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Date Posted: 1/08/06 10:23:00 Author:Derek Lehrle. ex RAF Subject: RAF Hastings Crash
Does anyone out there know anything about a Hastings aircraft that crashed in Iraq in 1957. April or close to it was the date. My cousin who was flyng Vampires in that area and he told me that his brother died in that crash when a wing snapped whilst transpporting army personnel back to the Uk for leave. His brother was Peter McCarth and I think he was the pilot. I cannot find anything about this crash and his brother, my cousin, wouldn't be wrong about this.
Laurie Bean from Malaysia has forwarded this to me:
I think this incident relates to the crash of Vickers Valetta C1, VW832 on 17 April 1957. The aircraft crashed near Quweira, 19 miles north of Aqaba. The details recorded in Colin Cummings book 'To Fly No More', are as follows:
The aircraft was an 84 Sqn machine, being flown by a 114 Sqn crew and tasked to ferry Army personnel from Aqaba to Habbaniya in Iraq as part of of the general withdrawal of British forces from Jordan. About 7 minutes after take-off the aircraft was seen to dive into the ground and to be completely destroyed by fire. The cause of the accident was the failure of the port wing main spar outboard of the engine, caused by severe turbulence. It is possible that the pilot lost control and whilst recovering, exceeded the 145 knots limit for turbulence penetration speed and may have used the controls harshly which contributed to the structural failure.
All on board, 3 RAF and 24 Army personnel, were killed in the crash. Sgt Peter John McCarthy was the Air Signaller on the crew.
