The Hawker Siddeley Nimrod is a retired maritime patrol aircraft developed and operated by the United Kingdom. It was an extensive modification of the de Havilland Comet, the world's first operational jet airliner. It was originally designed by de Havilland's successor firm, Hawker Siddeley; further development and maintenance work was undertaken by Hawker Siddeley's own successor companies, British Aerospace and, later, BAE Systems.
The de Havilland DH.106 Comet is the world's first commercial jet airliner. Developed and manufactured by de Havilland in the United Kingdom, the Comet 1 prototype first flew in 1949. It features an aerodynamically clean design with four de Havilland Ghost turbojet engines buried in the wing roots, a pressurised cabin, and large windows. For the era, it offered a relatively quiet, comfortable passenger cabin and was commercially promising at its debut in 1952.
The Avro Shackleton is a British long-range maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) which was used by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the South African Air Force (SAAF). It was developed by Avro from the Avro Lincoln bomber, which itself had been a development of the famous wartime Avro Lancaster bomber.
British European Airways Flight 548 was a scheduled passenger flight from London Heathrow to Brussels that crashed near Staines, England, shortly after take-off on 18 June 1972, killing all 118 people on board. The accident became known as the Staines air disaster. As of 2024, it remains the deadliest air accident in the United Kingdom and was the deadliest air accident involving a Hawker Siddeley Trident. Initially, there were two survivors of the accident, a man who was discovered in the aircraft cabin, and a young girl. They both died at the scene.
Royal Air Force Kinloss, or more simply RAF Kinloss, is a former Royal Air Force station located near the village of Kinloss, on the Moray Firth in the north east of Scotland, UK.
The Avro Anson is a British twin-engine, multi-role aircraft built by the aircraft manufacturer Avro. Large numbers of the type served in a variety of roles for the Royal Air Force (RAF), Fleet Air Arm (FAA), Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), Royal Australian Air Force and numerous other air forces before, during, and after the Second World War.
The Airspeed AS.10 Oxford is a twin-engine monoplane aircraft developed and manufactured by Airspeed. It saw widespread use for training British Commonwealth aircrews in navigation, radio-operating, bombing and gunnery roles throughout the Second World War.
The Canadian International Air Show (CIAS) is an annual air show in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The show is an aeronautical display of military, government and civilian aircraft, primarily from Canada and the United States. The show takes place along Toronto's waterfront for three days during the Canadian Labour Day weekend. The show began in 1946 and has been held at Exhibition Place since 1949.
The Vickers VC.1 Viking is a British twin-engine short-range airliner derived from the Vickers Wellington bomber and built by Vickers-Armstrongs Limited at Brooklands near Weybridge in Surrey. After the Second World War, the Viking was an important airliner with British airlines, pending the development of turboprop aircraft like the Viscount. An experimental airframe was fitted with Rolls-Royce Nene turbojets and first flown in 1948 as the world's first pure jet transport aircraft. Military developments were the Vickers Valetta and the Vickers Varsity.
On 2 September 2006, a Royal Air Force Hawker Siddeley Nimrod suffered an in-flight fire and subsequently crashed in Kandahar, Afghanistan, killing all fourteen crew members on board. The crash, which occurred during a reconnaissance flight, was the biggest single loss of life suffered by the British military since the Falklands War.
The Airspeed AS.6 Envoy was a twin-engined light transport aircraft designed and produced by the British aircraft manufacturer Airspeed Ltd.
The Airspeed AS.4 Ferry was three-engined ten-seat biplane airliner designed and built by the British aircraft manufacturer Airspeed Limited. It was the company's first powered aircraft to be produced.
On 6 September 1952, a prototype de Havilland DH.110 jet fighter crashed during an aerial display at the Farnborough Airshow in Hampshire, England. The jet disintegrated mid-air during an aerobatic manoeuvre, causing the death of pilot John Derry and onboard flight test observer Anthony Richards. Debris from the aircraft fell onto a crowd of spectators, killing 29 people and injuring 60.
The BAE Systems Nimrod MRA4 was a planned maritime patrol and attack aircraft intended to replace the Hawker Siddeley Nimrod MR2. The rebuilt aircraft would have extended the operating life of the Nimrod fleet by several decades and significantly improved the aircraft by installing more efficient Rolls-Royce BR700 turbofan jet engines to almost double the flight range. The conversion of the flight deck to a digital glass cockpit would have simplified control operations and reduced crew requirements. New detection systems were to be installed, as well as additional weapons for anti-submarine warfare.
On 20 September 1958, during an air show at RAF Syerston, Nottinghamshire, a prototype Avro Vulcan bomber crashed. All four crew on board and three people on the ground were killed.
The Hawker Siddeley Nimrod R1 is a signals intelligence (reconnaissance) aircraft formerly operated by the Royal Air Force. The aircraft was a conversion of the existing Nimrod maritime patrol aircraft, with all of the electronic equipment and armament optimised for anti-submarine and anti-ship warfare, and search and rescue, replaced by equipment for the gathering of communications intelligence and electronic intelligence.
On Tuesday 16 May 1995, a Royal Air Force Nimrod R1 aircraft suffered an in-flight engine fire which led to the aircraft having to ditch in the Moray Firth. This was the first of two Nimrods to be lost in 1995; it was followed by the crash of a Nimrod MR2 in Canada in September.
The 1975 Żabbar Avro Vulcan crash was a military aviation accident that occurred in Malta on 14 October 1975 when an Avro Vulcan B.2 bomber crashed after an aborted landing at RAF Luqa. The aircraft crashed in a residential area in Żabbar, and five crew members and one civilian on the ground were killed. The two pilots managed to eject and survived the accident. The crash caused extensive damage to many buildings in Żabbar.
On 30 April 1990, a Royal Air Force Avro Shackleton AEW Mk II aircraft, of No. 8 Squadron RAF, based at RAF Lossiemouth, crashed into a hill on the Isle of Harris whilst attempting to land at RAF Benbecula. All ten crew on board died in the crash, which included the wing commander who was in charge of No. 8 Squadron at the time. The Shackleton was the last of the fleet to be involved in a fatal accident, and the type was withdrawn from RAF service in 1991.
The 1994 South Pacific Airmotive DC-3 crash took place on 24 April 1994, when a Douglas DC-3 airliner operated by South Pacific Airmotive, tail number VH-EDC, ditched into Botany Bay shortly after takeoff from Sydney Airport in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The cause of the crash was determined by the Bureau of Air Safety Investigation to have been a power loss in the aircraft's left engine caused by an inlet valve being stuck in the open position, compounded by inadequate action on the part of the pilots; Rod Lovell, the pilot in command of the flight, has disputed BASI's conclusions.
