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The Alraigo incident occurred on 6 June 1983, when a lost British Royal Navy Sea Harrier fighter aircraft landed on the deck of a Spanish container ship.[1][2] Its pilot, Sub-Lieutenant Ian Watson, was a junior Royal Navy pilot undertaking his first NATO exercise from HMS Illustrious (R06), which was operating off the coast of Portugal. Watson was launched in a pair of aircraft tasked with locating a French aircraft carrier under combat conditions including radio silence and radar switched off. After completing the search, Watson attempted to return to the Illustrious, but was unable to locate it. Running low on fuel, and with his radio having stopped working, Watson headed towards a nearby shipping lane, where he made visual contact with the container ship Alraigo.[3]

Alraigo incident
Sea Harrier ZA176, the aircraft involved in the emergency landing, preserved at Newark Air Museum
Incident
Date6 June 1983 (1983-06-06)
SummaryEmergency vertical landing on a container ship due to lack of fuel
SiteAlraigo in the Atlantic Ocean off Portugal
Aircraft
Aircraft typeBAe Sea Harrier FRS.1
OperatorFleet Air Arm (Royal Navy)
RegistrationZA176
Flight originHMS Illustrious (R06)
DestinationHMS Illustrious (R06)
Passengers0
Crew1
Fatalities0
Injuries0
Missing0
Survivors1

He initially planned to eject in sight of the vessel, but noticed that its cargo provided a flat landing surface. The ship was carrying a base plate for a telescope being delivered to the Isaac Newton Telescope in the Canary Islands.[4][5]

Four days later, the Alraigo arrived at Santa Cruz de Tenerife with the Sea Harrier still perched on its container. The event received widespread media coverage. The aircraft was salvageable, and the ship's crew and owners were awarded £570,000 compensation.[1]

A subsequent Board of Inquiry found that Watson had completed only 75% of his training before he had been sent to sea. The board blamed Watson's inexperience, and criticised his commanders for the radio problems with his plane. Watson was reprimanded[clarification needed] and reassigned to a desk job. He eventually returned to flight duties and accrued nearly 3,000 hours of flying time before resigning his commission in 1996.[1] Sea Harrier ZA176 was converted to the FA2 variant in 1992 and retired from service 20 September 2003.[3] The aircraft is now on display at Newark Air Museum in Nottinghamshire, England in its FA2 configuration.[3][4]


References


  1. Wright, Tim (November 2008). "Oldies and Oddities: The Alraigo Incident". Air & Space/Smithsonian. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
  2. Day, Peter (1 June 2007). "Why 'lost' jet pilot took ride on container ship". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
  3. "The Day A Royal Navy Pilot Landed On A Spanish Container Ship". Forces TV. 6 May 2016. Archived from the original on 9 June 2016. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
  4. Heeley, Howard (2006). "Modern-day veteran". Air-Scene UK. Archived from the original on 13 July 2006. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
  5. "Chronology of the Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes". Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes. Retrieved 25 June 2022.


На других языках


- [en] Alraigo incident

[ru] Происшествие с Alraigo

Происшествие с Альрайго произошло 6 июня 1983 года, когда потерявший ориентацию британский истребитель Sea Harrier приземлился на палубу испанского контейнеровоза. Пилот, младший лейтенант Ян Уотсон, был младшим пилотом Королевского флота, проводившим свои первые учения НАТО с «HMS Illustrious», который действовал у берегов Португалии. Уотсон летел ведомым в паре самолетов, которой было поручено обнаружить французский авианосец в боевых условиях, включая радиомолчание и выключенный радар. После завершения поиска Уотсон попытался вернуться к «Illustrious», но не смог его найти из-за проблем с навигационным и радиооборудованием. Когда запас топлива стал заканчиваться, пилот направился к ближайшему судоходному пути, где он установил визуальный контакт с контейнеровозом «Alraigo»[1]. Корабль доставлял опорную плиту для телескопа Исаака Ньютона в одноимённой группе на Канарских островах[2].



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