On our third Munro on Saturday (Carn An Sagairt Mòr), we walked over the north side of the top to see the aircraft debris, dating from 1956, which we knew was scattered around. We found various pieces, including this one, and a large section of wing. On returning home, I found this information on the Walk Highlands website :
'On the 22nd of November 1956 at 18:02, Canberra B.2 WJ615 (from No.35 Squadron RAF) took off from RAF base in Upwood having been approved for Diversion Practice Training. The plane departed for Kinloss in good weather conditions and good forecast for the whole time of the journey. On board were two crewmen: Flying Officer A.A. Redman (Pilot) and Flying Officer A.A. Mansell (Navigator). At 19.00 the aircraft made radio contact with the base in Kinloss, followed by a standard Controlled Descent through Clouds procedure (QGH1) from 25,000ft (7600m). The Canberra then made a visual circuit and an overshoot of runway 26 was carried out.
At 19.21 hours the plane climbed away from an overshoot height (300ft) as it was reported by Kinloss Air Traffic Control. They contacted the crew and gave them two regional pressure settings. The pilot, FO Redman, answered: "Thank you. Good night."
It was the last message received from the Canberra.
The plane was then seen gaining height for its return to Upwood. At about 19.30 several witnesses in the area of Braemar heard the noise of jet engines as the plane passed over the area. They described it as flying "at an unusually low altitude" though the engines sounded normal... Why was the Canberra flying so low, has never been determined.
Only a few minutes later the witness saw a flash of light. The plane struck the high slopes of the nearby mountain, Carn an Sagairt Mòr.'
So very sad to read this... such a waste of two lives & you can only imagine the terror those two guys went through. It must have been a sad sight looking at that wreckage.
That is a sad story- and I think it's even sadder when you can't resolve what happened and why. I guess they have left the debris there as a memorial of sorts- but at 64 years it's pretty amazing no one has carted most of it away. Good shot.
@lesip@jb030958 We were also surprised to see the debris still there, even though we knew it was. It's literally scattered everywhere. It is surprising that no-one's decided to remove it - although I'm sure some bits will have been taken away. Although you'd need to really want to - it would involve a major effort from that location! No memorial there, although perhaps it's considered to be a 'natural' memorial.
