ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 77340
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| Date: | Tuesday 4 May 1982 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  Hawker Siddeley Sea Harrier FRS1 |
| Owner/operator: | 800 NAS FAA RN |
| Registration: | XZ450 |
| MSN: | 41H-912004 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Goose Green -
 Falkland Islands
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | HMS Hermes, South Atlantic |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
Early in the Falkland Conflict, after a few days without air strikes, on May 4 1982 a flight of three Sea Harriers belonging to the 800 Naval Air Squadron and armed with cluster bombs raided Goose Green.
However this time potential targets were well camouflaged, and the air base had been put under a 24-hour full alert. The 35 mm cannons were relocated to the north and south of the small Goose Green peninsular from their original position west of the airstrip. The raid's leading aircraft, piloted by Lt Cdr Gordie Batt, was locked up by the Skyguard system while flying from the east at very low altitude. Batt became aware of this from his onboard systems and deployed Chaff whilst breaking right so the Skyguard lost lock. However, behind the lead Sea Harrier was Sea Harrier XZ450, piloted by Lt Nick Taylor, this particular aircraft lacked a Radar Warning Receiver (RWR) as it had been removed before the war to fit instrumentation for a new missile, the Sea Eagle, that was undergoing trials.
Unaware of the threat ahead, Taylor was hit by a second salvo from the 35 mm cannons, XZ450's fuselage was hit and caught fire, losing the left wing in the process, it then cartwheeled in the air and crashed at a 10 degree angle.
Taylor's body was thrown through the canopy and fell 80 meters away from the crash site. The crash was caught on the gun camera film, of Flt Lt Ted Ball, which showed a large explosion in the region of the fuselage that was clearly unsurvivable
XZ450 appears to have been the first Sea Harrier to be lost in combat during the Falkalnds Conflict
Sources:
1. http://web.archive.org/web/20121118000509/http://www.scramble.nl:80/sb.htm
2. http://web.archive.org/web/20171103052649/http://www.ejection-history.org.uk:80/PROJECT/YEAR_Pages/1982.htm
3. http://www.ukserials.com/losses-1982.htm
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GADA_601#Goose_Green
5. http://web.archive.org/web/20130624074648/http://www.targetlock.org.uk:80/seaharrier/production_uk.html
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Harrier_Jump_Jet_family_losses#UK_operated_Harriers_2
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 07-Sep-2010 14:30 | ASN Archive | |
| 17-Sep-2011 17:56 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Country, Source] |
| 10-Jun-2013 19:12 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Date, Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Operator, Location, Country, Phase, Departure airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative] |
| 17-Feb-2014 16:10 | Nepa | Updated [Operator] |
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