Q A question in our December 2010 issue regarding the above Avro Vulcan crash was answered in the March 2011 isssue.

A John Massingham flew in this aircraft as Crew Chief when it left Akrotiri in May 1973 with three other Vulcans for fighter affiliation training with the Iranian Air Force, but he was not in it at the time of the accident. The enquiry proved that the port undercarriage door jack body had split, venting hydraulic fluid into the bay. When the pilot attempted a “blowdown” the compressed air went the same way and the port undercarriage remained up. The captain pulled off a remarkable landing, and but for a ditch along the runway the aircraft would have been recoverable Cat.3.