Incident Avro Vulcan B Mk 1A XA909,
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ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 55320
 
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Date:Thursday 16 July 1964
Time:
Type:Silhouette image of generic VULC model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different    
Avro Vulcan B Mk 1A
Owner/operator:Royal Air Force (RAF)
Registration: XA909
MSN:
Fatalities:Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 5
Aircraft damage: Destroyed
Location:Gwalchmai, near RAF Valley, Anglesey, Wales -   United Kingdom
Phase: En route
Nature:Military
Departure airport:Prestwick, Scotland (PIK/EGPK)
Destination airport:RAF Waddington, Lincolnshire (WTN/EGXW)
Confidence Rating: Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources
Narrative:
The plane had been on a training flight when at 43.000ft when it suffered an engine bay explosion. Aileron control lost after explosion near nos 3 and 4 engines. The explosion was caused by failure of a bearing in No. 4 engine. The starboard wing was extensively damaged, the pilot had insufficient aileron power, and both airspeed indications were highly inaccurate.
The pilot turned the aircraft out to sea and the crew baled out. Crashed at Treddolphin Farm, Gwalchmai, near Valley, Anglesey. Unusually, for a Vulcan crash, all five crew escaped: the pilot and co-pilot via their ejection seats, and the remaining three crew via the cockpit entrance/exit door.

Pilot - Fl. Off. C. Woods ejected at 3,000ft., 250kts.
Co-Pilot - Fl. Lt. M. H. Smith ejected at 3,000ft., 250kts.

Large pieces of the wreckage were recovered to RAF Valley: however, the aircraft impacted into the ground with considerable force. It is thought they some pieces of XA909 are still buried at the crash site at Treddolpin Farm.
Sgt W Learoyd RAF ‘twas sent from RAF Waddington with a small crew to act as crash guard initially

Sources:

J1. http://www.ukserials.com/losses-1964.htm
2. http://wrecksiteuk.blogspot.com/2011/08/vulcan-xa909.html
3. http://web.archive.org/web/20170421194245/http://www.ejection-history.org.uk:80/PROJECT/YEAR_Pages/1964.htm
4. http://www.avrovulcan.org.uk/pm/1/909_prestwick.htm
5. http://www.abpic.co.uk/photo/1200502/

Revision history:

Date/timeContributorUpdates
22-Aug-2011 13:15 Uli Elch Updated [Operator, Location, Country, Source, Narrative]
26-Sep-2011 16:29 angels one five Updated [Aircraft type, Registration, Operator, Total fatalities, Other fatalities, Location, Phase, Nature, Source, Narrative]
17-Jan-2012 06:14 Nepa Updated [Aircraft type, Registration, Operator, Nature]
09-Mar-2012 16:15 Dr. John Smith Updated [Operator, Phase, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
09-Mar-2012 16:19 Dr. John Smith Updated [Total occupants, Location, Source, Narrative]
11-May-2012 18:21 Dr. John Smith Updated [Source, Embed code, Narrative]
07-Apr-2013 08:07 Nepa Updated [Operator, Location, Departure airport, Narrative]
02-Oct-2013 13:39 Dr. John Smith Updated [Aircraft type, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative]
05-Feb-2014 15:59 TB Updated [Operator, Location, Embed code, Narrative]
01-Aug-2020 13:02 W Learoyd ( RAF) Updated [Source, Narrative]
11-Jul-2023 21:14 Nepa Updated [[Source, Narrative]]

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