ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 144661
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| Date: | Wednesday 1 June 1960 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  Hawker Hunter T Mk.7 |
| Owner/operator: | 8 Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | XL615 |
| MSN: | 41H-695349 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | near Little Aden, Aden -
 Yemen
|
| Phase: | Approach |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Khormaksar, Aden |
| RAF Khormaksar, Aden | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
One of the new pilots, Flying Officer Mike Walley, had been having a dual night check and both he and Flt Lt Andy Devine were used to flying the much higher performance Hunter FGA.9. They had climbed to what would have been 20,000ft, by time, in the Mark 9 single-seat aircraft but was in reality only 10,000ft in the T.7.
Aden nights are dark and altitude can in any case only be determined by reference to an altimeter. Misreading of altimeters by 10,000ft was very common indeed in the Hunter era and came about due to the mismatch of power between the single-seaters, which were flown all the time, and the trainer version with the smaller 100-series Avon, flown very seldom.
The standard let-down in those days was to home overhead at 20,000ft, be given an out-bound heading which was then followed by a steep descent to half the start height plus 2000ft. Hunter T.7 XL615 started its descent and called “Turning left in-bound at 12,000”. A few seconds later there was a big flash in the desert as the aircraft buried itself in the sand and exploded. It had actually been at 2000ft when it started its turn, and not 12,000ft.
Wreckage recovered to 71 MU RAF Bicester for acident investigation (reported stored there 10/12/61). Another Hunter T7 (XL565) was sent on 12/12/60 as a replacement
Sources:
http://www.radfanhunters.co.uk/Accidents.htm
https://forum.keypublishing.com/showthread.php?78785-71-MU-Bicester
www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=XL
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 28-Mar-2012 09:41 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
| 19-Aug-2012 12:37 | Nepa | Updated [Aircraft type, Operator] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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