1982 Royal Air Force Jaguar shootdown incident

On 25 May 1982, a Royal Air Force SEPECAT Jaguar of 14 Squadron, while returning to its base at RAF Brüggen in Germany following a training mission, was accidentally hit by an air-to-air missile fired by another Royal Air Force aircraft, a McDonnell Douglas Phantom. As a result, the Jaguar crashed in farmland approximately 35 miles from its base, although the pilot was able to eject safely.

Background

In 1982, the Royal Air Force (RAF) maintained a substantial presence in West Germany under the command of a formation named RAF Germany. RAF Germany's primary focus was the provision of combat aircraft to the Second Allied Tactical Air Force, a NATO formation tasked with the aerial defence of Western Europe. This overall command formation contained a total of 14 individual squadrons across four bases. Included among this list was five squadrons operating the SEPECAT Jaguar, a single seat aircraft utilised in both the strike and tactical reconnaissance roles, and two squadrons using the McDonnell Douglas Phantom, which, at the time, was the RAF's primary air defence interceptor.

Incident

On 25 May 1982, a pair of Jaguar GR1s from 14 Squadron, having undertaken a training mission, were en route back to their base at RAF Brüggen. At the same time, RAF Wildenrath was in the middle of a station air defence exercise, which would see the station's force of Phantoms, armed with inert training missiles, scrambled by fighter controllers to "intercept" other RAF Germany aircraft operating in the area. At approximately 1240 hours, Phantom FGR2 XV422, operated by 92 Squadron, and crewed by Flt Lt Roy Lawrence (pilot) and Flt Lt Alistair Inverarity (navigator), was scrambled to intercept the incoming pair of Jaguars. Having located the Jaguar pair, the Phantom proceeded to make the intercept; the Jaguars however did not undertake any defensive maneuvering, owing to their fuel situation. So, the Phantom crew proceeded with their standard procedure on such a training flight, setting up for a simulated attack using their training round. But, upon the pilot pressing the missile release, an AIM-9G Sidewinder missile was launched, hitting Jaguar XX963, flown by Flt Lt Steve Griggs. The Jaguar's tail section was destroyed, with the remaining section of the aircraft entering into a flat spin. The Jaguar crashed in open farmland. Griggs was able to eject successfully, and landed in a field approximately 35 miles from Brüggen, where he was assisted by the farm owner and his daughter.