 VX770, the aircraft involved in the accident | |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | 20 September 1958 (1958-09-20) |
| Summary | Structural failure |
| Site | RAF Syerston, Nottinghamshire 53°1′22.49″N 0°54′45.51″W / 53.0229139°N 0.9126417°W / 53.0229139; -0.9126417 |
| Total fatalities | 7 |
| Total injuries | 3 |
| Total survivors | 0 |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Avro Vulcan (prototype) |
| Operator | Rolls-Royce Limited |
| Registration | VX770 |
| Flight origin | Hucknall airfield |
| Destination | Hucknall airfield |
| Occupants | 4 |
| Crew | 4 |
| Fatalities | 4 |
| Survivors | 0 |
| Ground casualties | |
| Ground fatalities | 3 |
| Ground injuries | 3 |
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.
Flight
VX770 was the first prototype Vulcan. It had first flown with Avon engines, and had later been fitted with Sapphires. More recently, it had been fitted with Rolls-Royce Conway engines; on the day of the accident it was flying from the Rolls-Royce airfield at Hucknall to test the Conways. The four crew on board included a flight test engineer from Avro. During the course of the test-flight VX770 diverted to RAF Syerston to participate in the Battle of Britain day air show.
Accident
The Vulcan flew along runway 07 then started a rolling climb to starboard. During this manoeuvre the starboard wing disintegrated, resulting in a collapse of the main spar and wing structure. The Vulcan went into a dive with the starboard wing on fire and struck the ground. Three occupants of a controllers' caravan were killed by debris; all four of the Vulcan crew were also killed. Three servicemen who were in an ambulance were injured by debris from the crash.
Cause
The official primary cause for the accident was a gross structural failure of the aircraft's main spar, which was confirmed by amateur footage, photographs and eyewitness accounts. The reason for the failure was not determined by the Board of Inquiry (BoI), but it was suggested by an accident investigator called in by Rolls-Royce that the main cause was that the pilot, upon performing the planned aerobatic display, exceeded the prototype's briefed speed and turning rate limits. The accident investigator submitted a statement to the BoI, but did not give evidence under oath. The BoI was apparently not informed that the aircraft manufacturer considered the basis for the statement to be invalid. The Technical Officer of the Board of Inquiry identified a suspected fatigue failure of the inboard arm of the front bottom wing attachment main forging, and suggested vibration from the high airflow volumes required by the RR Conway 11 engines as a possible cause. The Royal Aircraft Establishment carried out a structural analysis of the wreckage and produced a report on 21 April 1960, but no copy has been found in the public record. Avro's then chief test pilot, Tony Blackman, has argued that the aircraft had probably suffered undetected damage during earlier flights during which the aircraft had reportedly been 'unofficially' rolled and looped by Rolls-Royce test pilot(s), and that the maintenance crew did not carry out an inspection for potential issues with stress damage to the aircraft's leading edges and nose ribs known to the manufacturer which had been observed in another prototype he had flown earlier. Avro reportedly inspected for damage using an exceptionally small technician after each aerobatic flight, Rolls may not have been aware of this practice.
Notes
- ^ Stevenson, Keith. "Vulcan Crash". Archived from the original on 12 March 2013. Retrieved 17 December 2012. Citing BT 233/403
- Blackman, p. 151
- Blackman, p.151
- File Note within TNA file BT 233/403
- BoI Report Appendix 1 within TNA file BT 233/403
- Avro letter dated 24 September 1958 within TNA file BT 233/403
- BoI Report Appendix 2(ii) within TNA file BT 233/403
- RAE memorandum A/11265/12/WH within TNA file BT 233/403
- Blackman, p. 152-153
Bibliography
- Blackman, Tony (2009). Vulcan Test Pilot: My Experiences in the Cockpit of a Cold War Icon. Casemate Publishers. ISBN 9781906502300.
- Vulcan Mk 1, VX770: RAF Syerston, Notts, 20 Sept. 1958 Official incident report at The National Archives
External links
- Witness recalls the day a Vulcan bomber crashed at an airshow in Nottinghamshire, killing 7 people, 5 July 2020
- "Anniversary of Vulcan crash" BBC News, 19 September 2008.
- Aviation Safety Network accident report
| Aviation accidents and incidents in 1958 (1958) | |
|---|---|
| Jan 15 Channel Airways DH.104 DoveFeb 5 Tybee Island mid-air collisionFeb 6 Munich air disasterFeb 27 Winter Hill disasterApr 6 Capital Airlines Flight 67Apr 21 United Airlines Flight 736May 20 Capital Airlines Flight 300May 25 Dan Air Avro YorkJun 2 Aeronaves de México Flight 111Jun 9 Aeroflot Flight 105Jun 27 Westover Air Force Base KC-135 crashAug 9 Central African Airways Flight 890Aug 14 KLM Flight 607–EAug 15 Aeroflot Flight 4Aug 15 Northeast Airlines Flight 258Sep 2 London Vickers VikingSep 2 1958 C-130 shootdown incidentSep 5 Aeroflot Flight 365Sep 7 Aeroflot Flight 164Sep 19 Lazo Il-12 crashSep 20 Syerston Avro Vulcan crashOct 17 Aeroflot Тu-104 Kanash crashOct 22 BEA Flight 142Dec 4 Aviaco LanguedocDec 24 BOAC Bristol Britannia | |
| 1957 ◄ ► 1959 |
- Aviation accidents and incidents in England
- Accidents and incidents involving Royal Air Force aircraft
- Aviation accidents and incidents in 1958
- 1958 in England
- Aviation accidents and incidents involving the Avro Vulcan
- September 1958 events in the United Kingdom
- Aviation accidents and incidents caused by in-flight structural failure