air Transport Charter
- Onboard fatalities
- 2
- Route
- From Manchester Airport (MAN)To Nutts Corner Airport, Antrim, Northern Ireland
Cause areas
- Personnel issues › Task performance
- Aircraft › Fluids/misc hardware
- Environmental issues › Conditions/weather/phenomena
From the investigation findings the Wikipedia article reports, sorted into the NTSB's cause areas with AI assistance.
Approximate · Coordinates from the Wikipedia article; not checked against an investigation report.
From the Wikipedia article
On 27 March 1951 a Douglas Dakota 3 cargo aircraft registered G-AJVZ operated by Air Transport Charter en route from Ringway Airport, Manchester, England, to Nutts Corner Airport, Antrim, Northern Ireland, crashed shortly after takeoff following the failure of the aircraft to gain height. There were two fatalities amongst the crew on board.
Accident
The Dakota was operating a flight carrying newspapers from Ringway to Nutts Corner. During the takeoff run, there was no evidence of any problem, but the aircraft did not become airborne until near the end of the runway, which was 1400 yd long. On takeoff from Runway 06 in freezing conditions and falling snow, it swung to port, failed to climb, and struck the top of a tree in Woodhouse Lane, close to the hamlet of Heyhead, half a mile from the end of the runway. Both pilots were killed.
Investigation and cause
Conclusion
It was snowing heavily at the time of the flight and before taking off, the pilot did not take any action to clear accumulated snow from the aircraft. A post-crash investigation of the wreckage found soot deposits that were consistent with engine backfiring that could have been caused by an incorrect fuel-air mixture. Investigators also found that the carburetor intake screens in each engine were distorted in the same way that indicated that frozen snow or ice had packed the intakes, causing a serious loss of power in the engines. They concluded that the captain had failed to make use of the heat controls that would have diverted hot air into the carburetors, melting the ice. This failure caused the aircraft to lose a significant amount of engine power. The extended undercarriage and the presence of snow on the wings may have also been contributory factors.
Text from the Wikipedia article “1951 Ringway Dakota crash” (revision 1359590832, retrieved 2026-09-18) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out. Read the article
Sources
Wikipedia article: 1951 Ringway Dakota crash
- Article
- 1951 Ringway Dakota crash
- Revision
- 1359590832 · 2026-06-16 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q4567216
- Licence
- Text CC BY-SA 4.0, by the article's authors; Wikidata CC0; town positions GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
Where each value comes from
- Record
- Wikipedia article "1951 Ringway Dakota crash" (page 23982994, revision 1359590832)
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site
- Map position
- Wikipedia article coordinates
- Aircraft, operator and route
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports)
- Operation
- operator is an airline according to Wikidata
- Fatalities
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities
- Ground fatalities
- not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
- Summary
- Wikipedia infobox: summary
Source notes (1)
- Wikipedia · Facts from the Wikipedia article's infobox and coordinates, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.