ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 55299
This information is added by users of ASN. Neither ASN nor the Flight Safety Foundation are responsible for the completeness or correctness of this information.
If you feel this information is incomplete or incorrect, you can submit corrected information.
| Date: | Friday 15 October 1982 |
| Time: | 08:50 |
| Type: |  Handley Page Victor K.2 |
| Owner/operator: | 55 Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | XL232 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 5 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | RAF Marham, Norfolk (KNF/EGYM) England -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Take off |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Marham Norfolk |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
At approximately 08:50 on 15 October 1982 a fully fuelled Victor Tanker, XL232, started its take-off run at Marham. As the massive airframe lumbered down the runway one of its four Rolls Royce Conway Turbojets suffered a catastrophic failure, causing shattered turbine blades to slice through fuel tanks. As the airframe gathered speed a rapidly growing fire developed.
Take-off was quickly aborted and the Crash Crew mobilised within seconds. All five of the aircrew were seen to evacuate and a mass foam attack was initiated using two Mk 9 foam tenders. The Crash 1 crew then managed to gain entry to the cockpit and fitted the ejection seat pins.
A van with extra foam was loaded with the help of 4 airmen from the ESU building opposite to the fire station and unloaded them by the nose of the aircraft as seen in the photo. The incident happened the day after an exercise had been undertaken at the fire station whereby an explosion had taken place. he individuals referenced in the text as carrying the foam containers to the crash site were from EES (the Electrical Engineering Squadron) which was located next door to the fire station, I was one of those four individuals who loaded the vehicle and transported the foam to the crash site. upon exiting the vehicle our eyebrows and some of our hair was melted due to the intense heat. An individual fireman located himself under the right hand wing puncturing the fuel tanks allowing the fuel to spill out preventing a very large explosion. He was standing in a sea of fire placing himself in extreme danger but his efforts succeeded in allowing the release of fuel. the people were ordered to come back from the inferno and relocated some distance further up the runway. Shortly afterwards two of the ejection seats exploded one exiting to the left hand side of the aircraft the other straight through the windscreen straight up the runway landed approximately 50 feet from the fire. The fire was so intense that the fire services military and civil struggled to gain control. The fire burned for a considerable number of hours before it was finally extinguished. After the fire was extinguished the only recognisable piece of the aircraft left was the front of the cockpit which remained at the side of the perimeter track for a number of years thereafter. the steps were burned to such a degree that they looked like a well burned candle with wax dripping down the side but instead of wax it was the melted metal. The steps took pride of place in the fire station crew room. After the wreckage had been cleared the runway had to be resurfaced due tot he damage that it incurred from the fire.
Unfortunately the fire was too large to be extinguished completely during the initial stages and the crew were forced to replenish their water tanks using hard suction. Further delays were caused by a failure of one vehicle to prime, and ejection seats and cylinder started to explode in the intense fire.
Local Authority Appliances arrived from Kings Lynn and Swaffham and the crews set up water relay to the crash site. However, the fire continued to re-ignite time after time again and the crews worked hard for over eight hours before the it was finally extinguished
Sources:
1. Air Britain: RAF Aircraft XA100 - XZ999, published 2001
2, Handley Page Victor: The Crescent-Winged V-Bomber (Aerofax)
3. http://www.ukserials.com/losses-1982.htm
3. http://www.rafanddfsa.co.uk/incidents.htm
4. http://www.rafanddfsa.co.uk/20100611-Victot1982-U.pdf
5. http://web.archive.org/web/20160303210250/http://www.ejection-history.org.uk/Aircraft_by_Type/Victor.htm
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handley_Page_Victor#Accidents_and_incidents
Images:
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 22-Aug-2011 09:49 | Uli Elch | Updated [Operator, Location, Country, Phase, Departure airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 07-May-2012 13:56 | harro | Updated [Total fatalities, Source, Embed code] |
| 02-Jun-2013 01:39 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Operator, Total occupants, Location, Departure airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative] |
| 17-Oct-2013 20:38 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Operator, Location, Embed code] |
| 18-Dec-2016 18:07 | Trotsky | Updated [Photo, ] |
| 14-Nov-2018 15:38 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Operator] |
| 31-May-2023 15:38 | GH | Updated [[Operator, Operator]] |
| 16-Jul-2023 20:53 | Nepa | Updated [[[Operator, Operator]]] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
The Aviation Safety Network is an exclusive service provided by:
Quick Links:
| ASN Home | Send Correction / Feedback |
| FSF Home | Disclaimer | Copyright |
| Contact Us | Privacy Policy |
| Press / Media |
CONNECT WITH US:
©2024 Flight Safety Foundation