Ossie Ardiles involved in car accident in Falkland Islands

[ORAC]

Anyone any idea of the format/content of the documentary - and how they got permission to make it?

Which side of the road were they driving on?.........

Ossie Ardiles involved in car accident in Falkland Islands (http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/25823043)

Ex-Tottenham midfielder Ossie Ardiles has been involved in a car accident in the Falkland Islands, according to South Atlantic News Agency MercoPress.
Ardiles, 61, was believed to have been driving, with fellow ex-Argentina midfielder Ricky Villa a passenger.

The pair are in the Falkland Islands for a TV documentary which Ardiles' son, who was in the car, is directing. Four passengers have been released from hospital after treatment for minor injuries with three others detained.

Local emergency services and the British military reportedly attended the scene of the accident with those involved flown to King Edward Memorial hospital in Stanley. There has been no statement about the extent of injuries received or confirmation of who has been kept in hospital............

[Wensleydale]

South American footballer? Obviously not a real accident - he'll have dived!

[mopardave]

South American footballer? Obviously not a real accident - he'll have dived!

Oh dear! :ok:

[Archimedes]

AIUI, they're doing a documentary about how the war affected them and their careers.

Ardiles is an Anglophile, and has never - as far as I know - expressed any support for either side in the dispute over the islands; rather he's on record as lamenting the fact that the two countries he loves went to war. (IIRC, the Lt Ardiles shot down and killed on 1 May 82 was his cousin). He went on loan to Paris St Germain, hated every minute and returned to Spurs in 1983; at least two of his sons have spent almost all of their lives here.

Villa - again as far as I know - hasn't expressed a view on the matter of the Falklands, although he was forced to withdraw from the 1982 FA Cup final (or was it the semi final?) because he was being accused of treason by Argentines for continuing to play with the enemy. He is particularly vitriolic (at least in the British press) about the nationalists who came out with this (suggesting that their parents may not have been in a state of wedlock). His daughter holds dual nationality and he still clearly identifies with Spurs, since when Arsenal played Barcelona in the Champions League he was interviewed and said that like any good Spurs fan, he wanted Barcelona to win.

I daresay that the view taken was that neither of them is likely to try to do anything akin to the stunt pulled by the hockey player two years ago, or to be found expressing virulent hatred of Britain, or coming out with propaganda which Mrs Kirchner will just love.

[Dengue_Dude]

Having driven a Defender from Mount Pleasant to Stanley and back (that being my total experience of FI driving), I would have thought you'd have to go some to have an RTA.

As for Ardiles, good luck to him, as footballers go, he's one of the more articulate ones.

[FrustratedFormerFlie]

Great scope for a caption competition though!
:ok:

[Archimedes]

DD - according to the BBC, he took evasive action against a sheep, and overturned the vehicle in the process.

[Wander00]

By a quirk of fate, in early 86 I "owned" the Stanley - MPA road for about 24 hours between taking it over from the contractor and handing it to PSA and FI Govt. It was planned to be tarmac all the way but to save money some of it was rolled stone not blacktop. Also when it opened speed limit was 60mph. Within days a young R Sigs lad went from blacktop to gravel at some speed in a SWB L-R , spun and rolled and sadly was killed. Speed limit reduced to 40mph. Has all of it been blacktopped yet?

[The_Observer]

Falkland Island residents test first IED...

[Wander00]

could have been a three-legged sheep - lots of those around mid 80s

[racedo]

Apparently they hit a Land Rover that had been used to guard Ammunition stores...................so headline should read.



"Arsenal Defender stops 2 Spurs Attackers"

coat, hat etc....

[Wander00]

racedo - a cracker!

[charliegolf]

Did he fall in the only hole in the runway?

CG

[Evalu8ter]

"he took evasive action against a sheep" - sounds like a standard low level sortie down there.....:E

[racedo]

"he took evasive action against a sheep"

Clealry his second name is Ardiles not Morgan as then it would have been Offensive action against a sheep................

[Heathrow Harry]

""he took evasive action against a sheep" - sounds like a standard low level sortie down there.....http://images.ibsrv.net/ibsrv/res/src:www.pprune.org/get/images/smilies/evil.gif"

normally it's the sheep taking evasive action against "low level sorties;);) by our brave lads...."

[Courtney Mil]

Having driven a Defender from Mount Pleasant to Stanley and back (that being my total experience of FI driving), I would have thought you'd have to go some to have an RTA.

Are you kidding? The Stanley Road has long been known for its dangers and has been the scene of hundreds of nasty accidents. Here's how it goes.

Prepare winding track.
Get estimate of Annual Rainfall, but assume you've been given MONTHLY stats.
Dig massive ditches 12 times the capacity needed either side of track.
Cover track surface with millions of rounded stones in lieu of ball-bearings.
Wait for unsuspecting Squaddie in SWB LR exceeding speed limit.
Army officer, "Do him for negligence!"
RAF Officer, "Nothing proven, Sir."
Army Officer, "Corporal!"
Corporal, "Yessir!"
Army Officer, "Is this your Land Rover?"
Corporal, "Yessir."
Army Officer, "Is it in the ditch?"
Corporal, "Yessir."
Army Officer, "Right, you're negligent!"

[Laarbruch72]

Having driven a Defender from Mount Pleasant to Stanley and back (that being my total experience of FI driving), I would have thought you'd have to go some to have an RTA.




There are loads of accidents on FI roads. It’s not so much the roads that cause problems, it’s people’s inability to adapt to them. There are usually a couple of accidents every month, despite the in theatre briefings spelling out the risks ad nauseam. The most common cause of accidents is excessive speed going into a gravel bend, with the vehicle skidding straight on and into the ditch.

Wander: There are still very few tarmac sections. It never ceased to make me wonder how their placement was planned, they seem to have been placed at random in parts, so you’ll get 100m of tarmac, then 300m of gravel, then another random lump of tarmac before yet more gravel. Any idea how this came to pass? It seems very inefficient as well as haphazard.

[Wander00]

The "idea" ISTR (it is a while ago) was to tarmac the lot - not enough money as I also have a memory that it was not all "MPA" money for the road but also some FI Govt cash, and they were "short". Plan "B" was to tarmac the hilly bits and gravel top the flat bits - so boyo comes charging down the tarmac bit and hits the gravel and hey presto! Storm ditches don't help, as they don't alongside the airfield road, which certainly used not to be wide enough for two standard RAF coaches to pass.

[kintyred]

In days of yore it was SOP for the last tasking Chinook of the day to return to MPA to do a quick sweep along the Stanley Road to check for stranded/overturned vehicles. It was not uncommon to find one.

[Dengue_Dude]

Thanks lads. Wow . . . judging by the above, I just hadn't realised how good I was . . .


On the journey, it snowed, sleeted, rained and we had some sunshine. I actually meant an RTA i.e. engagement with another vehicle as opposed to CFIT.


Bang on, so to speak

[TheWizard]

What's the MPA-Stanley road got to do with anything?

The were driving back from Darwin!
Now that is a challenge on a very dark night without the added hazard of suicidal sheep running out in front of you! And that's when you know the route!!:ooh:

[racedo]

Now that is a challenge on a very dark night without the added hazard of suicidal sheep running out in front of you

They do anything for a date apparently.......alledgedly.

[Laarbruch72]

Stanley to MPA is largely the same road surface as the Darwin / Goose Green road when you discount tarmac sections, it's mainly gravel or loose stone so comparison is relevant. Granted, bits of the Darwin road (particularly near to MPA) get even worse in bad weather and there are some really silly bits especially on the dark cinder surfaces in that first 2 or 3 miles. Do we know where he came a cropper?

[NutLoose]

Will he get a fixed penalty? Or just a free kick :O

[TheWizard]

Ossie Ardiles in Falklands car crash - Mirror Online (http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/ossie-ardiles-falklands-car-crash-3042771#.Ut7m1WTFK2w)
Ossie Ardiles Falklands car crash: Watch exclusive video footage of the crash scene - Mirror Online (http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/ossie-ardiles-falklands-car-crash-3047560#.Ut7neGTFK2w)

Looks like a very lucky escape.Not quite as funny as some people might like to think.
Well done to 1564 for turning out and getting him and his crew to Stanley

[NutLoose]

Blimey, I hope he had damage waiver on his hire car insurance

[Laarbruch72]

And well done to the guys and girls of JSPSU. Often first on scene for anything south of MPA, and no exception here.

[Airey Belvoir]

The way I heard the story (from a senior PSA guy) was that the design authority for the road (yes, PSA) read the rainfall figures, which were in millimetres, as inches.


Certainly in April 89 the MT yard at MP was full of wrecked vehicles that had met their fate in the drainage ditches and MT was desperate for replacements.

[scarecrow450]

Still more wrecked vehicles in 91-92.

[The Nip]

I was in the FI in 90. One of the primary cause of accidents at that time was in the introduction of V8 L/Rs. As has been already stated there is only limited tarmac roads. Young inexperienced drivers, poor road surface and too much power equals accidents, irrespective of the time spent spelling out the dangers when you arrive.

[NutLoose]

The way I heard the story (from a senior PSA guy) was that the design authority for the road (yes, PSA) read the rainfall figures, which were in millimetres, as inches.


Yhey did the same at Odiham many moons ago and built a shelter outside Ground Equip for the powersets, they mixed up Feet and Metres resulting in a shed that was about the depth of a powerset, but you could put a fully raised safety raiser under and still not reach the roof.

[Heathrow Harry]

"And well done to the guys and girls of JSPSU. Often first on scene for anything south of MPA, and no exception here."

not surprising as there is no-one else out there :ok:

[Jumping_Jack]

You don't even have to be moving on the Stanley Rd to come a cropper. A few years ago Mrs J_J and myself were following a Suzuki Jeep fro MPA to Stanley. Road was open but marginal. On the way the wind became so severe that the Suzuki driver stopped, we pulled up behind in our Disco. We then watched in disbelief as the 'Jeep' was blown sideways across the 'marbles' until it reached the edge of the road and then rolled onto it's side in the ditch. Fortunately we were able to rescue the (fortunately uninjured) occupants and complete the journey. Definitely not a road to be complacent of.

[Edmund Spencer]

The Ardiles combat was an interesting one.
By all accounts he was on his own as his opposite number had gone u/s.
He was apparently flying a Mirage V with heat seeking missiles (Matra 550?) and 30mm cannon in the air defence role.
Two guys from our squadron were sent to intercept.
One will swear to his dying day that he was shot at by a front hemisphere missile and had to take violent evasive action.
I make absolutely no judgement here but the jettison of external fuel tanks could, apparently, give this same effect. (Sharky Ward mentioned in in his book, I seem to recall.)
The other got in behind and shot Ardiles down.
They both thought at least two enemy aircraft were in the area.
Of course there are many Argentinean corroborative accounts from the ground of what took place above 20,000 feet! (Bit like the hand of Madonna!)
I am not entirely sure where the combat took place. Perhaps Naval Eye can confirm?
I believe it was over the Falkland Sound and the wreckage of Ardiles' Mirage fell into the sea.
One of the few Mirage V combat air patrol missions perhaps.
I remember passing the guy who said he was shot at by the missile as he came down from the flight deck.
He had absolutely no doubt!
Perhaps this is what the Ardiles documentary and subsequent accident is all about?
ES

[TheWizard]

Nope, it is about football and the effect the '82 conflict had on 'their' careers and lives as a result. Film produced for ESPN (sports channel)

[Wensleydale]

Perhaps the accident was caused by his knees going "all trembley" at the thought of playing football against the Brits again?....

[Heathrow Harry]

yeah - it's not often you are onto a genuine 100% certain win in football

[racedo]

yeah - it's not often you are onto a genuine 100% certain win in football

Harsh but fair

[bakseetblatherer]

I was amazed when I was down there to see some bloke riding around Stanley on a CBR 900 Fireblade - a high performance road bike in a place with about 3 miles of tarmac, most of it in a 30 limit :hmm:

There was at least one rover crash every time I was down there and always half a dozen crumpled vehicles at the depot.

[diginagain]

For our tour in 85 I took a folding bike, much to the amusement of my colleagues. It came in handy for getting to the Goose from Lookout Camp.