Jet Provost T. Mk.3A XM453 of No.3 Flying Training School crashed near Ribblehead on the 21st November 1983

BAC Jet Provost T. Mk.3

 

Laurence John Betts Flight Lieutenant Pilot Injured
G. O. Riddett Flight Lieutenant Pilot OK

 

The aircraft suffered a multiple bird strike while on a low level training flight. This caused the engine to loose power, following loss of power the two crew abandoned the aircraft, which then crashed into open moorland near Ribblehead and was destroyed by fire.

Crash site of Hunting Jet Provost XM453 near Ribblehead, Yorkshire
Above is the crash site, which shows no sign of the crash, despite it being only 25 years ago.
The extent to which more modern sites have been cleared shows that the RAF policy changed somewhat from their wartime recovery policy.
Wreckage at the crash site of Hunting Jet Provost XM453 near Ribblehead, Yorkshire
The site was marked by this single tiny piece, a blade aerial which is largely made of plastic so would have been missed by the clean up.