On 9 November 1971, a

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

Lockheed Hercules C.1 crashed into the sea off the coast of Livorno by Meloria shoal, Italy, killing all 46 passengers and 6 crew. At the time it was described by Italian officials as the worst military air disaster in Italy in peacetime.

Crash

The Hercules serial number ''XV216'', from

RAF Lyneham Royal Air Force Lyneham otherwise known as RAF Lyneham was a Royal Air Force station located northeast of Chippenham, Wiltshire, and southwest of Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The station was the home of all the Lockheed C-130 Hercules transpor ...

in Wiltshire, was due to carry out an early morning parachute drop at Cagliari, Sardinia, as part of a large-scale joint training exercise called ''Coldstream''. Ten aircraft were to be involved; nine Hercules and one

Hawker Siddeley Andover The Hawker Siddeley HS 780 Andover is a twin-engined turboprop military transport aircraft produced by Hawker Siddeley for the Royal Air Force (RAF), developed from the Avro-designed HS 748 airliner. The Andover was named after the Avro Andove ...

. Their order of takeoff was marked by a serial number, chalked onto the fuselage of each aircraft. The Hercules known as ''Chalk 4'' was the fourth of the 10 aircraft due to depart at fifteen-minute intervals from San Giusto military airport in Pisa, Italy. The aircraft crashed near the Meloria rocks, four miles west of Livorno. At Pisa, the stream take-off was cancelled, another four aircraft had followed ''XV216'' into the air but the last two were prevented from departing. All 52 on board were killed, they included five British aircrew from 24 Squadron, a British parachute jumping instructor from No. 1 Parachute Training School at

RAF Abingdon Royal Air Force Abingdon or more simply RAF Abingdon was a Royal Air Force station near Abingdon, Oxfordshire. It is now known as Dalton Barracks and is used by the Royal Logistic Corps. History The airfield was opened in 1932, initially as ...

and 46 Italian paratroopers from the

Folgore Parachute Brigade Folgore is the Italian word for ''lightning''. It may refer to: Military * Macchi C.202 ''Folgore'', an Italian fighter of World War II * Breda Folgore, an Italian anti-armor weapon *Traditional name for parachute units of the Italian Army ** 185t ...

Recovery

It was at first difficult to find the wreckage due to a persistent wind and low clouds. The wreckage was found lying in of water, although small fragments had already been recovered, the salvage operation, which was hindered by the bad weather, was led by the Italian Navy. The cause of the accident was not found.Halley 1999, p. 225

Memorial

Livorno monumento Caduti della Meloria 03

A memorial plaque was erected in Livorno in 2003 to commemorate the accident. On 21 November 2006, a memorial service was held in Pisa, attended by a delegation from No. 24 Squadron, current operators of the C-130J Hercules, and relatives of the lost crew members.

Notes

:I: Five of the ten aircraft were from the Royal Air Force.

References

Sources

* * *Falciglia, Aldo (November/December 2011). "Gesso quattro non-risponde" – La sciagura alle secche della Meloria. Folgore (Associazione Nazionale Paracadutisti d'Italia) (Nos. 11–12) {{DEFAULTSORT:RAF Hercules crash Aviation accidents and incidents in 1971 Aviation accidents and incidents in Italy 1971 in Italy Accidents and incidents involving the Lockheed C-130 Hercules Accidents and incidents involving Royal Air Force aircraft November 1971 events in Europe