Oman

Date	Air Force	A'cft	Unit / Serial	based	crashed	crew	photo	seat
15th September 1971	Oman Air Force	Strike Master		RAF Base at Şalālah		Flt. Lt. J. B. Williams		Martin-Baker PB MK.4
10th May 1974	Oman Air Force	Strike Master	410	1 Squadron based at Şalālah		????		Martin-Baker PB MK.4
19th August 1975	Oman Air Force	Strike Master	406	Şalālah	Over land west of Salalah. "Roger picked up by David Long, after a spell of cross country running?"	Flt. Lt. Roger Furlong ejected		Martin-Baker PB MK.4
	Was the above loss of the Strikemaster due to a SAM 7 hit and was the pilot recovered by helicopter ??? Roger Furlong's ejection was indeed due to a SAM-7. It was mentioned briefly in a recently published article on SOAF helicopters in the Dhofar War. ... there was another "operational" ejection a few months later when a Hunter pilot ejected off Hauf on the Oman-Yemeni border. He was also rescued by a SOAF helicopter. Roger Furlong was last heard of flying for BA; sadly David Long, his brave rescuer, an ex-Irish Guards officer, died of a heart attack (at a ridiculously early age) about 8 or 9 years ago.
FEEDBACK	I've been flying with Roger Furlong in Hunters from Thumrait, Oman (I was a techie there on three contracts). He told me about his ejection. He had been hit by a SAM7. On reaching the ground he was closer to the enemy than our boys, so set off on the run. Brig (?) Akehurst originally ordered that the helicopter NOT fly in to pick him up (why lose a second aircraft when you know the enemy are still there), but was persuaded otherwise when it was pointed out to him that you can hardly expect pilots to take risks if they think they will be abandoned. He flew me over the exact spot where he was shot down. I have an air-to-air photo of him, and me, in a Hunter, with a clear view of our faces. I will scan it in and send it to you if you wish. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The 'Rick Lee' ejection. His name was Ken. I was there the day that happened and I have a photo of the wreckage we recovered - laid out in the hangar. He told us he didn't actually initiate the ejection. The explosion ripped off his canopy and his hands were dragged out. The seat went off of its own accord and took him out of the fireball. When he landed he started walking towards the people watching (which included the Sultan - it was a firepower demo for a guest of his - his (Ken's) wife was there too and saw it all). The helicopter touched down, the crewman ran over and picked him up and threw him over his shoulder. He said this was the most painful part of the whole incident. Apart from the burns, which were superficial, as these things go, he had a shrapnel hole through his upper left arm, and lost one boot. But he walked away from it. How, we never worked out because on the wreckage - below - there's barely a square foot without shrapnel holes drilled straight through. Investigation teased out the cause of the explosion. It was dust in the air from earlier bombs he had dropped. Dropped the bomb (low and fast), cap flew off, dust entered the bomb and detonated it. I believe Nick Ireland also ejected from a Jaguar in Oman. Worth checking out. Been flying with Nick Ireland - another lunatic. Magic! Would fly with him again tomorrow. Once, at 90ft and 550 knots, he asked me if I wanted to take control. "What? This low?" I said. "This isn't low", he replied "I'll show you low" - and promptly descended to 25ft. There was also an Omani pilot who ejected at 100ft ... whilst inverted, in fog on the Salalah plain. Another one worth checking out. [DOES ANYONE HAVE DETAILS OF THIS LOSS]
31st October 1975	Oman Air Force	Hunter FGA.9			off Hauf on the Oman-Yemeni border In sea, west of Salalah. "Robin by OC Nev Baker?"	Sqn. Ldr. Robin A. Renton		Martin-Baker MK.3H
20th March 1976	Oman Air Force	Strike Master	416	1 Squadron based at Şalālah	near Bid Bid. "Tim probably hitched a lift."	Flt. Lt. Tim C. Hewlett		Martin-Baker PB MK.4
1976 / 1978 ???	Oman Air Force	Hunter GA9		6 Sqdn	The aircraft crashed on the site of thenew sewage farm!	Flt Lt Jack Glass ejected succesfuly received minor injuries and was airlifted to Salalah		Martin-Baker MK.3H
26th February 1979	Oman Air Force	Jaguar		8 Squadron ??		Flt. Lt. Rick Lee		Martin-Baker Mk 9B
FEEDBACK	re the Omani Jaguar ejection on 26 Feb 1979, the pilot's surname was Lee, not Let. His first name was Rick. I know this as he was flying Mirages at RAAF Williamtown in 1982, having transferred from the RAF to the RAAF. I was an RAAF officer at the time. He discussed his ejection with me at the time, & there was an illustrated popular magazine in the 2 OCU crewroom, featuring an illustrated article on his miraculous survival. A bomb exploded under his aircraft just after release, totally destroying the aircraft & detaching the forward fuselage from the rest of the airborne wreckage. He ejected from that. When I knew him in 1982, his face bore the scars from the fireball. The whole ejection sequence had been captured on film & was displayed in the magazine in still time-lapse photos. Hope that helps. Anthony in email 6th March 2007
1st March 1981	Oman Air Force					Flt. Lt. R. Prest		Martin-Baker Mk 9B
1st March 1981	Oman Air Force	Jaguar		8 Squadron ??		Flg. Off. S. Wearing		Martin-Baker Mk 9B
31st December 1985	Oman Air Force	Jaguar		8 Squadron ??		Flt. Lt. T. A. F. Mullen		Martin-Baker Mk 9B
25th August 1988	Oman Air Force	Hunter FGA.9				Flg. Off. A. A. AI-Baluchi [see below - is this the same officer - details please ?]		Martin-Baker MK.3H
16th January 1990	Oman Air Force	Hunter T.7				Wg. Cmdr. A. W. AI-Baluchi		Martin-Baker MK.3H
16th January 1990	Oman Air Force	Hunter T.7				Sqn. Ldr. C. P. Roberts		Martin-Baker MK.3H

Feedback

NOTES

Hi Mike,

I can't help very much but this might be of some help. Both aircraft were from 6 Squadron based at Thumrait, Oman.

Hunter T.Mk.66B serial 802 (ex Dutch N-249)

Crashed south end of the runway at Thumrait, Oman

Both pilots ejected - Paddy Roberts & Mohammed Abdul

Hunter FGA Mk 73A serial 828 (ex RAF XG237).

Crashed at Thumrait, Oman 25/09/1988 First successful Omani ejection.

I will look into the Omani Strikemasters tomorrow and see what I can dig up.

Regards,

Dick Ansley

Roger Furlong over land west of Salalah. Robin Renton in sea, I think, west of Salalah. Tim Hewlett near Bid Bid, once again a distant but pretty safe memory. Watch which I bought from Tim not long before he went over the side is keeping excellent time, and in daily use.

Roger picked up by David Long, after a spell of cross country running? Robin by OC Nev Baker? Tim probably hitched a lift.

JENKINS via PPRUNE

NOTES

RAF Masirah
RAF Salalah
RAF Sharjah

Şalālah

Strikemaster 406 was shot down on 19/08/1975. Don't recall the pilot's name:ok:
via email from PPRUNE

Further notes to check

Oman's military plane crashed
Oman, Local, 7/19/2000

A military plane of the Oman's air force crashed on Tuesday and the incident resulted in the immediate death of its captain who was in a training mission.

In a statement broadcast by the Oman's news agency, the Oman's ministry of defense said that this "Hawk" war planes fell in al-Kamel and al-Wafi province, 280 Km from the capital Muscat.

Comments:
While working in Oman in1976/78 I saw flt lt Jack Glass eject succesfuly from his 6 Sqdn Hunter GA9 following a fuel fire.He received minor injuries and was airlifted to Salalah.The aircraft crashed on the site of our new sewage farm!.Best wishes thanks for an interesting,unusual site.[This accident does not appear in your records]

Mike Smith (in guestbook)