de Havilland DH60M Moth G-AAJX crashed at Matley near Hyde on the 14th May 1931
| Bruce Bayne Bossom | Mr | Pilot | Survived |
DH60M G-AAJX was owned by National Flying Services at Hanworth Park in West London. On the 14th May 1931 it was being flown to Stanley Park airfield at Blackpool by Bruce Bossom, American born son of a former architect who was elected as Conservative Member of Parliament for Maidstone in October 1931.
Either the flight had taken longer than expected or Mr Bossom had taken off with not enough fuel for the planned trip. While approaching Manchester from the south east he was aware that the aircraft was low on fuel and he would have to land. He chose a field behind the Rising Moon pub on Matley Lane near Hyde and landed successfully. He was able to obtain fuel for the aircraft and after refilling its fuel tank took off again. Immediately after taking off he made a turn close to the pub before striking a hedge loosing the propeller and one wheel. While still airborne but only a few feet from the ground Mr Bossom jumped from the aircraft and was fortunate to receive only minor injuries, the Moth crashed almost immediately afterwards. To an eye witness it had appeared as though control of the aircraft had been lost while making the turn.
When the aircraft crashed the fuel onboard was ignited and the aircraft was destroyed by fire.
After receiving treatment for his injuries at the Rising Moon Mr Bossom set off to attempt to complete his flight from either Woodford or Barton.
Fourteen months after this crash, on the 27th July 1932, Bruce Bossom was killed, along with his mother Emily Bossom and Count Otto Erbach-Furstenau, a friend, when the de Havilland Puss Moth, G-ABDH, they were flying from Heston to Southampton in broke up in flight near Rushmoor in Surrey. Their deaths are commemorated on heathland where that aircraft crashed. At the inquests into their deaths it was stated by a representative of the Air Ministry that the likely cause was structural failure of the fuselage or the tail. He discounted the possibility of failure of the tail structure which left him with the conclusion that it was the fuselage which had broken up, possibly as a result of damage received at an earlier date during a heavy landing, or similar event.
