Date:	Wednesday 14 July 1954
Time:	13:10 LT
Type:	Handley Page Victor B.1
Owner/operator:	Handley Page Aircraft
Registration:	WB771
MSN:	HP.80/01
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 4 / Occupants: 4
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Cranfield, Bedfordshire -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Approach
Nature:	Test
Departure airport:	Boscombe Down, Wiltshire (EGDM)
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Handley Page HP.80 Victor prototype WB771: first flown 24/12/52 at Boscombe Down, Wiltshire. Written off (destroyed) 14/7/54 when crashed at Cranfield, Bedfordshire, killing all four on board.

Position error calibration flight involving level runs at 100 ft over Cranfield airfield at increasing speeds. After numerous runs over the airfield, induced tail flutter caused cracking of the bolt holes in the fin. These allowed the three bolts securing the tailplane to loosen and shear in quick succession, the complete tailplane and elevators broke away from the aircraft. The remainder of the aircraft dived into the ground at full power, striking exactly at the intersection of the two Cranfield runways.

Crew:
Test Pilot:Squadron Leader Ronald Ecclestone DFC AFC RAF killed.
Flight Test Observer: Mr Ian K. Bennett killed.
Flight Test Observer: Mr B. Heithersay killed.
Flight Test Observer: Mr A.B. Cook killed.

Ronald 'Taffy' Ecclestone was a graduate of the Empire Test Pilots' School No 8 Course in 1949 and had recently joined Handley Page. He accepted the task to fly the Victor WB771 on this sortie so that the senior test pilot (Squadron Leader Hedley George Hazelden DFC & Bar) could carry out a rescheduled demonstration of another aircraft to a foreign sales delegation. Ecclestone had been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross following a tour with 218 Squadron. Ian Bennett had been one of the two man crew (the other was Squadron Leader Hazelden) who made the first flight in a Victor on 24 December 1952.

Stress concentrations around the holes were reduced by adding a fourth bolt. The potential for flutter due to shortcomings in the design of the fin/tailplane joint was also reduced by shortening the fin. Additionally, the prototypes were tail heavy due to the lack of equipment in the nose; this was remedied by adding large ballast weights to the prototypes. Production Victors had a lengthened nose to move the crew escape door further from the engine intakes as the original position was considered too dangerous as an emergency exit in flight. The lengthened nose also improved the center of gravity range.

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.160 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Royal Air Force Aircraft WA100-WZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1983 p 21)
3. National Archives (PRO Kew) File BT233/221: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C424342
4. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=WB
5. https://www.thunder-and-lightnings.co.uk/memorial/entry.php?id=236
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handley_Page_Victor#Accidents_and_incidents
7. https://www.pprune.org/aviation-history-nostalgia/234875-victor-accidents-ground-flying.html#post2721363
8. http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?7523-S-Ldr-Ronald-Taffy-Ecclestone-DFC-Test-Pilot

Handley Page Promotional Film, featuring WB771:

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
01-Jun-2008 18:14	JINX	Added
16-Dec-2013 13:45	TB	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Source, Narrative]
16-Dec-2013 14:59	TB	Updated [Time, Aircraft type]
07-May-2014 07:24	Anon.	Updated [Source]
10-Jan-2020 23:46	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Cn, Phase, Departure airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative]