Hillman's Airways was a 1930s British airline that later became part of British Airways. The company was formed in November 1931 as Hillman's Saloon Coaches and Airways Limited by Edward Henry Hillman who was a coach operator in Essex. His previous business had been sold to London Transport following a change in government rules on the expansion of bus routes. The airline's first service was a charter flight on 25 December 1931. It started a scheduled service on 1 April 1932 between Romford and Clacton using a de Havilland Puss Moth and a de Havilland Fox Moth; with a fare of £1 return it was operated every three hours due to the popularity. A de Havilland Dragon was bought to operate an international service between Romford and Paris Le Bourget.
From 1 December 1934 the airline was given a contract to fly air mail between London, Liverpool, Glasgow and Belfast formerly operated by the Railway Air Services. Following the award of the contract Hillman changed the legal name from Hillman's Airways Limited to Edward Henry Hillman Limited and the airline extended its services to continental Europe, including Ostend and Brussels. On 1 June 1934 the airline moved its operating base to Stapleford Aerodrome. Just before Hillman died, on 31 December 1934, aged 45, the company became a public company, although within a year it had been merged with two other airlines to form British Airways.
Aircraft Accident.
On the 2nd October 1934, a de Havilland Dragon Rapide aircraft, operated by Hillman’s Airways, took off from Stapleford Tawney airfield on an international flight to Le Bourget Airport, Paris. There were 7 persons on board. The flight departed at 10.00hrs.
Cloudbase was 700 feet (210 m) and visibility was 2 miles (3 km) but decreased in rain within half an hour of the aircraft's departure. At 10.47, the aircraft was approaching the coast and the pilot asked Croydon for a radio bearing. The bearing received placed him north of Dover. The normal route in conditions of bad visibility was from Dungeness to Le Touquet. The pilot turned south to regain his course, but about 11.02, the aircraft dived into the sea and was destroyed.
The location of the accident was 4 miles (6.4 km) off Folkestone. The crash was heard by the crew of a German ship and recovered two bodies.. Visibility at the time was poor in patchy rain. Other ships assisted in the search and three more boides were recovered. The victims were transferred to Folkestone. The Dover Lifeboat and a tug from Dover searched for the remaining two victims. Wreckage from the aircraft was landed at Dover and Folkestone.
The accident resulted in the first write-off of a Dragon Rapide, which had only come into service in 1934.
The inquest into the deaths of the five people whose bodies had been recovered was opened by the Folkestone Coroner at Folkestone Town Hall on 4 October. Evidence was given that the aircraft had probably crashed into the sea at high speed and all victims had died from multiple injuries. A verdict of "accidental death" was returned on all five victims.
An investigation determined the cause of the accident to be pilot error due to the pilot's lack of experience in navigation and blind flying.
POSTSCRIPT
On the 26 January 1935, de Havilland Dragon Rapide operating a mail flight from Aldergrove Airport, Belfast to Stapleford Aerodrome, via Speke Airport, Liverpool, crashed in the Isle of Man, whilst attempting to divert to Ronaldsway Airport during bad weather.
On the 21 February 1935, two sisters forced open the door of a de Havilland Dragon Rapide in flight and jumped from the aircraft and were killed in the fall. The aircraft had taken off from Stapleford Airfield. They were the only passengers, having bought all the seats on the aircraft, but claiming before take-off that their companions could not travel that day. The sisters Jane and Elizabeth were the daughters of the American consul in Naples, Court Du Bois.
Both women had been engaged to be married to pilots killed in the crash of a Royal Air Force flying boat off Sicily on 15 February 1935.
Their bodies were found on waste ground in Upminster, but the pilot only became aware of what had happened some time later when over the English Channel.