Royal Air Force - RAF

Lockheed C-130 Hercules

The crew was engaged in a troop transfer mission between RAF Lyneham and Brize Norton. Following an uneventful flight, the four engine aircraft made a wheels up landing at Brize Norton Airport. It slid on the runway for few dozen metres before coming to rest. All four crew members escaped uninjured while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

Lockheed C-130 Hercules

The airplane landed hard on a rough airstrip located in the Helmand Province in Afghanistan. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair but all occupants escaped uninjured. Due to Taliban presence in the vicinity of the accident area, the airplane was deliberately destroyed by fire.

Lockheed C-130 Hercules

The crew of ZH876 were tasked to fly a routine roulement of troops to a Tactical Landing Zone (TLZ) in Maysan province, Iraq. Weather at the TLZ was good, with a visibility of 25 km, no significant cloud and a light surface wind. The flight to the TLZ was routine and at approx 17:00 UTC the Hercules began to make its approach to the TLZ. Comms had already been established between ZH876 and the Tactical Air Traffic Controller (Tac ATC) at the TLZ, and the aircraft was subsequently cleared to land. An uneventful approach followed flown by the copilot. At 17:10:15 UTC, as the aircraft was about to touchdown at the TLZ, the crew experienced a load bang and a bright flash. The flash temporarily blinded the flight-deck crew. Virtually simultaneously, the aircraft touched down. The first flash was followed, a second later, by another flash and louder bang. The aircraft slewed off the left-hand side of the runway. The captain took over control of the aircraft. On regaining vision, the captain tried to steer the aircraft back onto the runway. However, the crew became aware of a fire on the port side, which was confirmed as a wing fire. The captain brought the aircraft to an immediate halt. The aircraft came to rest 50 m from the runway edge, some 700 m after touchdown. The aircraft sustained substantial damage and it was decided to blow up the plane because the damage was too difficult to repair and there was also a potential risk that anti-Iraqi forces might obtain information on specialist equipment.

BAe Nimrod

The aircraft departed at 13:43 for a mission over Afghanistan, in support of coalition forces engaging the Taliban. At 15:30 the airplane rendezvoused with an RAF Lockheed TriStar tanker and received fuel in an air-to-air refuelling procedure that lasted 10 minutes. Air-to-air refuelling appeared to pass without incident and XV230's crew prepared to turn east, towards their operational area. Eleven minutes later a bomb bay fire warning, either coincident with, or followed immediately by, an elevator bay underfloor smoke warning, was reported. The crew also reported smoke entering the aircraft’s cabin, from both elevator and aileron bays. Within a minute the aircraft depressurised as the fire breached the aircraft’s pressure hull requiring the crew to don their oxygen masks. The captain began to turn the aircraft towards Kandahar, declared a MAYDAY and began a descent. Meanwhile a crew member reported a fire 'from the rear of the starboard engines'. Another crew member reported a fire within the aileron bay. Last radio contact was at 15:46 when the crew acknowledged the Kandahar weather for landing. About the same time, a Harrier GR7 pilot, who was several thousand feet above, reported an intense fire close to the starboard fuselage and stretching out between where the wing joins the aircraft fuselage to the starboard engine; there was a second fire that stretched behind the aircraft from a point on the side of the rear body of the aircraft. At 15:47 the Harrier pilot reported that he saw the Nimrod explode. It broke into 4 sections, at a height of between 750 feet and 1000 feet. All 14 crew members were killed. Crew: F/Sgt Gary Wayne Andrews, F/Sgt Stephen Beattie, F/Sgt Gerard Martin Bell, F/Sgt Adrian Davies, L/Cpl Oliver Simon Dicketts, F/Lt Steven Johnson, Sgt Benjamin James Knight, F/Lt Leigh Anthony Mitchelmore, F/Lt Gareth Rodney Nicholas, Sgt John Joseph Langton, Sgt Gary Paul Quilliam, F/Lt Allan James Squires, F/Lt Steven Swarbrick, Mne Joseph David Windall.

Lockheed C-130 Hercules

The RAF Hercules was on a routine operational flight providing support to the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) at Lashkar Gar, Afghanistan at the time of the accident. The LKG Tactical Landing Zone (TLZ) is 6,800 feet long by 150 feet wide with a surface of compacted sand and gravel located on the south side of LKG town. The TLZ is used by UK forces and other agencies including the UN and Red Cross. The aircraft took off at 08:50 UTC from Kabul International Airport (KBL) to fly a routine logistics sortie to deliver cargo and personnel to LKG TLZ. After an uneventful medium level transit the aircraft landed at LKG at 10:20 UTC. Using a standard tactical landing technique the aircraft touched down some 500ft in from the runway threshold, reverse thrust was selected and speed reduced without the need for wheel braking. After 3 seconds, as the speed was nearing 70 kts there was a loud bang from the port side of the aircraft in the vicinity of the port main landing gear, the force of which was felt throughout the aircraft. At the same time the flight deck crew saw tyre debris flying up in front of the aircraft and then became aware of structural damage to the number 2 engine. The captain ordered the Emergency Engine Shutdown Drill (EESD) on the number 2 engine. He maintained directional control with nosewheel steering. Immediately after the shutdown of number 2 engine crew members observed a large amount of fuel leaking from the port wing area in the vicinity of the external tank pylon and that there was a fire in the vicinity of No.1 engine. The captain ordered the shut down of the No.1 engine using the EESD. Whilst this drill was carried out crew members observed that the fire was spreading across the whole wing. Realising the severity of the situation the captain brought the aircraft to a halt near the northern end of the landing zone some 6,400 feet from the touchdown point. He ordered the passengers and crew to immediately carry out the Emergency Evacuation Drill. Once all personnel had evacuated the aircraft, fire rapidly destroyed the aircraft and cargo.

Lockheed C-130 Hercules

The aircraft was performing, according to the RAF, an administrative flight from Baghdad to Balad, an Air Base located 65 km northwest of Baghdad. While climbing, the aircraft was hit by enemy fire and crashed near Al Taji, about 30 km northwest of Baghdad. The aircraft was destroyed and all 10 occupants were killed.

Lockheed C-130 Hercules

On the night of 11 June 1999, RAF Hercules XV298 was tasked to collect personnel and equipment from Kukes airstrip, Albania. The aircraft flew from Italy and landed on the unlit airstrip using normal Night Vision Goggle (NVG) procedures. The crew had been briefed that there would be sufficient runway remaining from the pickup point to the end of the airstrip. The crew were unable to see the end of the airstrip as artificial lighting in the near distance interfered with their night vision goggles. After loading personnel and equipment it began its takeoff run along the remaining available runway, but soon hit a fence and several other ground obstacles. XV298 slowed then veered to the right, suffering severe damage to its right wing before stopping. Fuel leakage from the damaged wing ignited and the subsequent fire destroyed much of the aircraft.

BAe Nimrod

The Nimrod display aircraft and crew had deployed to Canada on 23 August 1995 for displays at Canadian Forces Base Shearwater and the Canadian International Air Show (CIAS) at Toronto. In excellent weather, with a light on-shore wind, the aircraft took off on time for its display. Upon completion of the safety checks, it ran in for the standard Nimrod display sequence which features two orbits and two dumb-bell turns. The latter manoeuvres each involved a turn away from the display line, a climb to not above 1,000 feet, followed by a turn in the opposite direction and descent, to fly back parallel with the display line. Having completed the two orbits, the first dumb-bell turn was completed uneventfully. After a slow flypast with undercarriage down, the aircraft entered its final manoeuvre, the second dumb-bell turn. It was seen to turn away approximately 75° to starboard under full power before the flaps were retracted to 20° and the undercarriage raised. The nose was then pitched up into a climbing attitude of 24°. As the aircraft passed 950 feet, engine power was reduced to almost flight idle, following which the speed reduced rapidly to 122 knots, below the 150 knots recommended and taught for that stage of the display. The aircraft was rolled to 70° of port bank, shortly afterwards reducing to 45°, and the nose lowered to 5° below the horizon. During this turn the airspeed increased slightly and the G-loading increased to 1 .6 G. However, the combination of the low airspeed and the G-loading led the aircraft to stall, whereupon the port wing dropped to 85° of bank and the nose dropped to 18° below the horizon. Full starboard aileron and full engine power were applied in an attempt to recover the aircraft but, by this stage, there was insufficient height to recover and the aircraft hit the water. All seven crew members were killed.

BAe Nimrod

The aircraft was one of three Nimrod reconnaissance variants and had just undergone a major servicing at the Nimrod Major Servicing Unit (NMSU), RAF Kinloss by RAF maintenance personnel. Nimrod XW666 departed on a routine post-servicing airtest. After approximately 35 minutes of flight, following a test of the aircraft's anti-icing system, the No 4 engine fire warning illuminated. Whilst the crew were carrying out the fire drill, the No 3 engine fire warning also illuminated. A rear crew member confirmed that the aircraft was on fire and advised the captain that panels were falling away from the starboard wing. After two explosions, the captain feared for the structural integrity of the aircraft and decided to ditch before he lost control authority. Without the aid of flaps, which failed to operate because of a fire/associated hydraulic failure, he completed a controlled ditching into the Moray Firth. The aircraft bounced twice onto the sea before settling. The fuselage broke into two and the aircraft subsequently sank. Parts were salvaged and the cockpit section is now on display at AeroVenture South Yorkshire Aircraft Museum in Doncaster.

Lockheed C-130 Hercules

The aircraft with the call sign 'Star trek 3' was one of three Hercules aircraft from 70th Squadron, RAF Lyneham, engaged in formation and low-level navigation training over Scotland. Having completed the formation element of the sortie, the three aircraft separated for individual exercises, which, for the crew of XV193, included a simulated drop of a small cargo pack onto a dummy drop zone in a valley, (Glen Tilt) eight miles north of Pitlochry. Having completed the simulated drop exercises and turned north to begin their egress from the drop zone, a rocky outcrop forced the crew to continue the left turn. After avoiding this obstacle, the crew elected to reverse their turn to enter the narrow valley of Glen Loch and regain the original route. In performing this manoeuvre, at low-level and low-speed, the aircraft stalled and crashed crashed forcefully into the moorland in Glen Loch (East of Glen Tilt) near Loch Loch. All nine crew members were killed. Crew (70th Squadron from RAF Lyneham): S/L Graham Paul Young, S/L Stanley Duncan Muir, F/Lt Graham Robert John Southard, F/Lt Stephen Paul McNally, F/O Jonathan Huw Owen, M/A Terence John William Gilmore, Sgt Craig Thomas Hilliard, Sgt Alan Keith King, Lt/Cpl Gary Reginald Manning.