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Registration
or Serial:
L4348
Operator: Royal Air Force
(20 Operational Training Unit (OTU))
Operating Base:
RAF Lossiemouth
Base
Location: Lossiemouth, Moray, Scotland.
Current
Airport Status: Operational
Military Airport
Current
Airport Name:
RAF Lossiemouth (ICAO:
EGQS / IATA: LMO)
(Principal airport data courtesy of
John Woodside,
A
Catalogue of UK Airfields)
Aircraft Nickname: Wimpy (or Wimpey)
Aircraft Type & Background
A medium
bomber, of which there were 16 variants, the first Wellington
bombers were powered by two 1,050 hp Bristol Pegasus Mk. I radial
engines. It had a maximum speed of 235 mph (410 km/h)
The first
Wellingtons entered service with No. 9 Squadron RAF. Later, an
improved version entered service with RAF Bomber Command. The
aircraft carried a crew of six.
Aircraft Accident Details
Assigned to 20 Operational Training Unit (OTU), this Wellington was
on a navigational exercise (NAVEX) out of RAF Lossiemouth. According
to reports, the aircraft wings iced up while flying through cloud.
Consequently, the pilot was unable to maintain lift. Shortly
afterward, he lost control of the aircraft, and this culminated in a
near vertical dive into the ground.
The impact created a deep crater in the ground (now filled with
water) eerily resembles the front profile of the aircraft. The two
engines also bear witness to the impact as they have both been
smashed to pieces.
All on board perished in this accident.
Below: RAF Vickers
Wellington bomber
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Accident Date
5 December 1941
Accident
Site
Meall
Ceann (open moor nr.
Loch Strathy)
Region: Highland
Nearest
town or village: Strathy (A836),
Skelpick (B871) or Rough Haugh
(B871)
OS Grid Ref:
10 / 759457
Present
Condition
fragmented
remains including both engines, which disintegrated during
impact, still remain at the crash site. The wreckage area is
fairly localised, although initially may prove hard to find.
Related Links
Articles and photos of RAF Lossiemouth and of the Vickers Wellington
type aircraft are available at the following
sites:
Above: A Wellington bomber returned
home after a raid on Germany. Note the damage to the fuselage. The
geodetic structure of this aircraft must have assisted very considerably
in allowing it to return safely to base. |
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BELOW: Impact crater, showing the front
profile of the aircraft.
The Wellington dived almost vertically into the ground, thus much of the wreckage is concentrated around this
point.
Photo: 2008 G. Nelson
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ABOVE: A broken crankshaft off one of the engines,
with a cylinder head lying just behind it.
Photo: 2008 G. Nelson
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