Rear seat only ejection, aircraft landed.
It was good to work for such a logical and compassionate employer.
Some might recall the incident when a Navigator ( who had already lost an eye in a previous Canberra incident) found himslelf skidding alone and inverted down the main runway at Bedford in a Hawk ,following a pilot ejection. IIRC his bone dome was ground down to the top of his skull in the process. Amazingly he carried on flying regardless and I last saw him at Wyton on Canberras in the late 80's .
Some might recall the incident when a Navigator ( who had already lost an eye in a previous Canberra incident) found himslelf skidding alone and inverted down the main runway at Bedford in a Hawk ,following a pilot ejection. IIRC his bone dome was ground down to the top of his skull in the process. Amazingly he carried on flying regardless and I last saw him at Wyton on Canberras in the late 80's .
Ironically, the pilot, who did eject (sideways), received severe injuries whereas the nav escaped with a few cuts and bruises.
Wake turbulence caused Hawk crash
As a result post crash images of the Hawk crop up quite frequently in presentations/lectures on the dangers of wake vortex encounters.
My mother, married to a Lancaster pilot, told anyone who cared to listen that she was told by him that a battle-damaged US 4-engine bomber flew by itself all the way across England during WWII, to crash from fuel starvation either in Wales or the in the Irish sea, after its crew had decided to abandon ship over Norfolk.
I never found out if it was true. But I bet someone can tell us.
I never found out if it was true. But I bet someone can tell us.
When the Hawk happened, I was doing a BoI at Wyton on the Canberra which had been wheels up at Bedford! I can still recall the navs name in that Hawk - he had a camera on his lap!
Possibly this B24 that crashed in Herefordshire? Bomber Crash at St Margaret?s Common, Christmas Day 1944, St Margarets, 1944, Ewyas Lacy Study Group
"Bold Venture III" was Ford-built B-24J 42-50675.
I always liked this F-14 story and picture.
Eject on a familiarization hop | Tales | F-14 Tomcat
Lesson being don't hang on to the black and yellow handle to adjust yourself in the seat.
Eject on a familiarization hop | Tales | F-14 Tomcat
Lesson being don't hang on to the black and yellow handle to adjust yourself in the seat.
In 1979 a Hunter had an engine failure, the pilot pointed the aircraft out to sea only to see it turn and fly inland eventually skidding along a street in Tintagel.
https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/148721
https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/148721
... and neatly parked itself between two houses!
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It definitely happened to a Gnat as twenty five plus years ago I briefly worked with the chap who rode the seat;- he was ground crew and somewhat embarrassed by the circumstances. I can’t remember if it was a Reds related event or not.
I can't say it never happened to a Gnat, but they were retired by 1979 (which is a lot more than 25 years) and the Reds event along Loch Ness was definitely a Hawk, as above.
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I worked along side Terry in about 1993-4.
Last edited by Bagheera S; 1st Nov 2019 at 22:38.
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Two other incidents from years ago, apologies if my memories aren’t spot on!
Whilst going through the Lightning OCU at Colt, a Canberra landed with a big hole behind the cockpit, ejection seat gun tube sticking out of said hole. The story was it was a student crew carrying out slow speed/stalling practice. During this they entered cloud, nav not too happy so departed.
A TWU Hawk (Brawdy I think) was doing some sort of affil off the east coast with I believe a fighter controller in the back (W**** P******?). Without warning, rear seater departed, after some persuasion, he did admit he might have been fiddling with the seat handle.
Whilst going through the Lightning OCU at Colt, a Canberra landed with a big hole behind the cockpit, ejection seat gun tube sticking out of said hole. The story was it was a student crew carrying out slow speed/stalling practice. During this they entered cloud, nav not too happy so departed.
A TWU Hawk (Brawdy I think) was doing some sort of affil off the east coast with I believe a fighter controller in the back (W**** P******?). Without warning, rear seater departed, after some persuasion, he did admit he might have been fiddling with the seat handle.
Firestreak, if that was a T4, 1966-67 ish that would have been the 360 aircraft from Watton when the observer(RN) ejected when a practice EFATO (again) went TU. Sadly the observer, Lt Norman Lake RN, was killed. Different aircraft on the fleet had different hatch fits (frangible or solid) and different hatch switchery. Norman ejected through a solid hatch and was killed. Many years later I was OC Admin at Wyton when similarly a practice EFATO went wrong and the station commander and the instructor and navigator were killed.. The similarity of the two accidents was chilling.
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Wander00, can’t be the same incident, the one I referred to would be late 68, early 69. Coincidentally, the pilot of that incident and the CO of Wyton were QFIs at Linton at the same time.
Last edited by Firestreak; 3rd Nov 2019 at 05:02.
I don't own this space under my name. I should have leased it while I still could
F4 in the States, 1960s, span in from high altitude zoom climb. Pilots couldn't recover and banged out. It pancaked on the desert floor.
USMC F4 with PD radar also landed intact on beach in North Vietnam. By the time a strike came to destroy it there was no trace and the Russians had a PD radar.
USMC F4 with PD radar also landed intact on beach in North Vietnam. By the time a strike came to destroy it there was no trace and the Russians had a PD radar.
