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Frank COKER
- Extended Description
- Captain (Civilian Pilot) Scottish Airlines, husbad of Myrette Macdonald. At rest in Plot 3. Row3. Grave 16. Imtarfa Military Cemetery, Malta.
Malta’s worst air tragedy occurred during the afternoon of Saturday the 18th February 1956. The plane, a four engined Avro York aircraft, G-ANSY, belonging to Scottish Airlines, crashed near Zurrieq. It had been chartered by the Royal Air Force and was being used to carry troops from Suez, in Egypt, to the U.K., with a stop-over in Malta.
As the aircraft took off, the air traffic controllers at Luqa airport, saw smoke coming from one of the engines, and informed the pilot, Captain Frank Coker, immediately. The plane appeared to climb to around 1,000 feet before going into a dive and crashing into the ground.
Since it was loaded with around 2,000 gallons of high octane aviation fuel, the plane exploded on impact and was engulfed by flames. The men on board numbered a crew of five, with 45 passengers, all RAF personnel except one Army private. When the rescue services of the Royal Air Force and civil police arrived at the scene, it was clear that there were no survivors.
The funeral was held later that week at Imtarfa military cemetery. The RAF men are commemorated on tablets. At the request of his wife, the pilot, Captain Frank Coker was in a private grave. The bodies of the co-pilot, navigator, radio officer and an air hostess were taken to the U.K. for burial.
