 Halifax V9977 | |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | 16.15, Sunday 7 June 1942[1] |
| Site | Courtfield Estate, Welsh Bicknor, Herefordshire, England 51°51′08″N 2°35′15″W / 51.8522°N 2.5874°W |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Handley Page Halifax |
| Operator | TFU |
| Registration | V9977[2] |
| Flight origin | RAF Defford, Worcestershire |
| Destination | RAF Defford |
| Passengers | 4 |
| Crew | 7 |
| Fatalities | 11 |
| Survivors | 0 |
V9977 was an Handley Page Halifax II that had been sent to the Telecommunications Research Establishment (TRE) at RAF Defford to be used as a flying testbed for the H2S radar.
On the afternoon of 7 June 1942, one of its Rolls-Royce Merlin engines caught fire and led to the aircraft crashing near the England-Wales border, killing all eleven crew-members. Among the dead was Alan Blumlein of EMI, who was well known as the inventor of stereophonic sound recording and the 405-line television system used in the UK until 1985.
Investigators determined that improper engine maintenance/assembly procedures caused the accident. It remains the deadliest crash in the history of military test flight in the UK.