Type: Handley Page Victor B.1A
Owner/operator: 15 Squadron Royal Air Force (15 Sqn RAF)
Registration: XH613
Fatalities: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 5
Other fatalities: 0
Aircraft damage: Written off (damaged beyond repair)
Location: Castle Bytham, Lincolnshire, 5 miles NE of RAF Cottesmore -
United Kingdom
Phase: Approach
Nature: Military
Departure Airport: RAF Cottesmore, Rutland (EGXJ)
Destination Airport: RAF Cottesmore, Rutland (EGXJ)
Narrative: On 14/6/1962, whilst approaching RAF Cottesmore at the end of a sortie, all four engines ran down because the electrical connectors became disconnected on the throttle box. The aircraft was being flown by the squadron commander; Wg Cdr Matthews with Fg Off Lowther as his co-pilot. On the order to abandon the aircraft, it is believed that the rear crew left the aircraft in less than half a minute and, although one man left the rubber of his flying boots along the fuselage, the entire crew survived. It was particularly tragic, therefore, that a few days later another Victor from the Cottesmore sister squadron should crash with the loss of all onboard. (See the crash of XA929 of 10 Sqn, RAF, on 16/6/1962)
The first three crew to bail out landed beside the "Ram Jam Inn" on the A1 where liquid sustenance was provided by the landlord. The two pilots ejected and landed some distance away, and upon reaching the same "hostelry" were told by the landlord that it was closed!