Date:	Friday 11 May 1956
Time:	13:15
Type:	Vickers Valiant B1
Owner/operator:	RAE Farnborough
Registration:	WP202
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 4
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Southwick Railway Station, Southwick, Brighton, West Sussex -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.)
Nature:	Test
Departure airport:	Farnborough Airfield, Farnborough, Hampshire (EGLF)
Destination airport:	Farnborough Airfield, Farnborough, Hampshire (EGLF
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Vickers Valiant B.Mk.1 WP202, RAE Farnborough: Written off (destroyed) 11/5/56 - Crashed near Southwick railway station, Southwick, near Brighton, West Sussex, during attempted forced landing after major electrical failure at low altitude and high speed. Only the co-pilot ejected safely.

Pilot: Squadron Leader Kenneth Orman RAF Age 33. Killed
Co-Pilot: Flight Lt. Colin Donald Preece RAF Survived - injured (see below)
Navigator: Flight Lt. Kenneth Ernest Philip Evans RAF Age 33. Killed
Engineer: Mr. Alan R. Knight Civilian Experiment engineer, Farnborough. Killed

Test equipment failed to operate so aircraft flew round at high speed and low altitude to burn off fuel before landing. Whilst doing this, the FTO was suspected of continuing to reset circuit breakers on the test equipment prior to the aircraft losing all electrical power and becoming impossible to control. The captain ordered the crew to abandon the aircraft and the co-pilot (Sqn Ldr Colin Preece) jettisoned the canopy and ejected successfully. The rear crew jettisoned the escape hatch but did not get out before the aircraft struck the ground and were killed along with the pilot who stayed with the aircraft.

Sole survivor was the co-pilot Colin Preece who ejected at 1,500 ft and was still attached to the seat when it struck the station ticket office. The aircraft had taken off from Farnborough with a low fuel load due to runway repairs landed to take on more fuel and then had instrument trouble. The load would have been too great to land at Farnborough so it was decided to burn it off flying between Selsey & Brighton. It had already done this a couple of times when on a turn the power assistance to the flight controls failed and the a/c started dropping

1. Air Crash: The Clues in the Wreckage by Fred Jones published 1986. ISBN 0-86379-094-1
2. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.180 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft WA100-WZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1983 p 82)
4. National Archives (PRO Kew) File BT233/342: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C424463
5. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=WP
6. http://www.thunder-and-lightnings.co.uk/memorial/entry.php?id=247
7. http://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=214.0
8. http://www.ukserials.com/losses-1956.htm
9. http://aircrewremembered.com/orman-kenneth.html

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
23-Jan-2010 00:16	John Baker	Added
30-Mar-2011 02:04	BOB	Updated [Source, Narrative]
31-Mar-2011 05:11	Anon.	Updated [Narrative]
07-Oct-2011 08:11	Davec	Updated [Source, Narrative]
03-Jan-2012 05:30	Uli Elch	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Source]
17-Mar-2013 03:30	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Operator, Source, Narrative]
30-Sep-2013 10:08	TB	Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Location, Source, Narrative]
27-Aug-2015 17:35	Anon.	Updated [Total fatalities]
15-Jan-2017 13:53	pietrzak	Updated [Total fatalities, Location, Source, Narrative, Photo, ]
16-Nov-2018 15:52	Tony	Updated [Location]
22-Jan-2020 23:39	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
22-Jan-2020 23:40	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
22-Jan-2020 23:41	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source]