Test Flying Memorial
"...and everywhere the
blue sky belongs to them
and is their appointed rest
and their native country"
- Samuel Taylor Coleridge
| Date | 20/08/1959 |
|---|---|
| Casualties | Sqn Ldr R.J. Morgan; Sqn Ldr G.B. Stockman, both B Squadron A&AEE TPs; Flt Lt L.N. Williams, navigator; Flt Lt R.J. Hannaford, radio op; Mr R. Williams, Handley Page FTO |
| Aircraft | Handley Page Victor B Mk 2 XH668 |
| Took off from | Boscombe Down, Wiltshire |
| Purpose of flight | High-speed manoeuvrability trials |
| Incident location | Irish Sea (off St Brides Bay, Wales) |
| Incident details | Fracture of starboard wingtip pitot head tube caused low speed input to automatic Mach trimmer and stall detector which lowered the elevators and extended the leading-edge flaps. A high-speed dive was thus initiated and a structural break-up began just before impact with the sea at Mach 0.85 |