List of accidents and incidents involving the Avro Shackleton four-engined maritime patrol and later airborne early warning aircraft.
List of accidents and incidents involving the Avro Shackleton four-engined maritime patrol and later airborne early warning aircraft.
5 November 1967 Shackleton MR.2 WL786 as far as I can remember the aircraft was flying to Gan from Changi not the other way around so there was no way the passenger was going to a wedding in Singapore, maybe he was returning; The Engineer was in his normal crew location and lost one or two fingers because he was operating switches on the panel when the aircraft hit the water, he tried to free the co-pilot who was still alive but could not release the harness before the aircraft sank. the other two survivors were in the rear facing galley seating and were physically unhurt; I know nothing more about the passenger but the engineer recovered and continued flying, the Signaller never flew again but remained in the RAF, He was a South African who was on the same flying training course as I was. I did bump into him sometime later in an ops room, I can't remember where. JW
JW is incorrect, the aircraft was flying from RAF Gan to home base RAF Changi at the end of a two-week detachment providing SAR cover for Transport Command aircraft transiting through RAF Gan. GDF
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 Avro Vulcan is a jet-powered, tailless, delta-wing, high-altitude, strategic bomber, which was operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF) from 1956 until 1984. Aircraft manufacturer A.V. Roe and Company (Avro) designed the Vulcan in response to Specification B.35/46. Of the three V bombers produced, the Vulcan was considered the most technically advanced, hence the riskiest option. Several reduced-scale aircraft, designated Avro 707s, were produced to test and refine the delta-wing design principles.
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.
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 Avro York was a British transport aircraft developed by Avro during the Second World War. The design was derived from the Avro Lancaster heavy bomber, several sections of the York and Lancaster being identical. Due to the importance of Lancaster production, York output proceeded slowly until 1944, after which a higher priority was placed upon transport aircraft.
Number 42 Squadron, also known as No. 42 Squadron, is a squadron of the Royal Air Force. It reformed at RAF Lossiemouth on 21 September 2023 as the Operational Conversion Unit for both the Boeing Poseidon MRA1 and Boeing Wedgetail AEW1.
Number 120 Squadron or No. CXX Squadron is a squadron of the Royal Air Force which was established as a Royal Flying Corps unit late in World War I, disbanded a year after the end of the war, then re-established as a RAF Coastal Command squadron during World War II. Although disbanded again a month after Victory in Europe Day, during and after World War II it operated almost continuously, with maritime patrol aircraft; most recently with the Hawker Siddeley Nimrod, based at RAF Kinloss in Scotland until the type's withdrawal in March 2010. The squadron was disbanded again the following year. No. 120 Squadron stood up again in April 2018 at RAF Lossiemouth and became the first squadron to be equipped with the Boeing Poseidon MRA1 anti-submarine warfare (ASW) aircraft on 31 October 2019.
No. 220 Squadron of the Royal Air Force (RAF) was founded in 1918 and disbanded in 1963 after four separate periods of service. The squadron saw service in both the First and Second World Wars, as a maritime patrol unit, and finally as part of Britain's strategic nuclear deterrent.
Royal Air Force Ballykelly, or more simply RAF Ballykelly, is a former Royal Air Force station which opened in 1941 in Ballykelly, County Londonderry. It closed in 1971 when the site was handed over to the British Army as Shackleton Barracks. A small part of the base has been used as a refuelling point by army helicopters and small fixed-wing aircraft usually operating out of Joint Helicopter Command Flying Station Aldergrove near the town of Antrim.
British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) was the British state-owned airline created in 1939 by the merger of Imperial Airways and British Airways Ltd. It continued operating overseas services throughout World War II. After the passing of the Civil Aviation Act 1946, European and South American services passed to two further state-owned airlines, British European Airways (BEA) and British South American Airways (BSAA). BOAC absorbed BSAA in 1949, but BEA continued to operate British domestic and European routes for the next quarter century. The Civil Aviation Act 1971 merged BOAC and BEA, effective 31 March 1974, forming today's British Airways.
The 1946 Rabat Vickers Wellington crash was a military aviation accident that occurred in Malta on 5 April 1946 when a Vickers Wellington bomber crashed during a training exercise in a residential area in Rabat. All four crew members on board the aircraft and 16 civilians on the ground were killed. The crash also caused extensive property damage. The exact cause was never conclusively determined, but a magisterial inquiry suggested that leakage of hydraulic fluid leading to crew incapacitation could be a probable cause.
The 1952 Luqa Avro Lancaster crash was a military aviation accident that occurred in Malta on 30 December 1952 when an Avro Lancaster bomber crashed shortly after takeoff from RAF Luqa into a residential area in Luqa. Three of the four crew members on board the aircraft and a civilian on the ground were killed. The crash also caused extensive property damage. The cause of the crash was engine failure.
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 1955 RAF Shackleton aircraft disappearance occurred on 11 January 1955, when two Shackleton aircraft of No. 42 Squadron, RAF, disappeared over the sea south west of the Irish coast. The main theory put forward and accepted in some circles is that the two aircraft crashed into each other after they launched within six minutes of each other, and were en route to the same area. Wreckage from one of the aircraft was found 11 years later, in a different location to their supposed accident point. At least one writer has commented on this being the worst of all the Shackleton losses.
Air-Sea Warfare Development Unit RAF (ASWDU) was a research and development unit of the Royal Air Force, within RAF Coastal Command, it was operational from December 1940 and disbanded in April 1970.