What happened
The incident occurred during a routine local training operation at RAF Usworth. The first aircraft involved was a twin-engine plane flying at an altitude of approximately 5,000 feet in the vicinity of the airbase. While cruising, this aircraft collided with a second RAF Avro 652 Anson I, registered as L7908, which was also conducting training activities and carrying a crew of four.
Following the mid-air impact, both airplanes lost control and dove into the ground. The wreckage came to rest in a field located roughly 5 kilometers northeast of the airfield. Both aircraft were destroyed upon impact with the terrain. All personnel on board the two planes perished in the accident, resulting in a total of eight fatalities.
The crew of the second aircraft belonged to the 62nd Squadron and consisted of four individuals: the pilot, Sergeant Charles Davidson; Sergeant Donald Kenneth Upperton; Leading Aircraftman John Ramsden Smith; and Leading Aircraftman Aurthur Joseph Kelly. The source material does not provide specific names for the crew members of the first aircraft, referring only to them as a crew of four.