Test Flying Memorial
"...and everywhere the
blue sky belongs to them
and is their appointed rest
and their native country"
- Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Date | 30/04/1956 |
---|---|
Casualties | Mr J.W. Lowman; Mr M. Booth; Miss G.M. Warman, all A&AEE FTOs |
Aircraft | Westland Whirlwind HAR Mk 3 XJ395 |
Took off from | Boscombe Down, Wiltshire |
Purpose of flight | Ceiling climb at 7,800lb all-up weight until rate of climb dropped below 100ft/min |
Incident location | Lyndhurst, Hampshire |
Incident details | During descent from 11,300ft, at 9,000ft, cyclic control moved to port and could not be recovered. Control was lost, and the aircraft began to break up. The crew baled out, with the exception of one FTO, but only the pilot survived the descent from under 1,000ft |