Thunder & Lightnings

Test Flying Memorial

"...and everywhere the
blue sky belongs to them
and is their appointed rest
and their native country"
- Samuel Taylor Coleridge



Date30/04/1956
CasualtiesMr J.W. Lowman; Mr M. Booth; Miss G.M. Warman, all A&AEE FTOs
AircraftWestland Whirlwind HAR Mk 3 XJ395
Took off fromBoscombe Down, Wiltshire
Purpose of flightCeiling climb at 7,800lb all-up weight until rate of climb dropped below 100ft/min
Incident locationLyndhurst, Hampshire
Incident detailsDuring 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


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