New years day accident

B36 at Boscombe Down

I remember this event well. I was 13 and lived near the end of the SE/NW runway at BD, so was inevitably an air enthusiast. The story I heard from my father, who worked on the airfield, was that a B36 lost hydraulics over southern england somewhere and Boscombe Down, with the longest runway around was chosen for landing. The plane flew round for hours burning fuel – I can still remember the unique sound of 6 engines droning in the early morning. It was very cold with lots of snow on the ground. It finished up on the porton/highpost road well off the western end of the runway and I always imagined that it had overshot with no brakes and a snow-covered runway, although that kind of weather more often happened in an easterly wind, so I guess the story of undershooting is more likely. I thought at the time that it had landed in daylight, so the story of lights seems unlikely.

Thanks Guppy, I am sure the accident I am referring to happened on Jan 1 1954 (just).
It was R A F policy to allow the English Xmas leave and the Scotch New year, that was the reason I was on the station at the time. It would however be a coincidence for Prestwick to have two accidents in one week. I am aware that your memory has a habit of playing nasty tricks on you as you grow older. I visited the Graham web site and found it very informative, thanks again.

If it was Xmas rather than New Year , it could have been this accident :-

12/25/1954
LOCATION: Prestwick, Ayrshire, Scotland
CARRIER: British Overseas Airways FLIGHT:
AIRCRAFT: Boeing Stratocruiser
REGISTRY: G-ALSA S/N: 15943
DETAILS: Crashed during approach

More details here : http://www.ingraham.ca/bob/prestwickcause.html

Thanks for that info on the B36 but still wondering what a/c pranged on, ?oops my 1955 should have been 1954, sorry bout that.

“Lettice Curtis – Her Autobiography”

I thought this was ringing a recent bell.

Lettice Curtis in her autobiography, published last year, devotes five pages and two photographs to this incident.

..and incidentally a damn fine read.

Controller: “You are two miles to touchdown, on centreline”

Pilot: “I have landed.” A slight pause , then: “My isn’t your field rough!”

Mark

Let me check my info. on Loring AFB but I think this was one of Loring Aircraft.

I recall that one of the first 36 they sent over the pond had to be sent back to the factory to be rebuild due to a nasty landing in the UK

RER

Hi all.
I wrote about this incident a while ago.
I’d love any further information on this too.
Cheers
Andy

http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/showthread.php?t=21916

There was a big article in our Boscombe Bulletin on it some years ago…I will see if I can track it down!

Hi all.
I wrote about this incident a while ago.
I’d love any further information on this too.
Cheers
Andy

http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/showthread.php?t=21916

Found this
http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/showthread.php?t=28834
about a B.36 that landed at Enstone. No more details.

I think something like this happened at Boscombe Down …

In January of 1952, B-36D 44-92042 landed a mile short of the runway at Boscombe Down in a snow-covered field. They towed it to the runway and (someone else) flew it back to the USA. The short blurb in the book “Convair B-36” mentions that the pilot was attempting to land in a snowstorm, circled the spire of Salisbury Cathedral (perhaps the Brits can validate the geography) and finally mistook some distant lights for the runway’s approach lights.

Try the May 1994 Flypast article on this subject – I lent out my old Flypasts and never got them back . . .
“Never a borrower nor lender be” (old saying., and how true!)
I also have a feeling that this came up on a thread a year or two ago but couldn’t find it via “Search”.

I think something like this happened at Boscombe Down …