Historic 1934 Race-Winning Aircraft Damaged in Landing Accident
The de Havilland DH.88 Comet G-ACSS, a historic aircraft that won the speed section of the 1934 MacRobertson Air Race, has been badly damaged in a landing accident at the Shuttleworth Trust's Old Warden aerodrome in Bedfordshire, UK.
## Historic Aircraft Damaged in Landing Accident The de Havilland DH.88 Comet G-ACSS, a historic aircraft that won the speed section of the 1934 MacRobertson Air Race, has been badly damaged in a landing accident at the Shuttleworth Trust's Old Warden aerodrome in Bedfordshire, UK. The accident occurred on August 15, 2026, during the Flying Proms air show, with one crew member on board. According to reports, the pilot was responding at the scene and was taken to hospital for assessment. Fortunately, the pilot has since been discharged from hospital, and no one else was hurt in the incident. The UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) has not commented on the accident at the time of writing. ## The Only Airworthy DH.88 The de Havilland DH.88 Comet G-ACSS is the only airworthy example of the five DH.88s built by De Havilland. It is also the only one that actually won the 1934 MacRobertson Air Race. Flown by Charles W. A. Scott and Tom Campbell Black, G-ACSS covered the Mildenhall to Melbourne course in 70 hours and 54 minutes, setting a record for the first British aircraft to combine stressed-skin construction, a cantilever wing, retractable undercarriage, flaps, variable-pitch propellers, and an enclosed cockpit in a single airframe. The airframe has been rebuilt repeatedly since its initial construction. It was written off in Royal Air Force hands as K5084 and sold for scrap before being rebuilt by Essex Aero and later reaching the Shuttleworth Collection in 1965. With support from about 50 organizations, G-ACSS flew again on May 17, 1987, from Hatfield, but has been grounded for 12 years following a landing accident in 2002. ## Cause of the Accident Unknown The cause of the accident is currently unknown, and the Shuttleworth Trust has not said whether the damage is repairable. Operators of historic fleets typically suspend flying until a cause is established, as the Royal Air Force did with its Battle of Britain Memorial Flight Spitfires and Hurricanes. This incident marks the second accident at Old Warden since May 30, 2026, when an Avro Triplane IV replica came down during the Wings and Wheels air show.
