Nimrod Ditching in Moray Firth 1995
Art Stacey AFC was a successful ditcher. He is also a highly experienced Training Captain same as Captain Sullenberger. How lucky for those 2 flights to have brilliant aviators in command.
R.1 XW666 ditched in the Moray Firth on 16th May, when both starboard engines caught fire during a test flight. Captained by Flt Lt Art Stacey, the aircraft was being test-flown from RAF Kinloss following a major inspection. The engine fire began about 30 minutes after takeoff. When the onboard fire suppression system failed to extinguish the fire, Flt Lt Stacey was forced to ditch the aircraft before the wing structure burnt through (the strength of the starboard wing's rear spar had deteriorated by 25% after 4 minutes of the fire). Fortunately conditions for ditching were ideal, and all seven crew members were able to get into dinghies before being picked up by a Sea King HC.3 from Lossiemouth. The wreckage was recovered from 70ft of water. The Board of Inquiry recommended that aluminium alloy hydraulic pipe unions in the engine bays be replaced with steel ones, and also that the Nimrod's Data Acquisition and Recording Unit (DARU) should incorporate recordings of cockpit voice, GPS position and time code, but neither of these recommendations were enacted.