The Meopham Air Disaster occurred on 21 July 1930 when a Junkers F.13ge flying from Le Touquet to Croydon with two crew and four passengers crashed near Meopham, Kent with the loss of all on board. The report of the inquiry into the accident was made public, the first time in the United Kingdom that an accident report was published.
The passengers and crew in front of the Junkers aircraft, just prior to the aircraft's departure on the fatal flight. Pictured L-R: The Marquess of Dufferin, Mrs Sigrid Loeffler, Mrs Sarah Legh (did not fly), Sir Edward Ward, Viscountess Ednam, George Henderson (pilot). Leaning over the aircraft in the background is the co-pilot Charles Shearing
The Junkers F 13 is the world's first all-metal transport aircraft, developed in Germany at the end of World War I. It was a cantilever-wing monoplane, with enclosed accommodation for four passengers and a two seat open cockpit. 322 examples were manufactured, an exceptionally large number for a commercial airliner of the era, and were operated all over the world. It accounted for over a third of air traffic in the early 1920s. It remained in production for thirteen years and in commercial service for more than thirty. There were many versions including floatplanes for water landing, skis, mailplane, and different engines. Several survive in various states of repair in museums, and a replica of the type was put back in production in the 2010s, taking flight once again nearly a century after the type first flew.