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By: - 25th October 2011 at 13:32 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Not familiar with the exact circumstances of this loss (wasn’t my chapter in the book!) but this seems an overly dramatic conclusion to draw – if an aircraft was lost or having difficulty getting a fix on its position, is it not conceivable that it may have been circling until its true position was established?
By: - 25th October 2011 at 17:52 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
I have some concerns about the way Terence Christian is re investigating WW2 aircraft crash sites in Scotland. He does not accept the official accident reports are correct and also continues with the outdated (in my view)concept that the wreckage of these aircraft should be left as a memorial. Traditional archaeological methods do not produce correct results when applied to crash sites because the majority have been disturbed by weather,original recovery efforts and many years of casual visitors and landowners employees using parts.
By: - 25th October 2011 at 18:42 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Scotavia, you're not alone.
I think he has drawn his conclusion by a literal translation of the report, which isn't helped as it doesn't have any witness statements.
The file includes the usual copies of the clearance form, flight plan, weather charts and weather reports from reporting station along the route. The planned route was intended to take the aircraft N-S over the western side of Skye, however I think he has mis-interpreted the following from the synopsis
"#44-83325 was observed flying contact below an 800 ft ceiling with visibility of about 5 miles. He approached the north-east end of the Isle of Skye and followed the shore for a short distance. A very few seconds later there was a loud explosion and fire was observed to roll down the mountain-side. The point where the aircraft turned inland is extremely precipitious, rising to 2000ft in roughly three miles"
If you take that with the flight plan (as it should have been) it could sound like the a/c was flying W-E but that isn't what it says. It only says that the aircraft followed the coast and "turned inland", well as Skye is an island it has more than one coast-line and taken in combination with the description of the terrain points to an E-W track across the northern end of the island. The terrain rises much more gently from W-E.
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By: Mahone - 25th October 2011 at 09:25
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-15336599