1946 Avro 685 York accident in Gambia
British South American Airways Avro 685 York and Unknown and 3 more aircraft · The Star Leader accident occurred on 7 September 1946 with the Avro 685 York G-AHEW, named Star Leader, in the British colony of Gambia
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
- 24 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- Unknown
- Survivors
- 0
- 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
- Unknown
- 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
Aircraft 1 · Avro 685 York
- Aircraft type
- Avro 685
- 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-AHEW
- Operator
- British South American Airways
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From London Heathrow Airport (LHR)To Buenos Aires Airport, Argentina
Aircraft 2 · Unknown
- 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
- Unknown
- Operator
- Unknown
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From not recordedTo not recorded
Aircraft 3 · Unknown
- 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
- Unknown
- Operator
- Unknown
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From not recordedTo not recorded
Aircraft 4 · Unknown
- 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
- Unknown
- Operator
- Unknown
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From not recordedTo not recorded
Aircraft 5 · Unknown
- 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
- Unknown
- Operator
- Unknown
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From not recordedTo not recorded
Cause areas
- Not determined › Not determined
From the investigation findings the Wikipedia article reports, sorted into the NTSB's cause areas with AI assistance.
Not plotted · Not plotted: the Wikipedia article gives no coordinates, and its site names no town or airport that matches exactly.
From the Wikipedia article
The Star Leader accident occurred on 7 September 1946 with the Avro 685 York G-AHEW, named Star Leader, in the British colony of Gambia.
Sequence of events
The aircraft had arrived at Bathurst-Yundum Airport at 2:43, where it took on a new crew. The weather was unremarkable, with visibility of 10 miles and cloud base 1,500 ft 3/10 stratocumulus. The wind was from west-southwest at two knots.
At around 4:08 the York took off again towards Natal. Shortly after take-off at 4:10 from Bathurst-Yundum Airport (today Banjul International Airport) the aircraft crashed three kilometres south of the airport. One wing of the aircraft first struck trees at a height of 40 to 50 feet and then crashed through further trees as the aircraft rolled to the left. The aircraft burst into flames.
The accident flight was the captain's first York flight in scheduled service, and it was also the first take-off he had made in a York with a take-off mass of over 31,000 kg.
Investigation and cause
Causes
The captain lost control of the aircraft during the climb and the aircraft crashed. The cause could not be precisely determined; incorrect handling of the controls was not ruled out.
Translated into English with AI assistance from the German Wikipedia article “Flugunfall einer Avro 685 York in Gambia 1946” (revision 269652396, retrieved 2026-09-19) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out; the translation may contain errors, and long articles were cut to their first 700 words. Read the article
Sources
German Wikipedia article: Flugunfall einer Avro 685 York in Gambia 1946
- Translation
- Into English with AI assistance; names of linked operators and aircraft types from Wikidata. It may contain errors.
- Revision
- 269652396 · 2026-08-14 · retrieved 2026-09-19
- Wikidata
- Q68556166
- 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
- de Wikipedia article "Flugunfall einer Avro 685 York in Gambia 1946" (page 10955536, revision 269652396), translated into English with AI assistance
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site
- Map position
- none
- 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 named as an airline in the infobox
- Fatalities
- Wikipedia infobox: total_fatalities
- Ground fatalities
- not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
- Summary
- Wikipedia article lead
Source notes (1)
- Wikipedia · Facts from the German Wikipedia article's infobox, translated into English with AI assistance, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.