There were 2 OCU Andovers in the circuit that day and I was in the other one (XS601) 'downwind' when XS598 went through the hedge on R/W 36. In 1967 the OCU syllabus still included a one hour sortie of co-pilot solo which is what we were doing and we had only recently got airborne. Clearly Abingdon airfield went 'Black' and we were sent to the Benson hold with strict instructions not to do anything else. Two hours later we were allowed back to Abingdon for a single landing and the trip was declared DNCO, so the sortie was re-flown the next day. And that is why Plt Off Dick Campbell-Jones got a total of 3 hours 'captain time' on the course instead of the normal 1!
PS. The student captain on XS598 was Derek Ikin (a lovely man) who had been my Flt Cdr at South Cerney and after the OCU we both went to 84 Sqn in Sharjah. Some years later we also served together on 30 Sqn at Lyneham.
Last edited by friendlypelican 2; 13th Jun 2020 at 17:41.
Reason: spelling