12.1.1950- ......The urgently picked crew for Lancaster SW363 was made up of highly experienced Officers and men who had been selected for their extreme competence and abilities – each was an Instructor in his chosen field, and between them, they had the experience and knowledge to carry out the task allocated to them successfully. Due to their positions as Instructors, they were ‘self-briefed‘ before take-off. It was probably unfortunate that on the night of 12th January 1950, when the call came through to find an Aircraft and Crew to ferry Naval Divers from Leuchars to Manston to take part in the rescue efforts for HMS Truculent, all of the Officers had been attending a ‘Dining in‘ night at Kinloss. Although each Officer had been drinking, the Board of Inquiry that followed the crash examined the Mess returns for the evening and decided that no Officer had drunk more than 4 sherrys and that therefore alcohol played no part in the accident. Although in today’s society, driving a Car after drinking 4 sherry’s would undoubtedly lead to complications. Most agree with the Board of Inquiry – the time between the Mess Event and take off, combined with the competence of the Crew and the urgency of their mission, would have left them clear-headed and up to their task. The fault that caused the mid-air fire was certainly beyond their control, and the Officers at the controls of the Lancaster had only seconds to react. Although the Fire Extinguishers hadn’t been triggered, everything else showed that they attempted an immediate ‘wheels-up’ landing.
One cannot today imagine a BOI deciding 4 sherry's played no major part.