ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 155085
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| Date: | Thursday 27 August 1959 |
| Time: | |
| Type: | Supermarine Swift FR.5 |
| Owner/operator: | 2 Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | WN124 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | River Wiesser, 5 miles W of Rinteln, West Germany -
 Germany
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Jever, Germany |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
Written off 27/08/1959: Crashed into the River Wiesser five miles west of Rinteln, West Germany after the pilot ejected following engine failure. Pilot Flt. Lt. Roy Rimington ejected safely at 600 ft.
Per eyewitness report from Flt Lt Roy Rimington:
[the ejection] "was on my 28th birthday on 27th August 1959. I was flying a Swift Mk 5 in Germany on a low level photo reconnaisance sortie with Flt. Lt. Taffy Wallis. We had decided to use a photograph of an inverted Swift flying by the Kaiser Wilhelm Denkmal in the Minden Gap at Porta Westfalica for the No 2 Squadron Christmas card". It was a beautiful summer's day and we could see the Minden gap from some 30 or 40 miles away so I told Taffy to try one more practice pass before we reached the statue. I had just inverted at about 400 ft and 250 knots when there was an enormous bang and the revs rapidly died, subsequently found to be due to a bearing failure. I rolled the right way up, still in power control, climbed and ejected at about 600 ft. Taffy managed to get a photograph of a Swift with full aileron deflection and molten metal coming out of the jet pipe.
The seat in the Swift was the Martin Baker Mk 2 (G, I think) which was automatic but still had 2 harnesses. The first thing I remember after ejecting was a tremendous wrench on my left leg as the parachute opened and I found myself hanging upside down. I can remember seeing the river Weser below and wondering how I could guide myself away from it with the lift webs about ten feet above me. However, I barely had time to inflate the Mae West before falling headfirst into the middle of the Weser about ten miles south of Hamelin. In hindsight if I had not landed in the river I would probably have broken my neck. On landing in the river my harness fell away completely and by the time I reached the bank I realised that it was only the friction between the lap strap buckle and the seat loop which held my leg and this released when the weight was reduced. I was fortunately picked up by a British Army patrol and taken to Rinteln Army hospital for back X‑ray, where I was pronounced fit. They did in fact X‑ray the wrong area because it was discovered about eighteen months later that I had fused three vertebrae and lost 1/2 inch in height. However, it did not stop me continuing flying"
Sources:
http://web.archive.org/web/20170624000012/http://www.millionmonkeytheater.com:80/Swift.html
http://www.ukserials.com/prodlists.php?type=1076
https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/view/1267359/
http://web.archive.org/web/20171123224900/http://www.ejection-history.org.uk:80/aircraft_by_type/swift/swift.htm
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 14-Apr-2013 00:13 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
| 14-Apr-2013 00:26 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Registration] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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