Norfolk

Northrepps Airfield has a single grass runway, orientated 18/36, and 1617 ft (493 m) long, with a down slope of 1.8% on Runway 18. On the day of the accident, the short grass was wet and an aftercast indicated that the wind at Northrepps was from approximately 210º at 10 to 13 kt. The pilot first flew an approach to Runway 18 and touched down close to the threshold; he subsequently reported that, looking at the slope of the runway ahead of him, he decided to go around and re‑position for a landing on Runway 36, to take advantage of the up-slope on that runway. The pilot stated that, during the approach to Runway 18, he had assessed that the braking effect of the wind would be insignificant in comparison to the braking effect that would be afforded by the uphill slope when landing on Runway 36. The pilot recalled seeing a “shortened” and “non‑standard” windsock mounted on a caravan adjacent to the Runway 18 threshold, but he did not believe that it could be relied upon for an accurate wind strength determination. He did not recall having seen the airfield’s other, larger, windsock. The approach for a short field landing on Runway 36 was normal and the pilot closed the throttles just before the threshold. The aircraft touched down close to the threshold, and the pilot immediately retracted the flaps. The pilot reported that he had lost two thirds of his touchdown speed by about the mid-point of the runway, and that the braking was within his expectations. He subsequently stated that he “seemed to get to a point… when I realised that I was effectively getting no braking at all from the wheels and the uphill slope had petered away”; he then experienced a sensation which he described as being similar to aquaplaning, with all braking authority seemingly lost. The aircraft continued along the runway, crossed the grassed overshoot area, ran over an earth bank beyond the end of the runway and came to rest on a public road just north of this bank. The pilot shut the aircraft down and all three occupants vacated the aircraft without difficulty.

The Dassault Falcon 20C jet aircraft was on charter to fly passengers from Norwich, U.K. to Gothenburg, Sweden, and during the morning it made an uneventful positioning flight from Oslo, Norway, to Norwich where it landed at 12:28 hrs. The six passengers boarded the aircraft at about 15:20 hrs and the aircraft received clearance from Norwich Tower to taxi out for take-off on runway 28. While taxying the crew received an airways clearance and the aircraft was lined up on the runway without delay. The co-pilot, a qualified commander on this type of aircraft, was in the left hand pilot's seat, and the aircraft commander in the right hand seat. No bird flocks were seen by either of the pilots whilst taxying to the active runway. The aircraft took-off at 15:37 hrs piloted from the left hand seat. On becoming airborne, at a position a little over halfway down the runway, the crew saw a flock of birds ahead flying just above the ground. The pilot increased slightly the aircraft's climb attitude and the flock passed underneath. A few seconds later a second flock was seen at a higher level and directly in the aircraft's flight path. The pilot lowered the aircraft nose and the flock passed overhead. On re-establishing the climb and at a height of between 100 and 200 feet a third flock was seen, again directly ahead. This flock extended from ground level to well above the aircraft and there was no possible way for the pilot to avoid it; almost immediately the crew heard the sound of multiple bird strikes on the aircraft, the commander described the noise as 'like a machine gun'. The pilot maintained the aircraft in the climb attitude and the commander, who was checking the aircraft's instruments, noticed the RPM on both engines running down very fast, he also observed the engine pressure ratio (EPR), and exhaust gas temperature (EGT) instrument readings dropping. The pilot heard a bang from the engines, followed by the sound of the engines running down in a rough and abnormal manner. He quickly asked if both engines had failed. This was confirmed by the commander who tried to move the thrust levers without any response from the engines. By this time the aircraft was at a height of approximately 300 feet with the landing gear still down, the crew not having had time to select it up because of their preoccupation with avoiding the bird flocks. The speed, which had been about 150 knots prior to the bird strikes, had dropped to 135 knots. The control column was eased forward to maintain speed and the aircraft began to lose height. The pilot saw a field ahead and slightly left of the aircraft which he considered the best forced landing area. On receiving confirmation of his decision from the commander, the pilot made a turn to the left and lined up the aircraft for an approach to the selected field. Visibility was not good because of approaching darkness but the crew were able to see some trees at the approach end of the field. These were avoided and a positive touch down made; the stall warning sounded just before the aircraft hit the ground. Battery and fuel switches were turned off either just before or after ground impact and an attempt was made to close the thrust levers, but these would not move. All three landing gear legs were torn off shortly after ground impact and the aircraft finally came to rest on the belly of the fuselage. The commander, although partially blinded by blood from cuts on his head, made his way to the main cabin door, which he opened, and all the occupants were evacuated.

The aircraft, brand new, has just been delivered to the owner and the crew was completing a local training flight at Courtyard Farm Aerodrome, Norfolk. On final approach, the airplane banked left, causing the left wing to drop and to struck the ground. On impact, the left main gear was partially torn off and the airplane slid for several yards before coming to rest. All three occupants escaped uninjured while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

During the takeoff roll at RAF West Raynham, a tire burst. The pilot lost control of the airplane that veered off runway and came to rest. There were no casualties.

The aircraft took-off from Hatfield at 1652 hours to carry out the first of a series of production test flights for the purpose of qualifying for a Series Certificate of Airworthiness. The schedule for the flight called for stalling tests should the aircraft and the flight conditions be suitable. After take-off the aircraft climbed towards the north-east and at about 1830 hours, after completing the greater part of the flight test schedule, the stalling tests were begun. Three approaches to the stall were made in order to check the aircraft's stall warning and stall recovery systems and the flight engineer's log shows that with the aircraft in the landing configuration the stick shaker operated at 102 kt and the stall recovery system at 93 kt. The fourth stalling run was made at a height of 11 600 ft with the aircraft still in the landing configuration but, in accordance with the requirements of the test schedule, the stall warning and stall recovery systems had been made inoperative. Radio telephony communication with the aircraft consisted only of routine 11 messages until at 1834 hours when the pilot-in-command reported We are in a superstall at the moment". This was the last radiocommunication received. At about this time the aircraft was seen over Felthorpe flying very slowly heading south-west at about 10 000 ft. The nose was seen to go up 30 to 40 degrees and the aircraft began to turn to port; the starboard wing then dropped sharply and, following a short burst of engine power, the aircraft went into a flat spin to starboard. The spin continued, the aircraft turning once every 6 to 8 seconds until it reached the ground about a minute and a half later. All four crew members were killed.

Shortly after takeoff from RAF Marham, while in initial climb, the crew noticed a fuel leak on the right wing and decided to return for an emergency landing. Unfortunately, the visibility was limited due to poor weather conditions and the pilot-in-command was forced to complete the approach with its radio compass as sole reference as there were no ATC or ground navigation aids at that time. During a last turn to join the runway approach path, the airplane lost height and crashed in a field located five miles northeast of the airfield. Four crew members were killed while four others were injured.

The crew was completing a local training sortie. On final approach with one engine voluntarily inoperative, the pilot-in-command elected to make a go around when he lost control of the aircraft that stalled and crashed in a field. Both pilots were killed while three other occupants were injured.

During the final approach completed by night with the flaps fully deployed, the engine number three failed. The airplane stalled and crashed in a huge explosion short of runway 06 threshold. Five crew members were killed while the sixth occupant was seriously injured.
Crew:
F/Sgt B. Wejman, †
F/Sgt R. E. Griffith, †
Sgt W. Pickering, †
Sgt F. R. Edwards, †
F/O M. L. Chatterjee, †
Sgt J. F. Groom.

The crew was performing a local training flight at RAF Marham. While completing a low pass over the runway at a height of 50 feet, the twin engine aircraft nosed down and crashed onto a barrack. All four crew members were killed. The cause of the loss of control was not determined.
Crew:
F/L Anthony Gerard Quinton Brand,
Sgt George William Wright,
LAC James Moffat,
LAC William Regan.

The crew was performing a training sortie with other similar aircraft and De Havilland DH.103 Hornet as well. Enroute, the aircraft collided with a Hornet and both aircraft dove into the ground. During the dive, the captain of the Lancaster was able to bail out before the aircraft crashed in a field, killing all seven other occupants from the 35th and 115th Squadron. The Hornet's pilot was killed as well.