Test Flying Memorial
"...and everywhere the
blue sky belongs to them
and is their appointed rest
and their native country"
- Samuel Taylor Coleridge
| Date | 07/12/1956 |
|---|---|
| Casualties | Sqn Ldr J.B. Wales OBE DFC TD, Avro senior production TP; Mr G.A. Blake, Avro flight engineer; Mr C. O'Neill, Avro FTO; Mr R.A. Greenhalgh, Avro FTO |
| Aircraft | Avro Shackleton MR Mk 3 WR970 |
| Took off from | Woodford, Cheshire |
| Purpose of flight | Test of stall warning detectors |
| Incident location | Foolow (Eyam), Derby |
| Incident details | Aircraft intentionally stalled with bomb doors open and radome fully extended but it suddenly flicked, inverted and spun into cloud. It emerged under some control but the engines would not respond owing to oiling-up and flooding so aircraft continued to descend, finally stalling and hitting the ground after attempt to turn to port |