©Lancaster Accident on Triple Buttesses
13 th March 1951 ;
A tragedy occurred on the Triple Buttress's of Beinne Eighe. A Lancaster bomber on a training mission from RAF Kinloss crashed into the top of the right hand buttress, as a result all on board perished. Due to adverse weather and difficult mountain terrain it was almost two months before all the bodies were recovered by a joint services rescue crew. The consequence of this was that the RAF Mountain Rescue Teams as we know them today were formed. The aircraft was destroyed in situ with explosives after recovery of the bodies of the crew. There are still large sections of the aircraft strewn down the gully to the right of the buttress's, these include Rolls Royce Merlin engines, wheel and wing sections the main fuselage section being lodged in the gully at the top. By all means look and photograph but please do not remove parts. Perhaps a moment of reflection in respect for those who died in this tragic accident would be appropriate.
The incident control point was Kinlochewe Old Village Hall which still exists as an Outdoor shop and information/resource centre, due to the adverse weather conditions at the time this was the closest access point to the crash site. Modern day equipment such as helicopters and all terrain vehicles were not available and as such all rescue gear had to be backpacked into the site, a distance of some nine miles over unforgiving terrain with the added problem of deep snow.