ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 152559
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| Date: | Wednesday 3 June 1981 |
| Time: | |
| Type: | Westland Whirlwind HAR.10 (S-55T) |
| Owner/operator: | 22 Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | XP347 |
| MSN: | WA/363 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 3 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Location: | Koksijde AFB, West Flanders -
 Belgium
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Manston, Kent (MSE/EGMH) |
| RAF Gutersloh. Germany (GUT/ETUO) | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
Substantially damaged on 3/6/1981: crashed and turned over during its final flight, after it suffered tail rotor failure while hover taxying at 15 feet agl at Koksijde, Belgium. A seal in the tail rotor coupling assembly had not been fitted correctly following servicing, allowing the grease to escape. According to one source, the "wrong type" of grease had been used.
The Whirlwind was being flown from RAF Manston, Kent, to Gutersloh, Germany, to be used as a ground instructional airframe/"gate guardian"
Per eyewitness report from one of the crew: "I was winchman on Whirlwind XP347 from Chivenor which we were delivering to Gutersloh for the Battle Damage Repair Flight to blow holes in etc. Whilst air taxiing at the Belgian Air Force base at Koksijde the splined drive between the MRGB and the intermediate shaft sheared and the tail rotor stopped going round! We were only about 15 feet off the deck, but managed a couple of 360's in the time it took the pilot to throw it on the ground. The aircraft bounced and landed partly inverted, before falling on it's port side. We all walked away but the pilot had a cut head and torn ligaments in his wrist where he had chased the cyclic around the cockpit; the navigator, who was also the Flt Commander at Chivenor, broke his collar bone when the left hand cockpit roof caved in; I was loose in the cabin on my monkey harness and broke a couple of ribs and squashed a disc in my spine. The passenger was our NCO i/c ground crew at Chivenor and he limped away - he was limping because of a footbal injury, not the crash...
We were all well pee'ed off as they kept us in Koksijde for a couple more days for the convenience of the Board of Inquiry, instead of flying us home straight away. We eventually made the RAF hospital at Wroughton where I first learned of my injuries. Up until then I was just sore!
I hasten to add the fault was not Chivenor's. Apparently some young airman under pressure at Finningley had omitted a grease seal, allowing the splined drive to run dry and shear. (Stand by for brickbats!)."
XP347 continued by road to its intended destination at Gutersloh and was allocated to ground instruction as 8688M upon arrival. Finally scrapped in May 1985 by 431 MU RAF at Gutersloh when the base was transferred from the RAF to the BAOR (British Army of the Rhine)
Sources:
1. http://www.ukserials.com/losses-1981.htm
2. https://www.pprune.org/aviation-history-nostalgia/485933-any-borneo-whirlwind-veterans-here-6.html
3. http://sg-etuo.de/Main/EDUOFotos
4. http://rafforum.activeboard.com/t34913436/28th-january-1989-sea-king-xz585-202-sqn-in-the-highlands/
5. https://www.helis.com/database/cn/26903/
6. photo of crash: http://1000aircraftphotos.com/Contributions/Visschedijk/Additions/11534L-2.jpg
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 16-Jan-2013 09:51 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
| 08-Apr-2013 16:55 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Departure airport] |
| 12-Jul-2013 01:52 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Location, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 06-Nov-2022 22:52 | Ron Averes | Updated [Location] |
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