1982 Royal Air Force Jaguar shootdown incident
Shootdown | |
---|---|
Date | 25 May 1982 |
Summary | Shot down in friendly fire incident |
Site | 35 miles NE of RAF Brüggen |
Aircraft | |
Aircraft type | SEPECAT Jaguar GR1 |
Operator | Royal Air Force |
Registration | XX963 |
Flight origin | RAF Brüggen |
Crew | 1 |
Survivors | 1 |
On 25 May 1982, a Royal Air Force SEPECAT Jaguar of 14 Squadron crashed in farmland approximately 35 miles from its base, RAF Brüggen in Germany, having been accidentally hit by an air-to-air missile fired by another Royal Air Force aircraft, a McDonnell Douglas Phantom.
Background
In 1982, the Royal Air Force (RAF) maintained a substantial presence in West Germany under the command of a formation named RAF Germany. RAF Germany's primary focus was the provision of combat aircraft to the Second Allied Tactical Air Force, a NATO formation tasked with the aerial defence of Western Europe.[1] This overall command formation contained a total of 14 individual squadrons across four bases.[2] Included among this list was five squadrons operating the SEPECAT Jaguar, a single seat aircraft utilised in both the strike and tactical reconnaissance roles, and two squadrons using the McDonnell Douglas Phantom, which, at the time, was the RAF's primary air defence interceptor.[2]
Incident
On 25 May 1982, a pair of Jaguar GR1s from 14 Squadron, having undertaken a training mission, were en route back to their base at RAF Brüggen. At the same time, RAF Wildenrath was in the middle of a station air defence exercise, which would see the station's force of Phantoms, armed with inert training missiles, scrambled by fighter controllers to "intercept" other RAF Germany aircraft operating in the area.[4] At approximately 1240 hours, Phantom FGR2 XV422, operated by 92 Squadron, and crewed by Flt Lt Roy Lawrence (pilot) and Flt Lt Alistair Inverarity (navigator), was scrambled to intercept the incoming pair of Jaguars.[4][5] Having located the Jaguar pair, the Phantom proceeded to make the intercept; the Jaguars however did not undertake any defensive maneuvering, owing to their fuel situation.[6] So, the Phantom crew proceeded with their standard procedure on such a training flight, setting up for a simulated attack using their training round. But, upon the pilot pressing the missile release, an AIM-9G Sidewinder missile was launched, hitting Jaguar XX963, flown by Flt Lt Steve Griggs. The Jaguar's tail section was destroyed, with the remaining section of the aircraft entering into a flat spin. The Jaguar crashed in open farmland. Griggs was able to eject successfully, and landed in a field approximately 35 miles from Brüggen,[6] where he was assisted by the farm owner and his daughter.[7]
Investigation
The incident led to the setting up of a
Aftermath
Despite the evidence of a breakdown in the chain between the Phantom being set up and the crew firing the missile, the Board of Inquiry laid the blame for the incident squarely on the shoulders of the Phantom crew, given that they had seemingly forgotten that their aircraft was armed with live weapons.
Five months after he ejected from the damaged Jaguar in the shootdown incident, Flt Lt Steve Griggs was forced to eject a second time when, on 10 September, while leading a training sortie from
References
- ^ Peach, Stuart (1999). "A Continental Commitment". In Wilson, Andrew (ed.). Royal Air Force in Germany 1945-1993 (PDF). Royal Air Force Historical Society. pp. 17–35.
- ^ a b Jackson, Paul (1981). "Royal Air Force Germany". Royal Air Force Yearbook. London: Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund. pp. 3–14.
- ^ Kopp, Carlo (April 1994). "The Sidewinder Story: The Evolution of the AIM-9 Missile". Australian Aviation. 1994 (April). Retrieved 31 January 2022.
- ^ a b c d e Leone, Dario (12 October 2018). "Former RAF Jaguar pilot tells the story of when he was shot down by a RAF Phantom interceptor". The Aviation Geek Club. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
- ISBN 978-1-52678-486-5.
- ^ a b c d "When RAF Phantom shot down RAF Jaguar". Fighter Jets World. 27 April 2018. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
- ISBN 978-1-4738-2327-3.
- ISBN 978-0-75249-285-8.
- ^ "British pilots reprimanded". upi.com. United Press International. 15 January 1983. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
- ^ ""Sorry Boss – This Was One We Could Not Fix"". Tangmere Military Aviation Museum. May 2014. Retrieved 29 January 2022.