Date:	Thursday 22 November 1956
Time:	19:31 UTC
Type:	English Electric Canberra B.2
Owner/operator:	35 (Madras Presidency) Sqn RAF
Registration:	WJ615
MSN:	HP182B
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Saggairt Mor, 6 miles SE of Braemar, Aberdeenshire, Scotland -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Upwood, Cambridgeshire
Destination airport:	RAF Kinloss, Moray Firth, Scotland
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Registration: WJ615
Operator: Royal Air Force: (35 Squadron)
Accident Date: 22 Nov 1956
Accident Site: Carn an t-Sagairt Mòr (1,047m/3,430ft) 6 miles South East of Braemar, Aberdeenshire

Aircraft Accident Details

This particular Canberra was attached to No.35 Squadron RAF. (No.50 Squadron also had been equipped with Canberras, but theirs had been replaced with Avro Vulcan bombers 10 months prior to this accident.)

Flying Officer A.A. Redman (Pilot), with Flying Officer A.A. Mansell (Navigator), of No.35 Squadron was detailed to fly Canberra B.2 WJ615 on an authorised 3 hours night sortie.

At 18:02 (Zulu) hours the aircraft took off from RAF Upwood (Cambridgeshire, England), received clearance and departed for Kinloss (Scotland) Weather conditions for the entire trip were good.

At 19.00 hours the aircraft made R/T contact with Kinloss, after which a normal QGH1 from 25,000ft followed by a visual circuit and overshoot of runway 26 was carried out.

At 19.21 hours the aircraft was seen to climb away from an overshoot height of approximately 300ft by Kinloss Air Traffic Control who passed two regional pressure settings. Flying Officer Redman replied "Thank You. Good Night." This was the last transmission heard from the aircraft.

The aircraft was seen to climb away for its return to Upwood. At about 19.30 hours (approximately) witnesses from near Braemar heard a jet aircraft pass at an unusually low altitude for that area. One witness saw what must have been the tail navigation light, and the outline of the aircraft as it passed flying south, with the engines sounding normal and on a straight course. A few minutes later the witness saw a flash as it struck the hills [Carn an t-Sagair Mòr]. It was a clear night with a small amount of scattered cloud.

About 30 civilian volunteers, guided by Police and Queen's gamekeepers, and two RAF Service Mountain Rescue Teams (Leuchars 10 men and Kinloss 22 men) and a helicopter were engaged in the search for the wreckage. At 03.30 hours (23 November 1956) three search parties from [the] Danzig Shiel (OS 50/201905) were sent out in a SE direction. Party 'B' was just approaching the wreckage when the helicopter sighted it at 08.40 hours.

Struck off charge 7/11/1956 as Cat.5(c). Officially, the wreckage was recovered to 63 MU RAF Edzell for accident investigation, component recovery, and scrapping. However, substantial pieces of wreckage - including at least one wing and one engine - still remain at the crash site

The subsequent Court of Inquiry was unable to determine the cause of the accident

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.184 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Royal Air Force Aircraft WA100-WZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1983 p 61)
3. National Archives (PRO Kew) File BT233/373: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C424494
4. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AVIA 5/35/S2853: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C6578633
5. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=WK
6. http://www.bywat.co.uk/grv03.html
7. http://www.wtdwhd.co.uk/glencallater.html
8. http://malcolm.lyon.free.fr/munros/slideshow.php?wk=115&np=23
9. https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/3805834
10. https://christopherjkemp.wordpress.com/artists-writing/apropiated-texts/crash-site/
11. http://www.planetrace.co.uk/1950-1959_26.html
12. https://35squadron.wordpress.com/2017/05/21/canberra-b-2-wj615-22111956/

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
15-Jun-2008 15:46	JINX	Added
17-Jun-2008 10:35	JINX	Updated
08-Apr-2013 18:01	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Cn, Operator, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative]
10-Apr-2013 09:02	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Location, Destination airport]
02-Jun-2013 12:49	Anon.	Updated [Operator]
02-Jun-2013 18:48	Nepa	Updated [Operator]
22-Jan-2020 21:22	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]
22-Jan-2020 21:24	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source]