‘Shot in the dark’ here.
In 1995 I was stationed at RNAS Yeovilton working in ATC. I had two weeks left to serve in the Royal Navy having accepted a rather generous redundancy package (daft kind of thing they were doing back then). One bright sunny day I was tasked to show a 15 year old school boy around the airfield. Off I went with my charge in a Vauxhall Rascal heading for the runway caravan……..kids love sitting on the edge of the threshold watching the jets land just feet away.
I radioed the ground cotroller (my mate) with a request to cross runway 27 and was given a hold instruction (Harriers landing). Minutes later a Firefly taxied into the back of us. The Rascal was totally ‘shredded’ right up to and including the back of our seats. The lad was badly injured by the prop striking his back and I was cut by bits of flying metal and glass. We were both transported to hospital where the lad was admitted.
I left the navy two weeks later and have often wondered what happened to the lad and what was the damage to the Firefly.
I bet they blamed me for the accident as well…………just a feeling I have.
Anyone?
By: stringbag - 22nd April 2007 at 09:40
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiGtlP6wzQc
This is a video of a Firefly, this crashed at Duxford in 2003 killing the pilot. Is this the same Firefly?
Yes, that’s the one (the accident also took the life of engineer/navigator Neil Rix, not just the pilot Bill Murton).
Another clip, taken at Yeovilton Air Day 1996 can be seen here…
By: The Freshest - 22nd April 2007 at 09:22
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiGtlP6wzQc
This is a video of a Firefly, this crashed at Duxford in 2003 killing the pilot. Is this the same Firefly?
By: stringbag - 22nd April 2007 at 08:59
I remember the WWII Veteran, he went as white as a ghost. I’ll have to admit to being a bit shaken. The prop had settled on my backside and the lad had jumped out and was lying on the taxiway screaming his head off. I got out and simply sat on the deck in total shock; it was a two seater vehicle so there was no ‘frozen’ guy to be lifted out…….sorry, pub story.
Thanks very much for sharing this story!
By: QldSpitty - 22nd April 2007 at 08:22
Hindsight..
…it,s a wonderful thing but accidents do happen.Just glad you weren,t too badly injured.A lot of others aren,t when your in the wrong place at the wrong time..Thanks for sharing.
By: Griffiths911 - 22nd April 2007 at 07:45
I remember the WWII Veteran, he went as white as a ghost. I’ll have to admit to being a bit shaken. The prop had settled on my backside and the lad had jumped out and was lying on the taxiway screaming his head off. I got out and simply sat on the deck in total shock; it was a two seater vehicle so there was no ‘frozen’ guy to be lifted out…….sorry, pub story.
The pilot was a Sea Harrier Lt. Cdr. and was very shocked to see me there. Some say he should have been ‘weaving’ on the taxiway and some say the ground controller should have informed him that my vehicle (c/s ‘Foddo’) was holding in front of him.
The reason I said I thought I might be blamed was before I left the air boss called me to his office and asked me why I didn’t position myself on the left handside of the taxiway. His reasoning was that the Firefly would have not have hit me with the prop if I had been on the left hand side.
By: Seaking93 - 22nd April 2007 at 00:00
Remember it well, watched it happen standing outside the museum restoration workshop, the veteran in the back was attending a function at the museum, if I remember he also ended up in hospital having a problem with his heart, for the life of me I can’t remember what the event was though.
Only looking at some pictures of the Firefly in happier times tonight, saw the wreckage a few weeks back, very sad, RIP guys
By: stringbag - 21st April 2007 at 23:24
From memory, the ‘Fly suffered some damage to its propeller and engine. However, it was repaired in time for displays during the 1996 airshow season.
There was a programme made about Yeovilton, and they covered this incident briefly. In the back of WB271 was a former Firefly pilot, and according to the programme he won a flight in a raffle.
The words on the footage were “The flight never quite made it, taxiing out for take-off, the Firefly hit a van.”
I also heard at the time that one of the guys was frozen completely solid, and had to be lifted out of the Rascal still in the ‘sitting’ position.
HTH,
Mark
Sign In
April 21, 2007 at 10:53 pm