An RAF engineer accidentally took off in a supersonic Lightning jet without a helmet, canopy, or functional ejection seat, then landed safely.
Key Facts
- Pilot
- Walter 'Taffy' Holden, age 39, engineer not pilot
- Aircraft
- English Electric Lightning (Mach 2.0-capable)
- Missing safety equipment
- No helmet, no canopy, ejection seat disabled
- Landing attempts
- 3 (first two aborted)
- Near misses on runway
- Fuel bowser and de Havilland Comet
- Aircraft fate
- Returned to service; later acquired by IWM Duxford
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Walter Holden, an engineer with limited single-engine trainer experience commanding No. 33 Maintenance Unit RAF, was conducting ground testing of an English Electric Lightning at RAF Lyneham on 22 July 1966. During the test, he inadvertently engaged the aircraft's afterburner and was unable to disengage it, forcing the situation toward an unplanned takeoff.
With the afterburner ignited and uncontrollable, Holden accelerated down the runway, narrowly avoiding a fuel bowser and a de Havilland Comet that was taking off. He became airborne flying without a helmet or canopy, the ejection seat disabled and landing gear locked in the down position. He aborted two landing approaches before successfully landing on the third, striking the runway tail-first in the manner of a taildragger aircraft.
The Lightning sustained damage but was repaired and returned to operational service. The aircraft was later acquired by the Imperial War Museum at Duxford, where it is preserved. The incident became a notable episode in RAF history as an extraordinary example of an untrained individual surviving an accidental flight in a frontline supersonic jet.