1958 Syerston Avro Vulcan crash

Avro Vulcan VX770

Company type	Military aircraft prototype
Industry	Aviation
Founded	1958
Fate	Crashed on 20 September 1958
Headquarters	Hucknall Airfield (Rolls-Royce Limited facility) , United Kingdom
Products	Avro Vulcan bomber prototype VX770

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On 20 September 1958, a prototype of the Avro Vulcan bomber crashed while performing at an air display held at RAF Syerston, located in Nottinghamshire. The tragedy resulted in the deaths of all four crew members aboard as well as three individuals on the ground.

Flight

VX770 was the initial prototype of the Vulcan series. Initially equipped with Avon engines, it was subsequently re-engined with Sapphire powerplants. More recently, it had been fitted with Rolls-Royce Conway engines. On the day of the accident, the aircraft was conducting a test flight from the Rolls-Royce Limited facility at Hucknall Airfield to evaluate the Conway engines’ performance. The crew consisted of four personnel, including an Avro flight test engineer. During this test sortie, VX770 diverted its route to RAF Syerston to take part in the air show commemorating Battle of Britain Day.

Accident

The Vulcan executed a low pass along runway 07 before initiating a rolling climb towards starboard. During this manoeuvre, the starboard wing failed catastrophically, causing the main spar and wing structure to collapse. The damaged aircraft entered a dive with its starboard wing engulfed in flames before impacting the ground. Debris from the crash claimed the lives of three individuals occupying a controllers' caravan, while all four crew members on board perished. Additionally, three servicemen inside an ambulance sustained injuries due to flying debris.

Cause

The official investigation concluded that the accident stemmed from a severe structural failure affecting the primary spar of the aircraft’s wing, corroborated by amateur film footage, photographic evidence, and eyewitness testimonies. Although the Board of Inquiry (BoI) did not determine a definitive cause for this failure, an accident investigator engaged by Rolls-Royce proposed that the pilot exceeded the prototype’s recommended speed and turning limits during the aerobatic routine. This statement was submitted to the BoI but was not given under oath. Moreover, it appears that the BoI was not made aware that Avro considered this hypothesis unsupported by evidence. The Technical Officer assigned to the inquiry suspected fatigue failure in the front bottom wing attachment forging’s inboard arm and suggested that vibrations generated by high airflow volumes required by the Rolls-Royce Conway 11 engines may have contributed to this fatigue.

The Royal Aircraft Establishment conducted a structural examination of the wreckage and produced a report dated 21 April 1960; however, no public record copy is available. Avro’s chief test pilot at the time, Tony Blackman, posited that undetected damage likely occurred during previous flights when Rolls-Royce test pilots had reportedly performed unofficial rolls and loops with VX770. Blackman further noted that maintenance personnel did not inspect for stress-related damage to leading edges and nose ribs—a known issue identified on another prototype he had flown—since Avro employed a unique inspection method involving a very small technician after aerobatic flights, which Rolls-Royce may have been unaware of.

Bibliography

• Vulcan Mk 1, VX770: RAF Syerston, Notts, 20 Sept. 1958 Official accident documentation at The National Archives

External links

• Eyewitness account of the Vulcan bomber crash during a Nottinghamshire airshow, resulting in seven fatalities, 5 July 2020
• "Vulcan crash anniversary" BBC News, 19 September 2008.
• Aviation Safety Network report on the accident