1957 Aqaba Valetta accident
Royal Air Force Vickers Valetta C.1 · Structural failure in clear-air turbulence
From King Hussein International Airport (AQJ) to RAF Habbaniya, Iraq
Event
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- Event fatalities
- 27 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- 27
- Survivors
- 0
- InjuriesFatal: death within 30 days. Serious: over 48 hours in hospital within a week, most broken bones, severe bleeding, nerve or organ damage, or serious burns. Minor: anything less. Glossary
- Unknown
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- Military
Vickers Valetta C.1
- Aircraft type
- Vickers Valetta C-1
- Category
- Airplane · from aircraft type
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- VW832
- Operator
- Royal Air Force
- Onboard fatalities
- 27
- Route
- From King Hussein International Airport (AQJ)To RAF Habbaniya, Iraq
Cause areas
- Aircraft › Aircraft structures
- Environmental issues › Conditions/weather/phenomena
From the investigation findings the Wikipedia article reports, sorted into the NTSB's cause areas with AI assistance.
Approximate · Coordinates from the Wikipedia article; not checked against an investigation report.
From the Wikipedia article
On 17 April 1957, a Vickers Valetta C.1 transport aircraft, serial number VW832, of 84 Squadron, Royal Air Force crashed and was destroyed after departing from Aqaba Airport in Jordan following wing failure due to turbulence. The crash is the deadliest air disaster in the history of Jordan.
Accident
The Valetta was returning British Army troops from Jordan to the United Kingdom following the end of the Anglo-Jordanian Treaty. The Valetta had three crew and most of the 24 passengers were from the 10th Royal Hussars. The aircraft departed Aqaba at 10:23, bound for a stop at Mafraq Airport in North Jordan and then RAF Habbaniya in Iraq. At about 10:30 the aircraft hit turbulence causing the wing to fail, the aircraft spun into the ground 20 miles North North West of Aqaba, it burned and was destroyed killing all on board.
The bodies were returned to RAF Habbaniya and were buried with full military honours in the RAF/CWGC cemetery on 27 April 1957. The bodies lie in Plot 5 Row B Graves 1–7. The personnel who died were 3 RAF crew, 18 10th Hussars troops, 5 REME soldiers and 1 Army Catering Corps soldier.
Investigation and cause
Investigation
The Board of Inquiry found the accident was due to the failure of the port main spar of the outer wing which had resulted in the disintegration of the wing round the fracture and damage to the rear fuselage and tail. The board also said it found that spar failure was due to over-stressing and they suggested this was due to the extreme air turbulence which was known to have existed in the area at the time. The board said they had found no sign of a fatigue failure.
Text from the Wikipedia article “1957 Aqaba Valetta accident” (revision 1375010483, retrieved 2026-09-18) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out. Read the article
Sources
Wikipedia article: 1957 Aqaba Valetta accident
- Article
- 1957 Aqaba Valetta accident
- Revision
- 1375010483 · 2026-09-15 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q4568967
- Licence
- Text CC BY-SA 4.0, by the article's authors; Wikidata CC0; town positions GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
Where each value comes from
- Record
- Wikipedia article "1957 Aqaba Valetta accident" (page 32736054, revision 1375010483)
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site
- Map position
- Wikipedia article coordinates
- Aircraft, operator and route
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports)
- Operation
- operator named as an armed force or military unit in the infobox
- Fatalities
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities
- Ground fatalities
- not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
- Summary
- Wikipedia infobox: summary
Source notes (1)
- Wikipedia · Facts from the Wikipedia article's infobox and coordinates, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.