The Tragic Story Of The 'First' Vulcan - XA897
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 31 ก.ค. 2020
- The Avro Vulcan is one of the most iconic British aircraft ever made. It's unmistakable wing shape and roar would inspire many, however it had a rather important job as part of the V-Bomber force. The V-Bombers were Britain's nuclear strike force during the Cold War, 3 planes that were capable of dropping a nuke/nuclear bomb.
It was a long range bomber which saw action in the Falklands War during Operation Black Buck, but during the Cold War the Vulcan would be continually on stand-by, ready to take off and drop the bomb should the situation warrant it. Today however we look at the remarkable story of the first Vulcan that the RAF recieved, XA897.
XA897 would initially take off on a world-wide tour, flying around the world to show off the Vulcan and the military might of Great Britain. This 'flag waving' mission ultimately would see the aircraft head to Australia, and the mission mostly was a success. That was until tragedy would strike as the Vulcan came into land at London Heathrow in terrible weather conditions. This crash however could have been completely avoided, if the pilot hadn't dreamed of being on the front of the newspapers. This mistake ultimately would cost the lives of 4 crew members on board.
So join us today as we look at, 'The Tragic Story Of The First Vulcan - XA897'
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Music by: I am a man who will fight for your honour by Chris Zabriskie
Very informative video ,l once met an AVRO engineer from Woodford whilst on holiday in Jersey about 10 years ago , chatted about the Vulcan which he had been involved with for many years .He said the original design had ejector capsule for all crew ! But This design was dropped by MOD as it was in their opinion too expensive,so many crew died due to weasel politicians not knowing the value of anything,some things never change.
Thank you for that. I have my personal memories of the Vulcan, when as a child in 1962 or 1963, in Laverton Victoria, a Vulcan took off over my house. My father was in the RAAF, and our house was only 100m outside the boundary fence of the Air Force base. To a 4 yr old child, it looked like this huge aircraft was going to fly into our front door.
Always gives me chills seeing the Triangular Vulcan and hearing it’s signature sound, but none the less a favourite aircraft of mine. This video is really informative, and your channel is very underrated.
Thanks mate! The Vulcan is an absolute beast. I remember as a kid going to airshows at RAF Waddington and waiting for it! Thanks for the nice comments man :)
TheUntoldPast
You’re welcome mate :)
Ego will always get the better of you. It is to the RAF’s lasting shame that they made a lowly NCO take the fall when an Air Marshal was onboard who disregarded divert orders. That is not leadership, that is CYA. The Air Marshal should have been both demoted & sacked for his role in undoubtedly pressuring the captain to land at London despite the bad weather. And for shame that the captain capitulated to the Air Marshal regardless of rank because he forsook his responsibility to his crew’s safety.
What a pointless comment, no year, no date, no airfield, no crash site location , no aircraft ident, no names. Could it be this is an apocryphal tale! Is this the case of the London Airport crash? If so may I draw your attention to the press quote at the time - "The aircraft had ample fuel to divert. Air Marshal xxxxxx emphasised to the captain that he should divert if he was dissatisfied with the weather conditions prevailing. The captain decided to make one attempt to land at London Airport....." Responsibility for the aircraft is always in the hands of the pilot, not an Air Marshall, or an NCO. The pilot takes the fall!
@@RogerDDog What a patronising and snooty reply, the comment is obviously about the Vulcan Heathrow crash, that is what the thread is about, the fact some of the comments are spurious does not deserve such a pompous reply from you!
You've brought the subject simply and p
erfectly to the point! There is simply nothing more to add.
Thank you.
Plodus YOU........ calling ME pompous? You pretentious putz...!
keithpennock "It is to the RAF’s lasting shame that they made a lowly NCO take the fall..."
If one joins up with the psychopath-ridden military, he or she takes certain potentially life-altering or life-ending risks.
BTW "lasting shame" is nothing more than an inconvenient irritant to psychopaths. Very often, it is nothing at all. Most non-psychopathic individuals are under the impression that it, i.e. lasting shame, would be a major concern.
Another fun fact.The Howl of her Olympus engines is created by the intakes.They create a pressure venturi effect as air is sucked in by the compressors. The intakes help to compress the air before the compressors start to do their job. A very efficient design and makes a bloody good noise!
Noise is collateral fun.
@@louisvanrijn3964 Agreed!
Yesss I lucky watched it at McCelellan AFB in 77 I have several photos
Bloody well right!
No shit sherlock.
I have two particular memories: of a white Vulcan sailing low over the Black Mountains in Wales in the mid 1960s and a Vulcan at a Farnborough airshow flying with a Concorde engine strapped below and then seeming to go straight up on just the power of that engine right before the crowds. The ground and one's chest cavity were shaking.
I miss the Vulcan at airshows. A real head turner. Always sorry to hear about the loss of a crew
Agree with this 100%! I loved going to airshows as a kid and seeing the Vulcan roaring past. It certainly was a beautiful sight.
@@TheUntoldPast You didn't just see the Vulcan at airshows. You felt it.
And then there was the New Zealand incident with XH498 on 25-OCT-1959 :
The Vulcan was taking part in a air show being held to mark the official opening of Wellington International Airport, formerly known as Rongotai Airport.
After demonstrating a ' touch-and-go ' on Runway 34 the Vulcan came around again to make a full stop landing.
Turbulence and wind shear caused the jet bomber to land short of the runway threshold, clipping the embankment at the Moa Point or southern end with its port undercarriage leg which was severely damaged and unable to support the aircraft. The port wing tip nearly scraped the runway surface before the pilot was able to lift off again.
Wellington airport has always been known for its difficult wind conditions. The pilots' skill prevented a possible disaster as spectators were present on the western apron, not far from the runway.
The Vulcan returned to RNZAF Ohakea where a safe emergency landing was carried out on just the nose and starboard landing gear, with little further damage to the aircraft.
A repair team was sent from the UK to return the Vulcan to airworthiness and it left NZ on the 4th of January 1960, and remained in service until 19th October 1967.
That Vulcan flew over my primary school in Whangarei, NZ. Very exciting for a 7 year old boy.
Always a very sad story when aircrew and aircraft are lost. I served at Scampton in the early 80’s and was in awe of the mighty Vulcan. Difficult to sleep though when they were taking off.👍
Keep in mind that this tragic accident happened in 1956, over sixty years ago! Since then much has been learned, after many accidents, about crew management. These days it is hoped that the Captain, even if overanked by his 'Air Commodore copilot/first officer', will make his own decisions prioritising the safety of the aircraft! A flypast at a safe height over Heathrow and a safe landing elsewhere would have sold a lot more Vulcans.
Due to the landing impact the Crash Switches activated, these are to minimise fire risk after a crash. When they activate all electrical, fuel & hydraulic systems are de-energised, so the controls were locked & it was uncontrollable.. That's why they ejected. It was the senior officer's decision to continue.
Fascinating....did not know this history.
I could be wrong but the Vulcan never had ejection seats for all of the crew members. Only the two up-front.
Thanks for posting this.
The concept that became the Vulcan was originally intended for a crew of three, a pilot, a navigator and an AEO. It was realised at an early stage that the crew would be overloaded during a bombing run so it was modified for a crew of 5 which I assume precluded ejections seats as there wasn't enough room. I was on 9 Squadron as a navigator-radar in 1967 when the Vulcan being flown by a pilot who later became my son's godfather suffered a catastrophic engine failure which cut the control rods and made the aircraft uncontrollable. The co-pilot ejected and suffered a broken arm, the captain ejected a few seconds later but left it very late by which time his seat was pointing at the ground. His parachute didn't have time to fully deploy, fortunately it snagged in some power cables and he survived. The three rear crew were killed. At the subsequent inquest the coroner criticised the lack of ejection seats for the rear crew and the possibility of fitting them was investigated. It was found that the cabin floor was not strong enough to take the thrust of an ejection seat operation, amongst other problems such as cost, so instead we were given 'Swivel Seats', a sort of poor man's ejection seats with an inflatable cushion and a CO2 bottle to inflate it and push the crew member out of their seat. They were very successfiul some years later when the crew successfully abandoned XM610 after an engine fire over the North York Moors. I spent nearly 10 years as a navigator on Vulcan B2s.
@@johnweller5491
Many thanks for that John.
I am Lincolnshire born and bred.
Also ex - RAF
Surprisingly, I've never really been a Vulcan fan but still an awesome sight.
Perhaps you should write a book. 👍🏻
In fairness to AVRO, I know of no aircraft with side or rear facing ejector seats, even today.
Though not having flown therein personally; I'd suspect that the surrvival odds of a low level emergency on a Vulcan or Victor, were much higher than an early production F-104 or TU-22 Blinder. (both had downward firing ejector seats, due to each's manufacturer at the time thinking it impossible to safely eject upwards from a high tail aircraft at altitude)
That is correct. The same with the HP Victor
Ego flying an airplane? What could possibly go wrong?
Never happened before, never happened since. Let's hear it for "learning from the mistakes of others."
This crash seem to have similarities to the crash that happened in malta.
A great looking aircraft. Incidentally, that "Shack" at @3:49 is an ex-SAAF machine.
I have fond memories of the Vulcan, in the 60's i was fortunate to accompany 2 vulcans to argentina as guests of the argentinian airforce before visiting every country in south america without doubt the vulcan was a show stopper everywhere we went and finished the tour with a stay in Bermuda-happy days 101sqd
You have a GREAT site!!
Broadhurst was the reason the Vulcan pushed on, not Howard. Howard wanted to divert but because the press and cameras were waiting Broadhurst wanted to push on
Beautiful aircraft, I used to live near Woodford airfield where they were built/maintained during the 1970s/1980s and used to enjoy them flying right over my house at incredibly low altitudes@
One thing that sticks in my mind is that incredible roar that literally shakes the ground beneath you and you can feel it through your body!
Nothing like it, such an iconic aircraft!
What a huge design flaw though, no ejection for the rest of the crew! I believe that was rectified on later models?
Have a look at the accident rates for the B-47.
The pilot: So I've just smacked this thing into the ground, now it's had it, so, in a nutshell myself and the co-pilot here are basically out of here, goodluck chaps, toodle pip.
Its such a shame that they arnt flying any more, i wish i had got to see it in flight but yeah, born to late
I saw XA897 as it flew over my school in New Zealand. It was one of the great moments of my childhood, generating a lifelong interest in aviation and aeromodelling. The apparent pressure of the Air Marshal in the co-pilot's seat to land despite the weather found an echo in 2010 when Poland's "Air Force One" Tu-154M crashed on approach to a military airport ouside Smolensk, Russia, in thick fog, after the Polish Air Force commander in the jump seat urged the pilots to continue attempting to land despite being below minimums and with ground proximity alarms sounding. 96 people, including the Polish President and his wife, were killed. The Air Force chief was reading off the radio altimeter, while the ground sloped up to the runway...
It some how reminds me to a catagory 3 ILS landing condition.
If you are not rated for that, and the equipment is not OK, seek another place to land.
The Bolshoi Ballet diverted to RAF Manston, not RAF Marston.
I use to watch these at the Culdrose Airshow back in the late 70s. The Vulcan and the Harriers always put on a good show. Seems the cool planes are all being grounded now. I miss my delta winged aircraft!
Wow. Things would be different these days! Nanny state or not, aircraft/crew safety is paramount.
Ejection seats take up more room than a standard seat and, including aircraft fittings, weigh around 100 kg each. I suppose the intention was, if the aircraft got into dificulty the rear crew would bail out while the pilots hold the aircraft, then eject.
Simon Clarke ejection seats for the rear crew members were rejected purely on grounds of costs. Avro came up with a design but it was rejected.
@@paulcharlton4788 Thank you for your crucial information. So in reality what was ejected from the programme for supposedly financial reasons was any sense of honour in duty and respect for your comrades in arms! Could one find out if in UK-Submarines there is an escape pod for officers only..?
I'LL BE BACK ! Let us agree on:They were for „non-pilots“, Makes the matter not better at all.
@@paulcharlton4788 It's not quite as simple as that. Read this:- api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1964/jun/10/ejector-seats-in-v-bombers#:~:text=At%20that%20time%20it%20was,of%20spinning%20them%20on%20ejection.
Sadly like the majority of aircraft it's almost inevitable that during its infancy accidents occur....not necessarily fatal although some are flight tested beyond its normal flying conditions,test pilots do push the aircraft beyond the envelope of what it's capable of.Lets not forget though totally out of the blue with no warning malfunctions with no apparent reason even if aircraft has performed faultlessly the law of averages takes over and one day the impossible happens, and then the skill of the pilot /pilots are tested to the max ....50% will crash it's that simple and a cold factor in everything controlled by humans ,it's impossible for anything not to go wrong and this includes the space shuttle disasters quite possibly the most technical machine made by man to operate in the harsh environment of space!!!!! Sadly we learn from these mistakes and try our utmost to prevent anymore tragedies happening again!!!!
Martin Baker designed a V bomber crew ejection system because of his concern for the inability of the 3 backroom boys to escape quickly and on the same terms as the pilots. The MOD refused the (successfully demonstrated) system on grounds of “cost”. 897 suffered PIO on approach to LHR on return from its world tour and the pilots banged out at low height leaving the poor buggers in the back to their fate. The pilots could have avoided the PIO and diverted but chose not to.
Great suggestion, Great vid. Btw the Vulcan 0:27 I’ve actually seen
Because I went to Newark Air Museum!
Thanks mate! Me too!
TheUntoldPast I am being flooded with replies from small you tubers and I’m loving it lol
@@henryd6746 Haha! Fair play mate
TheUntoldPast I really like ur channel cause you always reply to your fans😃
@@henryd6746 No worries mate :) It's the least I can do! People have the decency to comment and take time to watch my videos, it's the least I can do :)
I bet the pilot felt that very difficult to live with - for the rest of his life. The AM had no place in the cockpit and if wanted a jolly he should have been back aft.
I love the sound of this plane
It really does have a roar! Thanks for the comment mate!
Having had the luck to see her in flight; I came to realize you don't just hear a Vulcan, you Feel her too.
(I could literally feel the soundwaves from her 'Vulcan Howl' passing through me, a unique experiance I'll always remember)
I remember visiting Newark air museum when I lived in Lincolnshire and being told by the lady showing visitors the Vulcan exhibit that the ram air turbine (RAT) was under the wing to increase lift. 🤣 Being the nice guy that I am, I just nodded in agreement.
The pilot and copilot were risk takers. I remember this aircraft flying over my school very low. A bit like the Vulcan in the video. I later talked about this with my mother about forty years later. She was Athome
Oops...looking out the window. The plane was actually below her level. Very low indeed! Probably less than 100 feet!
Imagine seeing the pilots eject in your last few seconds as the ground approaches beneath. It must have been awful for the poor guys in the back. Still, in Avros defence, the Vulcan was initially designed as a high altitude bomber, so ordinarily those guys might have had time to escape. I can't think of any large bombers with ejection seats for the entire crew? Apart from maybe the more modern B1b which has a small crew of 4 in an ejection pod. This was a tragic accident on which all of the worst elements combined and resulted in a loss of life.
www.ejectionsite.com/b-52.htm
I was a cadet at RAF Waddington in 1980 when we were all ordered out to the runway and watched as one of the pilots took a Vulcan out for a burn. Wish I knew the tail number, or that I had known that history was literally being made
The RAF were cheap and refused to install Martin Baker ejection seats for the Navigators, because of the cost. At my Board for a permanent commission (all members were pilots!) I challenged them on this issue and wound up telling them in very polite terms to stuff their permanent commission - resigned and joined the Royal Canadian Airforce (RCAF). Never looked back!
Ahh when Britain was still great
it has never been
Nice video, although the Victor was actually the most advanced V-Bomber.
Beat me to it by 15 minutes.
Most beautiful flying thing since the Blackburn Buccaneer & i hate to say the French dissault Mirage 2000.
So the pilot an copilot punched out leaving no way for the other four crew members to escape? Shameful.
A great pity they decided to attempt a landing not having been trained in GCA under the ongoing weather conditions in that type of aircraft.
Did the pilot's ego get the better of him?
The awaiting media press could have been disappointed, but the Vulcan could have easily diverted to a safer landing elsewhere to equal acclaim.
When the pilot and co pilot ejected leaving the passengers onboard to die in a flaming crash, should had been indicated and convicted in a court martial for manslaughter. They knew those left onboard would die, so they should had done the noble act of staying onboard. After all, the pilot caused the crash.
Shameful! You are right Peter!
Actually, the airplane designers should have been put against a wall. Who creates such a stupidity, where only the flight crew can save themselves?
Comes from driving on the wrong side the whole time probably.
Maybe they thought the crash won’t be „flaming“.
@Big Dirt Perhaps you are right, but the assumption that the life of a pilot should be worth more than that of the rest of the crew is scandalous! Disgusting reflection of the English class society at that time, which was also reflected in the RAF! Today no civilised, let alone galant Pilot would take off under such circumstances!
@Big Dirt I didn’t say anything about THAT.
The tragedy was the remaining crew were abandoned, the aircraft being too low for them to escape as they did not have ejection seats. The pilot and co-pilot would have known this.
They were not "adandoned'
What became of the pilot?
Sorry it all comes down to the aircraft commander He makes the decision The hell with the waiting crowd
Knew a little about this, but for some reason I associate such accidents with navy fighters & civi' airliners.
In fairness to AVRO, I know of no aircraft with side or rear facing ejector seats, even today. Aircraft design is always an exercise in engineering tradeoffs, and having all crew seating pointing forwards seems to have been impractical from a design perspective.
Though not having flown therein personally; I'd suspect that the surrvival odds of a low level emergency on a Vulcan or Victor, were much higher than an early production F-104 or TU-22 Blinder. (both had downward firing ejector seats, due to each's manufacturer at the time thinking it impossible to safely eject upwards from a high tail aircraft at altitude; the Lockheed fighter got drily nicknamed Groundnail by pilots as a result)
As a FLT. LT navigator on Canberra Bombers (XV Squadron Honington) I visited Martin Baker facilities and talked with Martin himself. He advised us that he had developed & tested a light weight ejection seat that could be fitted in any of the three V bombers. The RAF were too cheap and as Pilots always made the decisions in those days it was clear that Nav lives did not matter. Well mine did to me, so I turned down a permanent commission finished my shot service commission and moved to Canada and flew CF100 All Weather Fighters. Never looked back. Now 86 years young, very healthy, no problems and enjoying perpetual never ending summers in Florida! So Jim Taylor, your post is inaccurate and demeaning. My post is the TRUTH.
^ You had me going there for a moment, until that last bit when you started spouting the sort of cliche drivel a teenage troll would espouse.
(playing the veteran card doesn't hold much weight with me either, as I care more about what someone has to state, than whom they were, are, or claim to be)
Worth noting too:
• The RAF can want or not want something, but it's the Politicians that decide what they do & don't get.
If it were otherwise; the RAF wouldn't have still had aircraft in service in 1996, with avionics dating from before 1956.
(a bit like the Army wouldn't have continued with the hapless L60 engine of the Chieftain)
• With a service life that lasted upto 2006, and a far above average safety record, EE Canberras' were hardly a high risk posting.
• Claiming that someone anecdotally claimed that a solution existed doesn't constitute proof, of anything. Unless it's documented and tested, it's nothing but rumour.
• Stating that I'm "inaccurate" & "demeaning" without a syllable devoted to why, is just glib deformation; nothing more.
Try tackling the topic, not the man. If you think the ejection problem was so easily solved, why do no aircraft in service today - including Jet Bombers - have sidewards or rear facing ejector seats?.
(as even if the RAF really had such an option and [for political reasons or not] not adopted it, another airforce would have)
The Australian and New Zealand tour was a sales tour to encourage the RAAF to buy the Vulcan, however the crash ended that idea; the RAAF declined
Sad but true 😔✈️🇳🇿
I was at Raf Waddington when the first Vulcans arrived . They were promotly wheeled off to the hangar . Can anyone say what happend to VX 777 it was sister to the ill fated VX770.
Passengers? I think you mean crew.
The “Tin Triangle”.
Alloy in fact!
True, but nicknames are always a bit inaccurate.
After WW2 the British economy was in ruins with basic necessities rationed and yet they spent billions to develop H bombs and a delivery system. All this to duplicate the capabilities of the US but on a much smaller scale. And yet the Brits are always quick to admonish Americans for Hiroshima.
Pilots were fcking cowards. First crash the plane due to ignorance and then eject while the plane still flies, instead of trying their best to crash land and eject afterwards. With noone at controls, the rest of the crew were doomed for certain.
British class system dictated that enlisted personnel had much less value then officers. Not enough value to give them an ejection seat.
The electronics warfare officers were commissioned officers.
It’s the arrogance of these very senior officers in continuing, and also I doubt they were particularly current in flying any aircraft. They wanted the glory. There must have been other crew who were more suitable.
you are utterly ignorant , the Vulcan's operational crew were all Officers , 2 pilots, 2 Navs ( Nav Plotter , and Nav Radar ) and an Air Electronics Officer
X.
😇 good air intake design
😠 bad wing design
It is not high speed.
Stupid plane that was a flying disaster but the poms still love it today through some sense of false pride
Do not feed the troll.
It was not the aircraft that was at fault in this crash. It was pilot error. Don’t forget that this was 1956 and attitudes and approach to safety was not like they are now. These guys flew over my school in Wellington at a very low altitude with no regard to public safety. I will leave you to decide what you think or the crew of this plane. I know what I think!
the russians watch this drinking vodca