HERC - XV198 – Crash COLERN 1973

[M2dude]

While I was in the mob, circa '67 to '74 (almost exclusively at Lyneham) there were a total of 4 crashes. The first was in 1969 XV180 at Fairford, which occured in similar circumstances to 198, resulting in the tragic loss of the 5 crew. The A/C was on MCT and doing simulated engine failures. (Can't 100% remember what the cause was though). The second was the loss of XV216 in the Med' out of Pisa in 1971. I was out there (in Pisa) on excercise then and it was awful as the pieces of the wreckage was pulled from the sea and assembled in order (I think by the AAIB guys). This I think is still the largest peacetime loss of life the RAF has ever had in a single crash. I seem to remember that there were 46 Italian Paratroopers on board as well as 6 RAF guys. The next that I can remeber was in, I think XV193 (I could be wrong about the reg') in Tromso. If I remember rightly the A/C ran into a ditch beside the runway on landing, and progressively broke apart as it ran along the ditch. Thanfully, thank God, there were no fatalities and the most serious casualty was a lacerated finger. I saw some the wreckage at Marshalls in Cambridge, the Freight Bay just behind the F/D was almost flattened. Then of course there was XV198, on my last day at Lyneham. I know a couple more have been lost since, but in my humble opinion the Herc is still an amazing A/C with a superb safety record, given the way that the A/C has to be operated.