Date:	Monday 12 October 1959
Time:	day
Type:	Blackburn Buccaneer S.1 (NA.39)
Owner/operator:	A&AEE Boscombe Down
Registration:	XK490
MSN:	B3-05-58
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Busketts Lawn Enclosure, Ashurst, near Lyndhurst, Hampshire -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.)
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	Boscombe Down, Wiltshire (EGDM)
Destination airport:	Boscombe Down, Wiltshire (EGDM)
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Blackburn NA.39 (Buccaneer prototype) XK490 Written off on 12 October 1959, during an assessment of the aircraft for benefit under US Mutual Defence Aid Programme, A NASA pilot exceeded his brief by investigating single-engine flight in low-speed blown condition which had not yet been explored by Blackburn.

At the time of take off on its last flight, this prototype had completed 110 flights including tropical trials in Malta, from where it returned to be displayed at the Farnborough Air Show. In mid-September XK490 went to Boscombe Down where it was operated by the Navy in simulated deck landings, and in all this time the aircraft had performed almost faultlessly. All of this was to change the following month...

It was planned that six flights would take place as part of an overall assessment of the project on behalf of the United States Government, who had a strong financial interest in the aircraft via M.W.D.P aid. On the third, and fatal, flight of the series, XK490 was piloted by an American citizen working as a test pilot for N.A.S.A. - this was one William Lewis Alford, a highly experienced flyer with nearly 7,000 hours logged. The general opinion of all those who came into contact with him was that he was highly skilled, had a quick, receptive mind, and was a man of pleasant character.

The Flight Observer was John Godfrey Joyce, an ex-R.A.F. pilot who had worked for Blackburn since 1953, and had been working on the NA-39 project for 14 months.

The intended flight plan was a "blow-on" take off followed by a climb to 15,000 - 20,000 feet, and once at altitude standard manoeuvres involving stick force per 'g' measurements were to be executed. The pilot had, prior to take-off, also stated that he intended to test low speed handling. At the conclusion of the exercise, subject to fuel state, general handling at a high indicated airspeed and low altitude would take place with and without auto-stabiliser, and completion would be a "blow-on" landing back at Boscombe.

38 minutes into the flight a radio message was received from XK490 reporting "10,000 ft. descending V.F.R." Two minutes later a number of witnesses in the Lyndhurst/Ashurst area saw the jet dive steeply into the ground. Both occupants made belated ejections but, unfortunately, both were killed:

Pilot Mr. William L. 'Bill' Alford (NACA) - ejected inverted - killed
Blackburn Flight Test Observer Mr. John G. Joyce - ejected inverted - killed

The New Milton Times states: "The jet, a Blackburn NA39 strike aircraft, exploded in the air and crashed in woods in an area called Busketts Lawn Enclosure."

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.201 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Royal Air Force Aircraft XA100-XZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 2001 p 52)
3. National Archives (PRO Kew) File BT233/423: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C424544
4. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AVIA 5/38/S2958: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C6578738
5. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=XK
6. http://www.thunder-and-lightnings.co.uk/memorial/entry.php?id=261
7. https://www.pprune.org/archive/index.php/t-425583.html
8. http://web.archive.org/web/20170721225135/http://www.ejection-history.org.uk:80/Aircraft_by_Type/Buccaneer.htm
9. http://www.ukserials.com/losses-1959.htm
10. http://www.hampshireairfields.co.uk/hancrash.html
11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashurst,_Hampshire
12. http://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=7064.0

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
12-Aug-2009 06:03	Anon.	Updated
12-Aug-2009 06:04	harro	Updated
12-Aug-2009 09:40	harro	Updated
11-Jul-2011 05:09	Dr.John Smith	Updated [Operator, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
28-Nov-2011 11:07	DAMOLE	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Source, Damage, Narrative]
05-Feb-2013 14:41	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Operator, Location, Embed code, Narrative]
05-Feb-2013 14:42	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Departure airport, Destination airport, Narrative]
17-Sep-2013 18:42	Dr.John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]
19-Oct-2014 17:31	Route	Updated [Operator]
01-Apr-2015 14:55	TB	Updated [Location, Embed code, Narrative]
03-Aug-2015 23:14	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Departure airport, Embed code, Narrative]
27-Jan-2020 01:14	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Source, Narrative]
03-Feb-2020 23:17	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]