Lifeboat volunteer recalls fighter jet crash on Berwickshire coast 35 years on
Last updated 13th Apr 2024
A long-serving member of St Abbs lifeboat team is recalling the moment he discovered wreckage from an RAF fighter jet which crashed into cliffs along the Berwickshire coast.
Leonard Crowe is speaking exclusively to Greatest Hits Radio 35 years on from the tragedy, which claimed the life of the 40-year-old pilot, to highlight the work of the volunteer crew.
He was one of the first to arrive on the shore at Lumsdaine when he came across what turned out to be human remains.
"Looking up the coast, you could see the fog was just starting to clear," Leonard recalled, as waves pummelled the rocks outside the lifeboat station. "I said: 'There's something smoking up on the beach there', so we made for there.
"We started to walk along the beach and the first thing we came across was one of the wheels burning. Then we came along another bit further and I'm sure it was one of the engines, just concertinaed.
"By this time a helicopter (believed to be a Wessex from RAF Leuchars) had come on scene and he started to hover above us, which was dangerous as the boulders and stuff was coming off the cliff towards us. So, we waved him away, and he landed on the beach."
Squadron Leader Paul Victor Lloyd had been taking part in low-flying exercises on the afternoon of April the 13th, 1989 when his Jaguar aircraft collided with the fog-covered cliffs.
The pilot was killed instantly and the wreckage scattered over a wide area.
An official Ministry of Defence report published the following year revealed: "The most likely cause of the accident was that the pilot was distracted by his Navigation and Weapon-Aiming Sub System, and inadvertently entered the cloud."
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It's believed the jet, from RAF Coltishall in Norfolk, hit the cliffs head-on and the pilot had no time to eject.
"It would happen that quick," Leonard continued. And, as he clicks his fingers, he added: "As quick as that, gone; gone in a flash as they say."
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A memorial stands close to the spot of the crash on the high-sided cliffs.
But Alistair Crowe, who was operations manager at St Abbs lifeboat station at the time, revealed it's not the only permanent reminder of the tragedy.
"Even to this day you can still see clearly where it went in," he said. "There's a mark on the face of the cliff, and all the vegetation must be poisoned with possibly aviation fuel, so it's kind of black looking."
But, he added: "Very, very slowly, the scar seems to be healing over."
The St Abbs team have been saving lives at sea for more than 100 years.
Run as an independent lifeboat since 2016, the volunteers rely on public donations to survive.
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