Avro Vulcan XA897

Max has sent me this interesting photo, which belonged to his father, of Avro Vulcan XA897. The first Vulcan bomber to be delivered to the RAF in 1956. Soon after delivery it was sent on a promotional tour around the world, including Australia and New Zealand, where this photo was taken, at Ohakea.

Unfortunately after completing this tour it was landing at Heathrow in heavy rain when ATC asked the pilot to descend on to the glide path. This manouvre caused the aircraft to drop too quickly and it struck the gound before the runway , tearing off the landing gear. The pilot was unable to regain control so he and the co-pilot successfully ejected. The other three crew members were not so lucky as their positions were behind and below the cockpit and needed to exit through the bottom of the aircraft to parachute to the ground. There was of course no time or altitude to allow this and all three perished with the aircraft.