de Havilland Vampire T. Mk.11 XE866 of No.4 FTS, flew into Stanage Edge near Hathersage on the 7th August 1957

de Havilland Vampire T. Mk.11 at the de Havilland Museum, London Colney

 

Paul Redvers Jones Flying Officer Pilot (Instructor) Killed
Derek John Brett Flying Officer Pilot (Student) Killed

 

At 07:50 on the 8th August 1957 Flying Officers Jones and Brett took off in Vampire XE866 for a training flight from RAF Worksop. F/O Brett, under the instruction of Jones, was to carry out a mixture of high speed flying, medium level aerobatics and controlled descent through cloud.

The first two elements of the flight were carried out successfully and it was while practicing controlled descent through cloud procedures that the aircraft flew into Stanage Edge spreading wreckage over a large area, with much of the heavier pieces coming to rest on the moorland above the rocks, which also form the county boundary in that area between Derbyshire and South Yorkshire.

Crash site of de Havilland Vampire T. Mk.11 XE866 on Stanage Edge near Hathersage, Derbyshire
The area of Stanage Edge that XE866 flew into, seen in January 2002, we found some small parts off the aircraft in the rocks, confirming the area as the crash site.