The 1956 London Heathrow Avro Vulcan crash was a

military aviation Military aviation is the design, development and use of military aircraft and other flying machines for the purposes of conducting or enabling aerial warfare, including national airlift (air cargo) capacity to provide military logistics, logist ...

accident that occurred at

Heathrow Airport Heathrow Airport , also colloquially known as London Heathrow Airport and named ''London Airport'' until 1966, is the primary and largest international airport serving London, the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdo ...

on 1 October 1956 when Avro Vulcan B.1 ''XA897'' crashed while attempting to land in poor weather. The captain and co-pilot ejected safely but the remaining three crew and one passenger were killed.

Background

''XA897'' was the first Vulcan bomber delivered to the Royal Air Force; after arriving at

RAF Waddington Royal Air Force Waddington , commonly known as RAF Waddington, and informally known by its nickname 'Waddo' is a Royal Air Force station located beside the village of Waddington, south of Lincoln, Lincolnshire, in England. The station is th ...

, the aircraft was loaned to C-in-C Air Marshal Sir Harry Broadhurst and Squadron Leader Donald "Podge" Howard for a round the world trip to showcase the aircraft's advanced design. Between 9 September and 1 October 1956, ''XA897'' flew to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

and was accompanied by three

Avro Shackleton The Avro Shackleton was a British long-range maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) which was used by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the South African Air Force (SAAF). It was developed by Avro from their Lincoln bomber, which itself had been a developm ...

s containing ground-crew and parts to service the Vulcan. Leaving Australia, the Vulcan flew to

RAF Khormaksar Royal Air Force Khormaksar or more simply RAF Khormaksar is a former Royal Air Force station in Aden, Yemen. Its motto was "Into the Remote Places". During the 1960s, it was the base for nine squadrons and became the RAF's busiest-ever station ...

Aden Aden () is a port city located in Yemen in the southern part of the Arabian peninsula, on the north coast of the Gulf of Aden, positioned near the eastern approach to the Red Sea. It is situated approximately 170 km (110 mi) east of ...

. It took off from there at 02:50 hours GMT and was scheduled to arrive shortly after 10 o'clock in the morning at London Heathrow.

Accident

The Vulcan had been fitted with bomb bay fuel tanks to cover the great distance from Aden and the aircraft approached Heathrow in torrential rain. At the controls were Howard and, co-pilot, Broadhurst. In the rear of the aircraft were three RAF crewmen and a civilian technical advisor from

Avro Avro (an initialism of the founder's name) was a British aircraft manufacturer. Its designs include the Avro 504, used as a trainer in the First World War, the Avro Lancaster, one of the pre-eminent bombers of the Second World War, and the d ...

. Due to the heavy rain and visibility reduced to , ''XA897'' was on a

ground controlled approach In aviation, a ground-controlled approach (GCA) is a type of service provided by air-traffic controllers whereby they guide aircraft to a safe landing, including in adverse weather conditions, based on primary radar images. Most commonly, a GCA us ...

(GCA) and was informed by Heathrow's air traffic controller that they were above the

glide slope In aviation, instrument landing system glide path, commonly referred to as a glide path (G/P) or glide slope (G/S), is "a system of vertical guidance embodied in the instrument landing system which indicates the vertical deviation of the ai ...

(GS) and needed to lose altitude. The crew reduced height too much, with their air speed close to the minimum drag point for a gear down configuration. As a result, the Vulcan was short of the runway and the initial contact with the ground removed the aircraft's undercarriage. The pilot attempted to regain control but was unable and he and the co-pilot both ejected. The low level made it impossible for Squadron Leader Stroud (Howard's regular co-pilot who was in the aircraft's radar navigator's seat), Squadron Leader Eames, Squadron Leader Gamble, and Frederick Bassett to escape, and they were killed.

Cause

The court of inquiry convened to review the crash determined that ''XA897s approach was affected by poor visibility due to heavy rain (three Russian Tu-104 aircraft carrying the

Bolshoi Ballet The Bolshoi Ballet is an internationally renowned classical ballet company based at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, Russia. Founded in 1776, the Bolshoi is among the world's oldest Ballet company, ballet companies. In the early 20th century, it ca ...

had already been diverted away from Heathrow to

RAF Manston Royal Air Force Manston or more simply RAF Manston is a former Royal Air Force station located in the north-east of Kent, at on the Isle of Thanet from 1916 until 1996. The site was split between a commercial airport Kent International Airpor ...

that morning) and that the aircraft was not equipped to use the instrument landing system (ILS) installed at Heathrow. The approach to Runway 10L was undertaken using a

(GCA) (the first time Howard had done this). Howard attempted to abort the landing believing he was at he applied power but his aircraft collided with the ground which removed his undercarriage and severely damaged the Vulcan's control surfaces. The aircraft's port wing was almost vertical and with no prospect of recovery he and Broadhurst ejected. The low level made it impossible for Stroud, Eames, Gamble, and Bassett to exit the aircraft and they were killed.

Later claim of accident cause

In 2016 Maurice Hamlin, a former member of the RAF on duty the day of the crash, claimed in his book ''The Hidden Truth'' that Harry Broadhurst ignored three direct orders to divert away from Heathrow due to the poor weather conditions (noting other aircraft had already been diverted). Hamlin believes that Broadhurst continued to attempt to land despite such orders due to the waiting press and dignitaries. He further claims that a fifty-year

D-Notice In the United Kingdom, D-Notices, officially known since 2015 as DSMA-Notices (Defence and Security Media Advisory Notices), are official requests to news editors not to publish or broadcast items on specified subjects for reasons of national sec ...

had been placed on the incident, even though numerous Air Ministry and Board of Trade files relating to the crash are available at the UK

National Archives National archives are the archives of a country. The concept evolved in various nations at the dawn of modernity based on the impact of nationalism upon bureaucratic processes of paperwork retention. Conceptual development From the Middle Ages i ...

Timeline

*02:50 GMT - ''XA897'' leaves Aden *09:58 GMT - ''XA897'' informed weather at London Heathrow as 2/8ths cloud at ; 7/8ths cloud at ; main cloud base ; visibility ; heavy rain and little wind. *(''XA897'' had sufficient fuel to divert to RAF Waddington if required where the weather forecast was 1/8th cloud at ; 3/8ths at ; main base ; visibility 3 nautical miles.) *10:04 GMT - the Vulcan was at , five miles from touch down on Runway 10 Left, and began its descent under GCA with a QNH of 1017 millibars both set on the Captain's and co-pilot's altimeters. *(The Captain started the approach and went above the glide path by , then over correcting and going too low, believing he was on the correct glide path.) *10:05 - at from touch down ''XA897'' made initial contact with the ground, removing both main undercarriage units.

Notes

Bibliography

RAF Court of Inquiry into accident involving Vulcan ''XA897'' at London Airport on 1 October 1956
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The National Archives National archives are the archives of a country. The concept evolved in various nations at the dawn of modernity based on the impact of nationalism upon bureaucratic processes of paperwork retention. Conceptual development From the Middle Ages i ...

External links

"Anniversary of Vulcan crash"

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

, 19 September 2008.
Aviation Safety Network accident report
* A 1957 ''Flight'' article on the official report:
House of Commons debate
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