How two planes collided in the air and why it did not lead to a disaster (7 photos)

In 1940, the whole world was stirred up by the story of a pilot who proved himself to be a real hero.





It happened in Australia, in the sky above a small town Brocklesby. Rather, it used to be a town - one of the important transport hubs through which wheat went to ports. With time it lost its meaning and turned into an ordinary provincial hole.

No one would have known about him if it were not for the “meeting” of two aircraft.



About 120 kilometers from Brocklesby there was a flight Forest Hill School. It was created as part of the Imperial Training Program. aeronautics (EATS). And they recruited guys from Australia, New Zealand, England and Canada. During the war years, almost half of the allied pilots fighters and bombers were graduates of just this programs.

But that was later. And the incident with the planes happened on 29 September 1940. Then two twin-engine Avro Anson and began a cross-country training flight terrain. One car was piloted by Leonard Graham Fuller, the other by Jack Inglis Hewson. Both aircraft also had navigators.





Flying over Brocklesby, the cars entered the turn, Hewson was behind Fuller. Then they equalized, Hewson hung for a few seconds under Fuller - then they collided. The planes locked tightly: the propellers of the upper car got stuck in the engine compartment of the lower one and stalled.

It turned out that the engines of the lower aircraft did not fail. - Hewson was at the helm, but he was badly injured by shrapnel fuselage. And Fuller drove the top machine - his engines were not working, but he could maneuver with ailerons and flaps. Fuller fast with figured it out and ordered the navigator to leave the board. Follow him from Hewson and his partner also jumped out of the lower plane. Fuller was left alone and led a strange “whatnot” to the base.

But already after 8 kilometers I realized that I would not fly: the engines of the lower aircraft began to lose power.

Then he decided to go around the town below - Brocklesby - and sit right on the field. This is what went down in history. Is it skill or good luck, or maybe all at once - but the linked Ansons drew 180 meters on the grass and stopped. What is even more interesting - with only small damage, later both cars were repaired and returned to service.



Well, Fuller became a hero: the military leadership noted that he did not abandon the planes, did not allow them to fall on the city and generally showed yourself as a young man. For this he received a promotion. After finishing studies received another commendation from the aviation council for "intelligence, courage and determination when landing Avro Anson without serious damage in difficult conditions."



Australian Prime Minister Stanley Bruce and Leonard Graham Fuller

He later served in the Middle East and Europe. For fulfillment combat mission in Palermo received the Distinguished Service Medal. And in In 1942 he was honorably sent back to Australia and assigned Pilot Instructor in Sale, Victoria. But there he did not serve long: on March 18, 1944, he went for a bike ride and got hit by a bus.

Well, two monuments dedicated to that legendary landing in Brocklesby. One in 1990:



And the second - in 2007: