Desmond Arthur Lieutenant Desmond Arthur ( 1884 – 1913 ) was an Irish aviator in the Royal Flying Corps . Following his crash in Scotland ' s first fatal aircraft accident his name is connected to a ghost believed to haunt the airfield at RAF Montrose in Montrose , Angus , Scotland . The case is considered one of the most famous ghost stories from the First World War , and was investigated by the British government . Lieutenant Desmond Lucius Studdert P . P . Arthur was born on 31 March 1884 at O ' Brien ' s Bridge in County Clare , Ireland . The son of Thomas F . Arthur , he came from a prominent Clare family and had a sister , and a brother : Captain C . W . A . Arthur . Arthur was educated at Portora Royal School , Enniskillen . He was an enthusiastic sportsman and won a number of prizes in motoring speed trials , before becoming Lieutenant in the Army Motor Reserve in 1908 . Arthur attended the first Irish Aviation Meeting at Leopardstown Racecourse on 29 August 1910 . It was there that he was introduced to Cecil Grace , which reinforced his desire to become a pilot . Arthur joined the 5th Battalion Royal Munster Fusiliers ( Special Reserve ) and was promoted to Lieutenant on 27 May 1911 . He was known for his adventurous nature , as well as his " unassuming manner and unfailing good spirit " . On 18 June 1912 , Arthur gained his Royal Aero Club certificate after completing his trials flying a Bristol Prier monoplane at Brooklands . He joined the No . 2 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps on 17 April 1913 , based at Montrose . In 1913 , Montrose Airfield was built as an operational base for the training of pilots for the Royal Flying Corps , the first of its kind in Britain . The flying training school , like many others , experienced frequent crashes as it built up a force of skilled pilots through the First and Second World Wars . At around 7 . 30am on Tuesday 27 May 1913 , Arthur ' s B . E . 2 205 biplane collapsed without warning while flying over Montrose undertaking a routine practice flight from Upper Dysart to Lunan Bay . Arthur had begun to descend when at 2500 feet , the right wing of the aircraft snapped off and it plunged to the ground . Arthur died instantly after the violence of the impact destroyed nearly every bone in his body . He was found 160 yards away from his machine . Arthur ' s death in an air crash was one of the first to occur in the Royal Flying Corps , and the first at Montrose . He was buried in Sleepyhillock Cemetery , Montrose . Contemporaries were surprised at a crash from an experienced pilot . A report issued by the Accidents and Investigation Committee of the Royal Aero Club on 21 June 1913 found that the crash had occurred due to the incompetent repair of a broken spar by an unknown mechanic . It was believed that the damage to the plane had been accidental , and shoddily repaired to prevent detection prior to the plane being transferred from Farnborough to Montrose . A government inquiry opened on 11 July 1913 . In 1914 M . P . William Joynson - Hicks complained of a " whitewash " and that Secretary of State for War Colonel Seely would not admit to the faulty repair . In the Spring of 1916 the head of Pemberton Billing Ltd called for a judicial enquiry into the military and naval air service , as " certain officers had been murdered rather than killed by the carelessness , incompetence or ignorance of their senior officers or of the technical side of those two services " . An official investigation by a government committee set up on 3 August 1916 concluded that the pilot was at fault , and the crash a result of dangerous flying . Sightings . On 1 January 1914 , the squadron moved from Upper Dysart to Broomfield Farm . Shortly after the government report was published in Autumn 1916 , Major Cyril Foggin saw a ghostly figure enter the officers ' mess but did not report it , fearing he would lose his post . There were further sightings by other officers and flight instructors , all occurring in what was the old mess of the No . 2 Flying Squadron . As sightings spread more widely in the facility the ghost became known as the ' Irish Apparition ' or the ' Montrose Ghost ' . Fear of the ghost caused guards to desert their posts and pilots to request transfer from Montrose . The ghost was named as Desmond Arthur by the editor of British flying magazine " The Aeroplane " , C . G . Grey . Grey , who was a personal friend of Desmond Arthur , believed that the appearance of his ghost was linked with the official investigation into the crash . A later investigative report , published at the end of 1916 , reinstated the reputation of Arthur , finding that the crash was due to a damaged wing . The ghost finally appeared on 17 January 1917 and disappeared again until 1940 . In 1940 a Hurricane pilot was distracted by a " mysterious biplane " whilst searching for a Heinkel bomber . In 1942 , a flight lieutenant ( whose name is unknown ) stationed at Montrose , crashed into the runway not long after takeoff , and was killed instantly . A week before the crash , he had quarrelled with the mechanic working on his plane . The mechanic became subject to an Inquiry but after little evidence of tampering , the charges were dropped . Shortly after the crash , there were reports of a ghost appearing at the airfield wearing a flying suit and goggles . The ghost was known to be encountered along the flight line , emerging from the fog . In 1949 , Montrose had become a permanent training station , by which time new cadets were briefed on the ghost . Dozens of sightings occurred of an officer in a white flight suit and a hat until the airfield closed in the 1950s . On 27 May 1963 , Sir Peter Masefield was flying his Chipmunk monoplane close to Montrose while en route from Dalcross to Shoreham , when he saw what he believed was a 70 horsepower B . E . 2 biplane ; the pilot was wearing a leather flying helmet , goggles and a flying scarf . Masefield landed when he believed he had seen it crashing , but on reaching the ground discovered that there was no plane or crash site .