List of fatal accidents and incidents involving Royal Air Force aircraft from 1945

Last updated

Many hundreds of fatal accidents and incidents involving military aircraft operated by the Royal Air Force have occurred since 1945, the great majority of them before the end of the Cold War. They are grouped by the year in which the accident or incident occurred. Combat losses and aircraft operated by experimental establishments not on RAF strength are not included. This is a very far from complete list: for example a total of 890 Gloster Meteors were lost in RAF service (145 of these crashes occurring in 1953 alone), resulting in the deaths of some 450 pilots.

Contents

1940s

1945
1946
1947
1948
1949

1950s

1950
1951
1952
1953
1954
1955
1956
1957

1960s

1960
1961
1962
1963
1965
1966
1967
1968

1969

1970s

1970
1971
1973
1975
1977
1978

1980s

1980
1982
1986
1987
1988
1989

1990s

1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999

2000s

2001
2003


2004
2006
2007
2009

2010s

2011
2012
2015
2018

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">RAF Leeming</span> Royal Air Force base in Yorkshire, England

Royal Air Force Leeming or more simply RAF Leeming is a Royal Air Force station located near Leeming, North Yorkshire, England. It was opened in 1940 and was jointly used by the RAF and the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF). Between 1950 and 1991, it operated mostly as a training base with Quick Reaction Force (QRF) Panavia Tornado F3 fighters based there in the latter stages of the Cold War and into the early 21st century. Since 2006, it has become the home of the deployable RAF communications cadre and the home of No. 135 Expeditionary Air Wing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">No. 17 Squadron RAF</span> Flying squadron of the Royal Air Force

Number 17 Squadron, currently No. 17 Test and Evaluation Squadron (TES), is a squadron of the Royal Air Force. It was reformed on 12 April 2013 at Edwards Air Force Base, California, as the Operational Evaluation Unit (OEU) for the Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">No. 5 Squadron RAF</span> Defunct flying squadron of the Royal Air Force

Number 5 Squadron was a squadron of the Royal Air Force. It most recently operated the Raytheon Sentinel R1 Airborne STand-Off Radar (ASTOR) aircraft from RAF Waddington, Lincolnshire, between April 2004 until March 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">No. 23 Squadron RAF</span> Defunct flying squadron of the Royal Air Force

Number 23 Squadron is a squadron of the Royal Air Force responsible for 'day-to-day space operations', having been reformed in January 2021, as the first "space squadron". Up until its disbandment in October 2009, it operated the Boeing Sentry AEW1 Airborne Warning And Control System (AWACS) aircraft from RAF Waddington, Lincolnshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RAF Abingdon</span> Former Royal Air Force station in Oxfordshire, England

Royal Air Force Abingdon, or more simply RAF Abingdon, is a former Royal Air Force station near Abingdon, Oxfordshire. It is now known as Dalton Barracks and is used by the Royal Logistic Corps.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">No. 4 Squadron RAF</span> Flying squadron of the Royal Air Force

Number 4 Squadron, normally written as No. IV Squadron, is a squadron of the Royal Air Force. Since November 2011, it has operated the BAE Hawk T2 from RAF Valley, Anglesey, Wales. The squadron provides weapons and tactics training for student pilots after they have completed their conversion to jet aircraft with No. XXV(F) Squadron. Between 1970 and January 2011, No. IV Squadron operated various marks of the Hawker Siddeley Harrier and British Aerospace Harrier II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">No. 12 Squadron RAF</span> Flying squadron of the Royal Air Force

Number 12 Squadron, also known as No. 12 (Bomber) Squadron and occasionally as No. XII Squadron, is a flying squadron of the Royal Air Force (RAF). The squadron reformed in July 2018 as a joint RAF/Qatar Emiri Air Force squadron. It is currently based at RAF Coningsby, Lincolnshire, and operates the Eurofighter Typhoon FGR4, while temporarily integrating Qatari air and ground crews in order to provide training and support as part of the Qatari purchase of 24 Typhoons from the UK.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">No. 13 Squadron RAF</span> Flying squadron of the Royal Air Force

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">No. 15 Squadron RAF</span> Defunct flying squadron of the Royal Air Force

Number 15 Squadron, sometimes written as No. XV Squadron, was a squadron of the Royal Air Force. It most recently operated the Panavia Tornado GR4 from RAF Lossiemouth as No. XV (Reserve) Squadron. It was the RAF's Operational Conversion Unit for the Tornado GR4 which taught pilots and Weapon Systems Officers (WSO) how to fly the aircraft and what tactics to use to best exploit the performance of their aircraft and its weapons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">No. 43 Squadron RAF</span> Defunct flying squadron of the Royal Air Force

Number 43 Squadron, nicknamed the Fighting Cocks, was a Royal Air Force aircraft squadron originally formed in April 1916 as part of the Royal Flying Corps. It saw distinguished service during two world wars, producing numerous "aces". The squadron last operated the Panavia Tornado F3 from RAF Leuchars, Scotland, in the air defence role, until it was disbanded in July 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">No. 111 Squadron RAF</span> Defunct flying squadron of the Royal Air Force

Number 111 (Fighter) Squadron, also known as No. CXI (F) Squadron and nicknamed Treble One, was a squadron of the Royal Air Force. It was formed in 1917 in the Middle East as No. 111 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps during the reorganisation of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force after General Edmund Allenby took command during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign. The squadron remained in the Middle East after the end of the First World War until 1920 when it was renumbered as No. 14 Squadron.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">No. 54 Squadron RAF</span> Flying squadron of the Royal Air Force

Number 54 Squadron is a squadron of the Royal Air Force based at RAF Waddington, Lincolnshire. On 1 September 2005, it took on the role of Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) Operational Conversion Unit, and is now the Advanced Air ISTAR Academy, responsible for training all RAF crews assigned to the MQ-9A Reaper, Protector RG1 (MQ-9B), Shadow R1/R2, RC-135W Rivet Joint and Poseidon MRA1. It also controls the RAF ISR Warfare School (ISRWS) who run the Qualified Weapons Instructor Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance and QWI Reaper Courses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">No. 33 Squadron RAF</span> Flying squadron of the Royal Air Force

Number 33 Squadron of the Royal Air Force operates the Airbus Helicopters Puma HC.2 from RAF Benson, Oxfordshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Britain Memorial Flight</span> Military unit

The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF) is a Royal Air Force flight which provides an aerial display group usually comprising an Avro Lancaster, a Supermarine Spitfire and a Hawker Hurricane. The aircraft are regularly seen at events commemorating the Second World War and upon British State occasions, notably Trooping the Colour, celebrating Queen Elizabeth II's 80th birthday in 2006, as well as the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton in 2011 and at air displays throughout the United Kingdom and Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">No. 613 Squadron RAF</span> Military unit

No. 613 Squadron was an Auxiliary Air Force later Royal Auxiliary Air Force squadron formed on 1 February 1939 at the then new municipal airport at Ringway, nine miles south of Manchester. The squadron served at first in the army cooperation role, and later during the Second World War became a tactical bomber unit. After the war the squadron reformed as a fighter unit and as such flew until its last disbandment in March 1957.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MacRobert baronets</span> Extinct title in the United Kingdom

The MacRobert Baronetcy, of Douneside in the County of Aberdeen, was a title in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 5 April 1922 for Alexander MacRobert, a self-made millionaire. He was succeeded by his eldest son Alasdair in June of that year. Tragedy struck the family again when Alasdair was killed in a flying accident in 1938, and the title passed to his younger brother Roderic. In May 1941 Roderic was killed in action whilst flying a Hawker Hurricane fighter in the Middle East, and just over a month later on 30 June 1941, the title became extinct when the youngest brother Iain, was also killed in action whilst serving with the Royal Air Force. Their mother, Rachel, Lady MacRobert (1884–1954), gave £25,000 to purchase a Short Stirling bomber, the aircraft was named MacRobert's Reply in memory of her three sons. Lady MacRobert believed that her sons had lived up to the family motto Virtutis Gloria Merces – translated as Honour is the Reward of Bravery. The MacRobert Award, which has been presented every year since 1969 by the Royal Academy of Engineering, is named in honour of Lady MacRobert.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1990 Scotland RAF Shackleton crash</span> RAF Shackleton crash on the Isle of Harris, Scotland

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.

References

Notes
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  11. 1 2 3 Halley 1999, pp. 71–83
  12. 1 2 Halley 1999, pp. 83–96
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Halley 1999, pp. 98–109
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Bibliography