August 1923 Air Union Farman Goliath crash
Farman F.60 Goliath · Engine failure, passenger error, loss of control
From Paris-Le Bourget International Airport (LBG) to Croydon Airport, Surrey, United Kingdom
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
- 1 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- Unknown
- Survivors
- 12
- 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
- 9
- 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
Farman F.60 Goliath
- Aircraft type
- Farman F-60
- 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
- F-AECB
- Operator
- Air Union
- Onboard fatalities
- 1
- Route
- From Paris-Le Bourget International Airport (LBG)To Croydon Airport, Surrey, United Kingdom
Approximate · Coordinates from the Wikipedia article; not checked against an investigation report.
From the Wikipedia article
The August 1923 Air Union Farman Goliath crash occurred on 27 August 1923 when a Farman F.60 Goliath of Air Union crashed at East Malling, Kent, United Kingdom following an engine failure and reported panic amongst the passengers. One person was killed and nine were injured, including celebrated French actor Jean Murat.
Flight
The aircraft was operating a scheduled international flight from Le Bourget Airport, Paris, France to Croydon Airport, Surrey, United Kingdom, via Berck, Pas-de-Calais, France. The aircraft departed from Le Bourget at about 12:30 local time (11:30 GMT) with two crew and eight passengers on board. A scheduled stop was made at Berck, where another three passengers boarded. Due to weather conditions, a precautionary landing was made at Lympne, Kent, where a leak in the port radiator was attended to by the mechanic.
Accident
After a delay in excess of half an hour, the aircraft departed from Lympne for Croydon. About 45 minutes after take-off from Lympne, as the aircraft flew over East Farleigh, the starboard engine failed. The aircraft was then flying at about 65 kn at an altitude of just under 2000 ft. The pilot altered course, intending to land at either Marden or Penshurst. As the Farman Goliath was incapable of maintaining level flight with only one engine operating, the pilot decided to make an emergency landing. He asked the mechanic to ask two passengers to move towards the rear of the aircraft. This instruction was apparently misunderstood by the passengers, as four of them moved towards the rear of the aircraft. This affected the centre of gravity of the aircraft, which then entered into a spin. It crashed at East Malling at about 17:30 GMT, but there was no fire. The aircraft was written off in the accident.
Villagers went to the assistance of the victims, and extricated them from the wreckage. Passenger Leslie Gunther of London was killed. Six people were taken to West Kent General Hospital, Maidstone for treatment. Two ambulances from Maidstone Ambulance Brigade attended. Three less seriously injured people were treated at a house in East Malling.
Text from the Wikipedia article “August 1923 Air Union Farman Goliath crash” (revision 1363250972, 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: August 1923 Air Union Farman Goliath crash
- Revision
- 1363250972 · 2026-07-09 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q4820510
- 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 "August 1923 Air Union Farman Goliath crash" (page 31077218, revision 1363250972)
- 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.