ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 82626
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| Date: | Monday 17 October 1983 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  McDonnell Douglas F-4 FGR.2 Phantom II |
| Owner/operator: | 23 Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | XV484 |
| MSN: | 3373/0099 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Mount Usbourne, 9 miles NNE of Goose Green, East Falkland -
 Falkland Islands
|
| Phase: | Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.) |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Stanley, Falkland Islands (PSY/FSAL) |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
Crashed into the cloud covered Mount Usbourne 500 feet from the summit, nine miles NNE of Goose Green, East Falkland, while acting as a target for two other Phantoms. The crew made no attempt to eject and were both killed
XV484 was involved in an air interception exercise, acting as the "mouse" for 2 other Phantoms acting as "cats". This aircraft had recently come off a tanker, & was fully fuelled for a CAP. Flt Lts Gostick (Pilot) & Bell (Nav) are thought to have seen the "cats" whilst flying above a layer of Stratus cloud at a height of approx 3-4000 ft. The Inquiry assumed that they inverted in order to enter the cloud so as not to be seen by their pursuers, intending to roll out & escape detection. It is further thought that the crew reckoned they were over the Lafonia Plain, & had sufficient height to manouevre, but found on exiting cloud that they were, in fact, over Mt Usborne with only about 400 ft altitude, & a second or two to react. The pilot attempted to pull the aircraft up, but was defeated by the rate of descent. The aircraft struck the ground tail-first, as was evident from a long gouge leading to the crater left by the crash. The aircraft broke up comprehensively, & the arrester-hook was the largest complete single item found by investigators. My brother, an Engineer Officer, was one of the investigating team who attended the crash site immediately following the accident, with specific responsibility to locate the ejection seats, but he, & others had to take cover as the aircraft's fuel & 20mm ammunition burned. The aircraft was also carrying 4 x Sidewinder & 4 x Sparrow missiles. As has been stated above, the crew had no time to eject, & the seats showed no sign of ejection sequence initiation. It is not known why the crew seemed to take no account of height indications from their Radio Altimeter.
Sources:
1. Personal account by Sqn Ldr P.I. Kerrison RAF (Ret'd)
2. http://www.ukserials.com/losses-1983.htm
3. http://www.ukserials.com/pdflosses/maas_19831017_xv484.pdf
4. https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1986/1986
5. http://web.archive.org/web/20171019205516/http://www.ejection-history.org.uk/Aircraft_by_Type/F-4_Phantom_RAF.htm
6. https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/view/1359621/
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 14-Nov-2010 11:55 | ASN archive | Added |
| 04-Jun-2013 03:44 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Narrative] |
| 04-Jun-2013 03:46 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Other fatalities, Location, Country, Phase, Departure airport, Source] |
| 08-Jan-2014 06:53 | Tonyker | Updated [Country, Source, Narrative] |
| 23-Feb-2014 18:45 | Nepa | Updated [Operator] |
| 10-Jun-2014 18:37 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Cn, Country, Departure airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 02-Jun-2015 17:09 | AlLah | Updated [Aircraft type] |
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