On Monday the 30.4.90 the usually sleepy village of Northton, Isle of Harris was covered in a deep mist. Not much of the area was visible to the naked eye, certainly not the hillside opposite (Moadal). Most people were inside their homes as it was near lunchtime when the familiar sound of the Avro Shackleton flying overhead was heard (click thumbnail above for enlargement).
Within seconds the whole village of Northton was shaken fiercely with a loud explosion nearby. Sadly the aircraft had clipped the top of Moadal and instantly exploded. The power of the explosion shook houses even up at the other end of the village. Indeed several people thought that part of their building had collapsed.
Dr. Naylor was the recently appointed G.P. for the area and this was one of his first emergency call outs. Everyone worked together to race to the scene but sadly the 10 aircraft men were dead almost instantly and nothing could be done to save them.
Although the aircraft could be considered old (first flown in 1954) it had been well serviced throughout it's history (the Shackleton was based in Lossiemouth prior to the crash). The flightpath was a familiar one so the only contributing factor would have been the bad weather but it is not known what caused the aircraft to crash into the hillside - the aircraft did not carry a "black box" flight recorder.
On the next page is a complete history of the aircraft from it's first flight to the crash.
Next : - History of the Avro Shackleton Mark Two WR965 MR 2/AEW.2
Back To : - The History of the Isle of Harris
