Test Flying Memorial
"...and everywhere the
blue sky belongs to them
and is their appointed rest
and their native country"
- Samuel Taylor Coleridge
| Date | 22/10/1987 |
|---|---|
| Casualties | Taylor Scott, BAe Dunsfold TP |
| Aircraft | British Aerospace Harrier GR.5 ZD325 |
| Took off from | Dunsfold, Surrey |
| Purpose of flight | Pre-delivery test flight |
| Incident location | Winterbourne Stoke, Wiltshire (pilot), North Atlantic 250 miles s.w. of Ireland (aircraft) |
| Incident details | Pilot was involuntarily ejected from the aircraft probably as a result of part of the ejection seat operating mechanism being distorted by an unsecured piece of equipment when the pilot lowered the seat. This fired the drogue chute, dragging the pilot out through the canopy. The aircraft flew on and was shadowed until fuel was exhausted, when it crashed into the North Atlantic. |
| Web link | Aviation Safety Network entry |