Date:	Friday 23 November 1962
Time:
Type:	Supermarine Scimitar F.1
Owner/operator:	736 Sqn FAA RN
Registration:	XD282
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	2 miles E of Milltown, Grampian -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Approach
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RNAS Lossiemouth
Destination airport:	RNAS Lossiemouth

Narrative:
On 23/11/1962, XD282 ("LM-610") a Supermarine Scimitar F.1 of 736 Sqn FAA RN crashed into the North Sea two miles east of Milltown, Grampian. According to an eyewitness report:

"...the 23 Nov 62 accident, east of Milltown - the pilot was S/Lt Ian Bowden - and the a/c crashed due to pilot error. I was the Acting Senior Pilot of 736 at the time - he took off to carry out dummy deck landings at Milltown; he joined the circuit far too fast, broke downwind and threw his gear and flaps down in one movement, but forgot to select the 'Blow Switch' to ON. Consequently as he came round finals far to fast at 175 knots, the jet pitched up and entered a spin. Bowden ejected and his chute just opened as he hit the edge of the crater with his seat still attached to his bottom! He was damned lucky, and still insisted that he hadn't done anything wrong, but the AAIU found otherwise. Bowden was one of those pilot who had no fear, which is very dangerous for anybody who flies!"

The pilot ejected at 100 feet, landed safely in soft muddy ground. The wreckage of the aircraft went to RNAS Lee-On-Solent on 30/11/1962 for accident investigation and was finally struck off charge as Cat.5(scrap) on 8/7/1963. Scrapped at Fleetlands during July 1963

NOTE: This account differs from other sources, which state that XD282 crashed due to a bird strike, and that the pilot involved was a "S/Lt. C. Legg". This alternative account stems from the official records kept by ejector seat manufacturers Martin-Baker, which also note that this incident was the 626th time a Martin-Baker ejection seat had been used.

NOTE: Both accounts above differ from that in the book 'Fleet Air Arm Boys, Vol 2' which contains a contribution from David Legg, the pilot of XD282, written over 50 years after the event. Legg states that "the nose pitched up sharply and the aircraft began rolling to port very rapidly...I did not have enough height to recover". Legg notes that "The official report blamed me for flying too slowly" but goes on to suggest that there was “a small fault in the pressure instrument system...[which] made the ASI over read by 15 knots".

1. http://www.ukserials.com/losses-1962.htm
2. http://web.archive.org/web/20170801210127/http://www.ejection-history.org.uk:80/Aircraft_by_Type/Scimitar.htm
3. [LINK NOT WORKING ANYMORE:http://www.millionmonkeytheater.com/scimitarpics/xd282.jpg]
4. http://www.int-birdstrike.org/Amsterdam_Papers/IBSC25%20WPSA1.pdf
5. Steve Bond (2021) Fleet Air Arm Boys Volume Two: Strike, Anti-Submarine, Early Warning and Support Aircraft Since 1945. True Tales From Royal Navy Men and Women Air and Ground Crew (ISBN-13: 978-1-911667-17-9)

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
24-Oct-2013 00:07	Dr. John Smith	Added
05-Sep-2023 08:27	Anon.	Updated