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| Date: | Wednesday 10 January 1996 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  Panavia Tornado F Mk 3 |
| Owner/operator: | 56 (Punjab) Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | ZE862 |
| MSN: | AT034/3339 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | near Sleaford, Lincolnshire, England -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.) |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Coningsby, Lincolnshire (EGXC) |
| RAF Coningsby, Lincolnshire (EGXC) | |
| Investigating agency: | MoD UK |
Tornado F3s ZE166 and ZE862 collided almost head on during ACT due an error by the pilot of ZE862. One aircraft crashed 50 yards from the Sleaford to Lincoln railway line. Wreckage fell onto the line between Metheringham and Ruskington blocking the line for five hours. The other aircraft crashed at Ewerby near Sleaford. All four crew ejected safely.
Three Tornado F3's took off for a 2v1 Operational Conversion Unit (OCU) sortie that was to include Air Combat Training (ACT). ZE166 was acting as the bounce (enemy) aircraft and ZE862 was the number 2 of the other two Tornado's of the formation. Once the aircraft were set at 11,000ft for ZE166 and 15,000 for ZE862 (the number 2 of the formation), the sortie began with ZE166 initially attacking the number 1 of the two Tornado's but once sighting ZE862 they changed their attack to ZE862. Shortly after doing this, the pilot of ZE166 realised that he was too close and began an evasive manoeuvre to avoid ZE862 but was unable to avoid a collision. On ZE862, the pilot remarked "Stanby to mark. My nose, two miles low" which the navigator (and others I assume) assumed the pilot of ZE862 had ZE166 visually. However the pilot of ZE862 was not wearing his corrective glasses and appears to have misinterpreted the distance between the formations.
The aircraft collided at a combined speed of around 1,200 mph. ZE166 was able to continue flying for a short time, although the pilot (despite full opposite control deflection) could only succeed in reducing the rate of roll to the right. They then ejected over open farmland.
ZE862's crew were instantly out of control and the rate of roll succeeded in exceeding 333 degrees per second (maximum recording limit of the ADR) to the right, which forced the crew against the left hand side of the cockpit. The pilot was able to initiate command ejection and in the course of this, the Navigator (Flt Lt Ian Weaver) sustained severe, head, neck and chest injuries which ultimately lead to his medical discharge from the RAF some years later.
Take a look at Ian's story on his website. Truly an inspirational story.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
1. Flight International 4-10 June 1997
2. http://www.ukserials.com/losses-1996.htm
3. http://www.ejection-history.org.uk/Aircraft_by_Type/TORNADO/ze862_tornado.htm
4. http://www.ukserials.com/pdflosses/maas_19960110_ze166_ze862.pdf
5. http://www.tornado-data.com/Production/MAAS%20Reports/ZE862.pdf
6. http://www.ian-weaver.com/ians_page/accident-10th-jan-1996/
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 20-Mar-2011 15:09 | harro | Updated [Location, Country, Phase, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 03-Jul-2011 22:23 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Operator, Total occupants, Location, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 15-Jan-2012 14:46 | Nepa | Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Source, ] |
| 27-May-2013 00:49 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Location, Departure airport, Source, Embed code, ] |
| 18-Jan-2014 20:20 | TB | Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Source, Embed code, Narrative, ] |
| 12-Nov-2014 12:43 | sirjames111 | Updated [Destination airport, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 13-Jun-2016 12:03 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Operator, Departure airport, Destination airport, ] |
| 14-Nov-2018 15:20 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Operator, ] |
| 27-May-2020 07:40 | MIG29 | Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Operator, ] |
| 23-Oct-2023 18:30 | harro | Updated |
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