canberra loss 1965 Raf luqa
 

HI Im trying to find details of a canberra WT 481 that crashed into the sea 35 miles from RAF Luqa on 2nd June 1965 , Its for a friend whos relative FLT LT Derek Armstrong was killed along with two others. this is about as much as Ive found , can anyone help with any info on the incident or crew members causes etc...
many thanks .

Try the Air Historical Branch at RAF Bentley Priory, Stanmore, Middlesex. They should have the details you require.

Regards
BL

It probably won't help your research much, but I've got an entry in my log-book;

2nd June 1965 Shackleton MR2 WR 961 Take-off 13.15 Land 23.45. Duty - "Search and rescue for 39 squadron Canberra. Nothing seen"

If my memory is correct, the Canberra detail was a training one which included "recovery from un-usual attitudes" which was part of the recurrent crew training syllabus (No simulators to practice the dangerous bits in those days). I believe the rumour at the time was that they lost control and spun in..............can't remember if any wreckage was ever found ?

Hope this helps ?

Hi Virgo many thanks but what does recovery from unusual altitudes actually mean to a non flyer like me, The reason Im asking is the friend who asked me to look this up said there was something strange at the time that caused a great rift in his family ,so Id like to get as much info as possible. My friend was a kid at the time and is only now trying to find what actually happened.Im not saying there was anything strange but he recalls at the time the family had trouble finding out what exactly happened, was security tighter then ? regarding info. I assume this was a training flight . Would anyone happen to know the other crew members.

tailslide93: Recovery from unusual attitudes was/is part of the instrument rating test, or practice for a test.

The IRE (instrument rating examiner) conducting the test/practice would place the aircraft in an unusual attitude then hand control to the other pilot to see if he could make a correct assessment of the attitude, and effect the right recovery action.
The attitude that the aircraft was placed in would depend on the type of aircraft involved.

Nothing unusual about the practice, every RAF pilot who has ever held an instrument rating would have done it for initial issue and on every renewal.

thanks all for the info .

tailslide93: this is what the "RAF Quarterly Review of Aircraft Accidents & Occurrences" had to say:

2nd June 1965 Canberra T4 WT481 39 Squadron

An IRE took off for an instrument flying training sortie with a squadron pilot and navigator. The aircraft took off and climbed to 40,000 ft. Some time later, the aircraft was cleared to descend to 20,000 ft. Approximately twelve minutes after acknowledgement of this clearance, a brief Mayday call was heard and a bearing was taken on the transmission. Search and rescue action revealed that the aircraft had crashed into the sea. From the fragmented nature of the wreckage recovered, the Board of Inquiry found that, in all probability, the aircraft had plunged into the sea at high speed with all crew members aboard. Although the evidence was circumstantial, the most probable cause of the accident was thought to be a loss of control during instrument flying. The weather was excellent at the time of the accident.

thanks red letter , is there anyway to find out who the other crew members were.

tailslide93: As brokenlink said, try the Air Historical Branch - they are your best bet. Failing that, you could consult the 39 Sqn Form 540 (ORB) at the National Archives. That won't give any more detail on the accident itself but should have the names of the crew.

1965 Canberra Crew WT481
 

Hi Tailslide 93,
I am the son of Gerry Evans, who was the navigator on the WT481 that disappeared on 2nd June '65.
The crew were pilots Flt Lts Derek Armstrong and G.Williams (Geoff I think) and navigator Flt Lt Gerry(or Ged) Evans.
My condolences go to the Armstrong and Williams families who still feel the sad loss , as my family does.
No strange circumstances found from my investrigations into this incident - although in the earlier years information was hard to come by or to corroborate.
My Dad dearly loved flying Canberra's with his friends in 39th squadron at Luqa and for that I am eternally grateful.

The crew's 'Sunday' names are: Derek ARMSTRONG 33, Geoffrey WILLIAMS 28 and Gerrard Peter EVANS 32.

The Accident Card says: At the conclusion of an instrument training sortie at 40000 feet, the crew was cleared to descend to 20000 feet and this was acknowledged. 12 minutes later a brief MAYDAY call was received and the aircraft was found crashed in the sea, having dived at high speed and been intact at the time of impact. There follows several possible causes but there was no formal 'verdict'.

Hope this helps. The position is given as 35 miles south west of Malta.

Old Duffer

Thanks Old Duffer for the additional information….sorry it has taken a few years to reply !
Your information corroborates what my mother (Dorothy Evans) was told by her husband's wing commander at our house in Malta on that dreadful day in 1965:
Dad's Canberra was put 'out of trim' when it was flying between Malta and Africa and the pilots were told to get the plane back in trim. Soon after, the plane not able to be be put back under control and heading for the sea below, Gerry (my Dad) started bale out procedures and issued a mayday call…….mayday, mayday, may…..Another second and all three should have been safe, or as safe as one could be having ejected into the sea. Once again, my prayers to Dad's friends Derek and Geoff and commisserations to their families . Lastly, thanks to the RAF who looked after my mum so very tenderly for many many years, until she died recently.

Hi JonnoP, I am Stephen Evans , Gerry Evans's eldest son - glad you remember my brother Ashley who is alive and well and living in Belgium now. This thread is pretty much complete now with much of the known information corroborated in this site.