As an Instructor Navigator I regularly flew with student pilots on all stages of [...]]]> I often been asked to go into more detail about my flying accident, subsequent rescue and rehabilitation, so here goes:  January 1996 found me instructing pilots and navigators to fly the Tornado F3 on 56(R) squadron at RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire.   

As an Instructor Navigator I regularly flew with student pilots on all stages of their Operational Conversion to the aircraft. January 10th was no different and I was number two in a three aircraft formation on an air-combat mission. The initial part of the sortie was to be a bounce, where one jet was the ‘enemy’ and tried to surprise and shoot down the other two as they transited to the exercise area.  

 After briefing, the bounce aircraft took off first and prepositioned. Myself and the student pilot were number 2 of the remaining pair, and after an uneventful taxi and take-off proceeded as briefed at 15000 feet. Contact with the bounce aircraft was soon accomplished and the engagement commenced, however an error of judgement was made by the pilots and my aircraft and the bounce collided wing to wing, almost head-on and with about 1000mph closure between the two airframes. I was in the lower of the two aircraft shown below and we lost most of the right wing and a fair portion of the tail section. The aircraft immediately spun out of control, rolling at more that 1.5 degrees per second within 1 second of impact. Thankfully I was strapped into a Martin-Baker Mk 10a ejection seat and the pilot was able to initiate our escape sequence from the front cockpit.  

We collided at about 1000 mph

UNDER CONSTRUCTION _ TO BE CONTINUED