Date:	Tuesday 9 November 1971
Time:	05:41
Type:	Lockheed Hercules C.1 (C-130K)
Owner/operator:	Royal Air Force - RAF
Registration:	XV216
MSN:	4243
Year of manufacture:	1967
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 52 / Occupants: 52
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed, written off
Category:	Accident
Location:	7 km W off Pisa-San Giusto Airport (PSA) -   Italy
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	Pisa-San Giusto Airport (PSA/LIRP)
Destination airport:	Pisa-San Giusto Airport (PSA/LIRP)

Narrative:
Ten RAF transport aircraft were engaged in the "Cold Stream" exercise at Pisa, Italy in November 1971. The aircraft were flying missions carrying Italian paratroopers.
Lockheed Hercules XV216, "Chalk 4", contacted the surface of the sea and crashed, shortly after takeoff from Pisa Airport (PSA). The airplane was number three in a wave of nine Hercules planes bound for the Villacidro Dropzone, Sardinia.
It came down about 19 km from the runway end and 7 km off shore.

Broken Wings : Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents / James J. Halley
Marco Riva
Wikipedia - Tragedia della Meloria

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