ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 20358
Last updated: 20 February 2021
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| Date: | 12-JAN-1952 |
| Time: | approx 15.00 |
| Type: | Vickers Valiant |
| Owner/operator: | A&AEE Boscombe Down (Aeroplane & Armament Experimental Establishment Boscombe Down) |
| Registration: | WB210 |
| C/n / msn: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 5 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Written off (damaged beyond repair) |
| Location: | Bransgore, 5 miles NE of Christchurch, Hampshire -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Test |
| Departure airport: | Hurn Airport, Bournemouth, Dorset (BOH/EGHH) |
| Hurn Airport, Bournemouth, Dorset (BOH/EGHH) |
Fuel spillage into wing following three unsuccessful relight trials of in-flight fire. Aircraft abandoned when fire began to ignite structure. Crashed in Harrow Wood. Crew bailed out. Pilot CTP Gabe Robb (Jock) Bryce (30) ejected safely. Co-Pilot RAF liaison officer B.H.D. Foster killed when ejection seat struck tailfin.
However according to one eyewitness:
"The last part of this report is incorrect. The co-pilot's ejection seat operated correctly, and both pilots were well clear of the aircraft. I watched the whole event unfolding, and at no time did the ejection seats pass anywhere near the tailfin".
Sources:
1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.149 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Last Take-off: A Record of RAF Aircraft Losses 1950 to 1953 by Colin Cummings p 405
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft WA100-WZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1983 p 77)
4. "Sole British Jet Atom Bomber Crashes." New York Times, 13 January 1952.
5. National Archives (PRO Kew) File 5/32/S2557: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C6578403
6. http://archiviostorico.unita.it/cgi-bin/highlightPdf.cgi?t=ebook&file=/archivio/uni_1952_01/19520113_0006.pdf
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vickers_Valiant#Accidents_and_incidents
8. https://www.thunder-and-lightnings.co.uk/valiant/history.php
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 01-Jun-2008 01:29 | JINX | Added |
| 26-Jan-2013 15:36 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Departure airport, Narrative] |
| 29-Sep-2013 19:34 | TB | Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Source, Narrative] |
| 13-Oct-2013 13:00 | Nepa | Updated [Operator] |
| 16-Nov-2013 17:31 | TB | Updated [Operator] |
| 11-Feb-2014 06:33 | Nepa | Updated [Operator] |
| 21-Aug-2014 07:09 | Anon. | Updated [Narrative] |
| 14-Apr-2020 19:13 | The Majors Batman | Updated [Time, Departure airport, Destination airport] |
| 09-Dec-2020 18:12 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Operator, Location, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
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