Mid air collision.


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Good morning all

When I was about five or six I was in the playground at Bentinck road infants' school, myself and several others saw what looked like a huge explosion in the sky and a large fireball. I was told later that two Gloster meteors had collided around Newark somewhere. I have tried to find out on the net but there doesn't seem to be any mention of the incident anywhere. This would have been 1955 or 56 I think.

If anyone knows what happened I would be very pleased to hear about it.

Cheers, Johnl.

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There is a film of the wreckage here.

Better late than never, I also witnessed this disaster, I was in the playgroud of Hogarth primary on Carlton Road at the time (the school is now a Hindu temple I believe). Anyway, I found this report

I believe you are on about the to training plains that collided over colwick in 1959 February I think. I went to Colwick School and lived on the vale. An engine landed right next to an end house next

I'll try and find out about it from my Aviation Forum, bare with me. but would you really see the results of a collision over Newark from Bentinck Road, HMMMMM

It was very high as I remember it and appeared to be a long way off. As I was very young at the time I must have overheard my parents taliking about it.......perhaps I missunderstood what I heard, but I was not alaone in seeing it.

Cheers, Johnl.

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Notts Meteor collision, near Tuxford...but slightly earlier...

http://homepages.force9.net/tuxford/meteor...les/reduced.htm

Cheers

Robt P.

Rob, thanks for checking, as i said I was only 5 or 6 at the time. It could have been a single aircraft exploding. I can remember it very clearly. It was a bright day and it must have been around 8.30 to 9.30 am because my mother was with me taking me into the playground. Was there a base at Syerston because I seem to have that in my mind as well.

I only thought that a meteor was involved ( I must have heard that somewhere) so I suppose it could have been any sort of jet.

Thanks again for taking the trouble.

Cheers, Johnl.

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The Vulcan air show disaster at Syerston was on a Saturday afternoon in September 1958.

No explosion as such, primarily a mid-air disintegration due to metal fatigue imposed by powerful Conway test engines.

Covered in the Test Pilot site...and in my OP of our original Vulcan thread:

http://nottstalgia.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=998

Have to agree with an earlier poster that it is unlikely that a Newark area explosion could be seen from Bentinck Road.

Cheers

Robt P.

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Think you'll find it was 2 jet provosts over the colwick area, I was in playground of Claremont Seniors so post 1957, we heard a boom in distance, looked and saw what looked like a round cloud, did not see any planes/wreckage falling as good few miles away, seem to remember engine from one crashed through glass roof of factory in netherfield killing a woman? may have been Lawrences Furniture Factory? was also at the battle of britain display at syserston when that vulcan crashed, there was a fire on impact which was maybe half mile away from crowd.

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Interesting.

When I was an apprentice electrician, in around 1970, I worked at the Coop Supermatket top of Oakdale Road, It became Coop Radio & TV repair.

In the roof there was damage consistant with a large object falling through, For some reason, I have always had it in my mind, it was something from an aircraft?

That building is behind what was Lawrences Furniture Factory (which has now gone)

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Think you'll find it was 2 jet provosts over the colwick area, I was in playground of Claremont Seniors so post 1957, we heard a boom in distance, looked and saw what looked like a round cloud, did not see any planes/wreckage falling as good few miles away, seem to remember engine from one crashed through glass roof of factory in netherfield killing a woman? may have been Lawrences Furniture Factory? was also at the battle of britain display at syserston when that vulcan crashed, there was a fire on impact which was maybe half mile away from crowd.

Ashley, your description of a round cloud is about right. I don't remember hearing a bang though. I was just begining to think that I had imagined the whole thing! This must have been the collision that I saw.

Many thanks,

Johnl.

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yes the bang,boom etc was what alerted us, I too haven't found any mention of it anywhere on net but I do recall either seeing article in evening post like "25 years ago today" type of thing or maybe in "bygones" magazine? Some years earlier also saw the canberra that crashed on bulwell common minutes before, again flying over claremont rd but this time I was in primary school, flying low with black smoke trail and not "sounding right", it tried to land at hucknall but stalled so pilot tried going around for another attempt, engine failed and he hit house roof on St Albans Road (impact repairs can still be seen on it) before hitting railway wagons on sidings the other side of the road, chap I used to work for still has a bit of the perspex canopy of the plane. actual impact site now where new bungalows are, re imagining it know what you mean! (age thing) I have put up post re train crash at new basford around same time that no one not no how seems to recall!

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Think you'll find it was 2 jet provosts over the colwick area, I was in playground of Claremont Seniors so post 1957, we heard a boom in distance, looked and saw what looked like a round cloud, did not see any planes/wreckage falling as good few miles away, seem to remember engine from one crashed through glass roof of factory in netherfield killing a woman? may have been Lawrences Furniture Factory? was also at the battle of britain display at syserston when that vulcan crashed, there was a fire on impact which was maybe half mile away from crowd.

Hi I am new to the forum having only just joined, and yes I agree I was at a school which used to be called Cavendish comprehensive and remember it vividly/

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Good morning all

When I was about five or six I was in the playground at Bentinck road infants' school, myself and several others saw what looked like a huge explosion in the sky and a large fireball. I was told later that two Gloster meteors had collided around Newark somewhere. I have tried to find out on the net but there doesn't seem to be any mention of the incident anywhere. This would have been 1955 or 56 I think.

If anyone knows what happened I would be very pleased to hear about it.

Cheers, Johnl.

It was actually two Vampire trainers that collided. Most of the wreckage fell on Nottingham Racecourse. One of the ejector seats landed on the roof of a house but fortunately no one in the house was injured. I was in the playground at Cottesmore Boys School when it happened.

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Just goes to show how different people remember same event with a different slant? think fact established that what some saw was 2 aircraft colliding to south east of Nottingham? whether meteors, jet provosts or vampires probably stems from what we read or were told at the time? (unless someone has read official account etc?) same with actual site, or rather where remains landed. Reading back it looks like I was "jinxed" re plane crashes! just a case of telling what I saw, (not yet mentioned the P1 Lightening that was based at Hucknall, used to see it from the footpath end of runway, the one that ran/runs? from 44 terminus to Farleys Lane, a regular sighting, till one day saw it half embedded in the woods there covered with green canvas sheeting, (cant spell taupalins!) think that last we saw of it? still not found any evidence of earlier mentioned train crash (actually a derailment, but quite dramatic with coaches going down the embankment) nor evidence of serious bus/lorry collision at shoulder of mutton island on the ring road.

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Most likely you all know this already, but 2 airliners collided over the Grand Canyon, I do believe in the 50's, resulting in the forming of the FAA. It had never existed till then. Both planes diverted slightly off course so the pilot could show his passengers the Canyon. Neither one saw the other.

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...but 2 airliners collided over the Grand Canyon...

Once flew from Monument Valley to the Grand Canyon, in a 4 seater,single-engined Cessna. Sat besides a young - and extremely nervous - pilot, who seemed unconcerned in flying directly towards the ominous looming storm clouds. "Shouldn't we be avoiding those black clouds?", sez I. Following his encouraging reply of "Dunno!", I was then convinced our time was up and then, strangely, became quite relaxed and began taking pictures for the coroner.

The clouds suddenly dispersed as we flew down the Canyon, and the eventual landing at their airstip was something of an anti-climax...to coin a phrase "Never again!"...

Cheers

Robt P.

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Ashley, I asked my brother about the P1 Lightning. This is his reply.

The footpath is still there – I used to use it when I cycled to work. The incident he remembers was when a Lightning’s drag chute failed to open and the aircraft over-ran the end of the runway. Its pilot probe ended up over the path. It wasn’t partly embedded in the woods, it was in the open. The incident happened on 12 October 1966.

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RAF records:

16/01/1958

XE990 Vampire T11 collided with XH321 Vampire T11 head on in clear skies killing three of the crew instantly. One crew was thrown from the aircraft but his chute was damaged and he fell to the ground.

Debris fell on a canteen at Colwick south of Nottingham killing a woman

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different event I think katyjay, was nowhere near the path as in overshoot but off to the right looking towards watnall and maybe 100 yards from footpath? As per the collision seems we have established they were vampires and now reminded I do recall the canteen connection, was it by chance an engineering firm?

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YES THER DEFFINITLY WAS A PLAN CRASH ABOVE COLWICK IN THE LATE FIFTIES PART OF IT LANDED ON SPRAY AND BURGESS FACTORY CANTEEN KILLING ONE WOMAN AND INJURING SEVERAL OTHERS ONE OF OUR NIGHBOURS FROM ETHEL GROVE WAS ONE OF THEM , BUT HER INJURIES WERE NOT SERIOUS.SPRAYS WAS ON COLWICK RD NEXT DOOR TO THE SCHOOL ,SO THE CHILDREN IN THE SCHOOL WHERE VERY LUCKY. I WAS AT SCHOOL IN NETHERFIELD AT THE TIMEAND WE WERE ALL TAKEN HOME EARLY BECAUSE OF ALL THE FIRE ENGIENS POLICE AND AMBULANCES THAT WERE GOING BACKWARDS AND FORWARDS.

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