Additional Crash Sites
If sufficient information can be obtained,
further
sites throughout Scotland will be added here in due course.
An alphabetical list of aircraft on
this site can be found on the
Crash Index page.
Special Acknowledgments
Without the help of the following
people, it would not have been possible to expand this website
or to provide some of the information on its pages. Many thanks
to each one for their help, and for the information and/or photos
provided by them.
(Names listed alphabetically by surname):
-
James Allan (Author:
Wings over Scotland /
Contributing Editor:
Pilot
Magazine)
-
John Allan
-
Thomas 'Andy' ('Boots') Anderson
-
Keith Beckett
-
Tim Bendix
-
Harry Blane
-
Michael Dougherty
-
Mike Durward
-
June Gowland
- Stevie H.
-
Stephen Hayton
- Richard Hobby
- Norman Hood
- John Hunter
-
Phillip Jones (Author,
Airfield Focus
- No. 35 Dundonald)
-
Alan Leishman
-
Bob
MacAlister (Canada)
- Alasdair McLeod
- Dougie Martindale
-
Giovanni Mendicino
-
Giovanni
Metra
- Gary Nelson
- Danny J. Parkinson
- Graham Simpson
-
David J. Smith (Author,
High Ground
Wrecks & Relics)
- Simon Smith
- Steven Spink
-
James Towill
-
Ray Urquhart
(New Zealand)
- Steve White
Together with the following
groups or organisations:
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Ministry of Defence
Warning
Please note
that it is an offence under the
Protection of Military
Remains Act to interfere with the crash site of a military
aircraft in the UK. An official licence and other
consents are required to investigate crash sites legally.
Some Key Points from MOD Website:
MOD Licence Application Form
Early Air Navigation
Several of the air accidents listed
here, and on other similar websites, occurred as a result of
pilots flying into turbulence, low cloud and mist, or a
combination of both.
It must be remembered that air
navigation equipment at the time when most of these accidents
occurred was primitive and unreliable. Very often, pilots had to
depend on an early version of VFR (Visual
Flight Rules). However, to a large extent, these rules
depended on being able to set bearings according to
clearly defined and visible landmarks.
In a situation involving low cloud
or mist, a pilot was flying blind, or depending on inaccurate
and unreliable navigation equipment. For this reason, pilots
would often descend below safe levels (unaware of their danger)
in order to try to establish their bearings visually.
Unfortunately, many airmen perished in the resulting crashes
into high ground.
Often, the blame for such accidents
was put down to pilot error or navigational error or
inexperience. However, we must bear in mind that while this may
be true in a number of cases, there were also many instances where the
pilots and navigators had no instruments to guide them, as their
equipment had either malfunctioned completely or was producing
inaccurate readings. This, unfortunately, was true not only of
the navigational equipment itself, but also of the basic
wireless (w/t) or radio stacks on board the aircraft.
Today, of course, all military,
corporate private, and commercial civil aircraft are equipped
with highly sophisticated electronic navigation equipment. They
are quite capable of flying safely in most weather conditions,
using IFR (Instrument
Flight Rules). These and other improvements greatly reduce
the risk of such accidents.
Below: A view of
Goatfell (the highest peak on the
right of the picture) with other peaks on the Isle of Arran,
North Ayrshire, Scotland.
Several aircraft accidents occurred on the rugged peaks around
Goatfell,
Beinn Nuis, and other locations
throughout Arran. Some wreckage can still be found at these
sites today.
Photo: 2007 G. Lyons
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