As a schoolboy I watched, horrified, as a Canberra crashed into a housing estate in Huntingdon. I'll never forget the bright orange fireball and thick black smoke. The graves of the three children and two young air crew who died are nearby. Strangely it was my captivation at the news coverage in the following days that set me on my career path, even though my father was an raf pilot with plenty of experience of the Canberra.
I believe that crash, (in May 1976) was indeed during a practise asymmetric approach, but was attributed to a 'newly discovered phenomenon fin stall'...can anyone shed any light?
Years later (93 I think), as a reporter I was sent to a crash two miles closer to Wyton. A well liked Station Commander and two of his colleagues were killed as their Canberra crashed on take off. Another practise asymmetric.
It is difficult for an outsider like me to see so many lives lost to the same type of incident without knowing that a lot of work has been done to try and prevent them. The news that 0/0 seats were considered but rejected on cost grounds is appalling
We do things on the cheap in this country (although it seems to cost us a fortune in the process).
I always thought an raf edict was that you can make a mistake once - but to repeat it is unacceptable. It's a shame that doesn't seem to apply to the procurement dept of MoD.
IR
Last edited by Instrument Ranting; 8th Sep 2004 at 15:08.