The ''Alraigo'' incident occurred on 6 June 1983, when a lost British Royal Navy Sea Harrier fighter aircraft landed on the deck of a Spanish container ship. Its pilot, Sub-Lieutenant Ian Watson, was a junior Royal Navy pilot undertaking his first NATO exercise from , which was operating off the coast of Portugal. Watson was launched in a pair of aircraft tasked with locating a French aircraft carrier under combat conditions including radio silence and radar switched off. After completing the search, Watson attempted to return to the ''Illustrious'', but was unable to locate it. Running low on fuel, and with his radio having stopped working, Watson headed towards a nearby

shipping lane A sea lane, sea road or shipping lane is a regularly used navigable route for large water vessels (ships) on wide waterways such as oceans and large lakes, and is preferably safe, direct and economic. During the Age of Sail, they were determined b ...

, where he made visual contact with the container ship ''Alraigo''. He initially planned to eject in sight of the vessel, but noticed that its cargo provided a flat landing surface. The ship was carrying a base plate for a telescope being delivered to the Isaac Newton Telescope in the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...

. Four days later, the ''Alraigo'' arrived at

Santa Cruz de Tenerife Santa Cruz de Tenerife, commonly abbreviated as Santa Cruz (), is a city, the capital of the island of Tenerife, Province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, and capital of the Canary Islands. Santa Cruz has a population of 206,593 (2013) within its admi ...

with the Sea Harrier still perched on its container. The event received widespread media coverage. The aircraft was salvageable, and the ship's crew and owners were awarded £570,000 compensation. A subsequent Board of Inquiry found that Watson had completed only 75% of his training before he had been sent to sea. The board blamed Watson's inexperience, and criticised his commanders for the radio problems with his plane. Watson was reprimanded and reassigned to a desk job. He eventually returned to flight duties and accrued nearly 3,000 hours of flying time before resigning his commission in 1996. Sea Harrier ZA176 was converted to the FA2 variant in 1992 and retired from service 20 September 2003. The aircraft is now on display at Newark Air Museum in Nottinghamshire, England in its FA2 configuration.

References

{{coord missing, Atlantic Ocean 1983 in military history 1983 in Spain 20th-century history of the Royal Navy Accidents and incidents involving the Harrier Jump Jet Aviation accidents and incidents in 1983 Aviation accidents and incidents in the Atlantic Ocean June 1983 events in Europe Military history of the Atlantic Ocean Tenerife