| 08/01/1971 | XM610 | Vulcan B1 | 44 Sqn | Crashed at Wingate, County Durham, after a fire in No 2 engine damaged the flying controls. The crew abandoned the aircraft successfully. The pilot was also forced to eject from Vulcan XM645 on 14/10/1975 | |
| 15/01/1971 | XS500 | TB | Wesssex HU5 | 848 NAS | Hit the water when low flying in haze over Mounts Bay off Porthleven, Cornwall while operating off HMS Bulwark. The pilot managed to climb to 60ft but was forced to ditch 400 yards off Loe Bar Beach where it broke up and sank killing one crew member |
| 18/01/1971 | XJ432 | C | Whirlwind HAR10 | 28 Sqn | Ditched off Sai Kung, Hong Kong following engine failure |
| 20/01/1971 | XR545 | Gnat T1 | Red Arrows | Collided and crashed during a synchronised pair display practice at Kemble, Gloucestershire. All four crew were killed | |
| 20/01/1971 | XR986 | Gnat T1 | Red Arrows | ||
| 20/01/1971 | XT513 | Sioux AH1 | 1 Wing 10th Hussars | The aircraft side slipped while in a 20 ft hover at Herford, West Germany causing the main rotors to strike the ground. It then cartwheeled, came to rest inverted and caught fire. One crew member received major injuries the other minor | |
| 24/01/1971 | XP303 | Whirlwind HAR10 | 28 Sqn | Hit an obstacle during the hover at Peak Alpha, Hong Kong. It rolled over and burnt out | |
| 25/01/1971 | XP756 | E | Lightning F3 | 29 Sqn | Crashed into the North sea off Great Yarmouth, Norfolk after a reheat fire. The USAF exchange pilot ejected safely |
| 28/01/1971 | XN772 | N | Lightning F2A | 92 Sqn | Spun into the ground near Diepholz, West Germany after failing to recover from a spin from 36,000 ft. The pilot ejected |
| 29/01/1971 | WH874 | Canberra T17 | 360 Sqn | Collided over Sutton-in-Ashfield near Mansfield, Notts when flying in formation and crashed. All crew members ejected safely | |
| 29/01/1971 | WJ862 | Canberra T4 | 360 Sqn | ||
| 24/02/1971 | XN465 | 3 | Jet Provost T3 | 3 FTS | Crashed near Easingwold, Yorks after failing to recover from a spin. Both crew ejected |
| 25/02/1971 | WT523 | Canberra PR7 | 31 Sqn | Declared a write off after landing following a bird strike to the canopy and nose over West Germany. To 8135M at Laarbruch | |
| 02/03/1971 | WP312 | LO | Sea Prince T1 | Linton-on-Ouse Station Flt | Collided near Church Fenton, Yorks and crashed, the crew of XW300 were killed |
| 02/03/1971 | XW300 | 58 | Jet Provost T5 | 1 FTS | |
| 19/03/1971 | XG131 | 41 | Hunter F6 | 229 OCU | Exploded over Exmoor, Devon and crashed killing the pilot |
| 25/03/1971 | XW532 | Buccaneer S2B | 15 Sqn | Crashed near Wansum, Netherlands after the pilot became disorientated when the aircraft entered cloud immediately after take off from Laarbruch, West Germany. Both crew were killed | |
| 25/03/1971 | XM418 | 28 | Jet Provost T3 | 3 FTS | Written off after the engine exploded during a ground run at Leeming, Yorkshire. To 8593M at Leeming |
| 23/04/1971 | XV798 | T | Harrier GR1 | 20 Sqn | Suffered a very heavy vertical landing at Wildenrath, West Germany. The pilot ejected. Allocated to ground instruction at Shoeburyness |
| 26/04/1971 | WZ821 | Grasshopper TX1 | Air Cadets | Written off, no further details | |
| 28/04/1971 | XS938 | E | Lightning F6 | 23 Sqn | Crashed into the Firth of Tay, after the pilot ejected following a reheat fire on take off from Leuchars, Fife |
| 06/05/1971 | XV322 | Sioux HT2 | CFS | The main rotor blades struck trees whilst manoeuvring in a confined space in Harewood Forest 3 miles SE of Andover, Hampshire. It crashed onto its side and caught fire in the manifold area. The pilot escaped uninjured | |
| 10/05/1971 | XP744 | H | Lightning F3 | 56 Sqn | Crashed into the Mediterranean Sea eight miles SE of Cyprus after the pilot ejected due to a fire |
| 14/05/1971 | XP807 | Beaver AL1 | 132 Flt | During a thunderstorm the aircraft came out of cloud in a steep dive, whereupon a wing folded and it struck the ground at Batteln, West Germany killing the two crew and one passenger. It was concluded that it had suffered inadvertent 'negative G' during the thunderstorm activity and as a result the bottom wing strut bolt had sheered, thus the wing was no longer correctly braced | |
| 17/05/1971 | XL622 | 85 | Hunter T7 | 4 FTS | Crashed into Mount Cwm-Pen-Machd, Blanenau Festiniog, Merioneth, Wales killing both crew |
| 19/05/1971 | XT862 | VL-156 | Phantom FG1 | 767 NAS | Crashed into the Atlantic Ocean 25 miles off Torquay, Devon. The crew ejected safely |
| 20/05/1971 | XP752 | D | Lightning F3 | 111 Sqn | The Lightning collided with the underside of the Mirage IIIE during air combat manoeuvres. Damage to the Mirage was only slight but the Lightning lost an engine and the main instruments. The pilot attempted to eject but was unable to as the canopy would not release. He was therefore forced to make an emergency landing back at Colmar, France. It was later declared a write off and allocated to Coltishall as 8166M |
| 20/05/1971 | Mirage IIIE | French AF | |||
| 20/05/1971 | XM875 | PO-516 | Wessex HAS1 | 771 NAS | While carrying the press to photograph the NATO STANAVFORLANT exercise the engine failed whilst hovering alongside USS Bigelow. It ditched, rolled to starboard and sank in 48ft of water off Weymouth Bay, Dorset. Three of the press were killed |
| 26/05/1971 | XS902 | J | Lightning F6 | 5 Sqn | Crashed into the North Sea nine miles SE of Spurn Head, Yorkshire after the pilot ejected following a reheat fire |
| 05/06/1971 | XN978 | Buccaneer S2B | 12 Sqn | Lost control during air refuelling and crashed near Creil, Northern France. Both crew ejected safely | |
| 11/06/1971 | XT184 | Sioux AH1 | 3rd RM Commando | The main rotors were overpitched on take off in Australia. Control was lost and the aircraft struck the ground and rolled over. The two crew were uninjured. The airframe was returned to the U.K and the rear section was mated to the bubble of Hiller XS702 (w/o 10/01/1967) and was used as a static display airframe | |
| 15/06/1971 | WE989 | Prefect TX1 | 2 GC | Written off at Spitalgate, Lincolnshire | |
| 29/06/1971 | XV565 | R-001 | Phantom FG1 | 892 NAS | Crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off Florida, USA while operating off HMS Ark Royal. The crew ejected |
| 29/06/1971 | XN558 | 4 | Jet Provost T3 | 3 FTS | Crashed at Dishforth, North Yorks after suffering a bird strike while on approach. The pilot ejected safely |
| 06/07/1971 | XN687 | VL-704 | Sea Vixen FAW2 | 890 NAS | Crashed shortly after take off from Yeovilton, Somerset close to Ash Close Farm, Charlton Horethorne after the port engine failed on climb out |
| 08/07/1971 | XP705 | L | Lightning F3 | 29 Sqn | Crashed into the Mediterranean Sea 35 miles off Akrotiri, Cyprus after the pilot ejected following an engine fire |
| 14/07/1971 | XP147 | PO-521 | Wessex HAS3 | 737 NAS | Flames were seen to come from the starboard exhaust and the engine lost power. The pilot ditched into the sea 30 miles off Portland, Dorset and it sank in 200ft of water. All of the crew were rescued safely |
| 26/07/1971 | WT912 | 1 | Cadet TX3 | 2 GC | Written off in a flying accident at Spitalgate, Lincs |
| 08/1971 | XV329 | T | Lightning T5 | 74 Sqn | When the Sqn disbanded the T5s had to be shipped back to the UK from Singapore as they cannot be fitted with over-wing ferry tanks. During shipment it suffered severe corrosion due to battery acid leakage. It was used for spares at Leconfield until being placed on the dump there in 1974 |
| 03/08/1971 | XV803 | Y | Harrier GR1 | 1 Sqn | Crashed near Huntingdon, Cambs after nozzle valve failure. The USAF pilot was killed after being unable to eject, as the ejection seat pins had been left in |
| 08/08/1971 | WB970 | Sedbergh TX1 | 613 GC | Crashed at Halton, Buckinghamshire | |
| 12/08/1971 | XL384 | Vulcan B2 | 617 Sqn | Damaged in an inflight fire whilst returning from the USA. It landed safely at Scampton, Lincolnshire. but upon inspection was declared CAT 5. Used for spares until November 1981 then towed to the Fire Dump and was burned early 1982. Allocated to 8505M at Scampton and later became 8670M | |
| 22/08/1971 | XJ426 | Whirlwind HAR10 | 22 Sqn | Ditched into Bideford Bay off Baggy Point, Devon after a fire warning light illuminated during a live casevac. The crew and casualty were rescued by another helicopter | |
| 27/08/1971 | XG229 | 42 | Hunter F6 | 63 Sqn/229 OCU | Crashed at Merton, Devon after the pilot ejected following flying control seizure |
| 01/09/1971 | XT498 | Sioux AH1 | AAC Development Wing | Crashed at Clatford near Andover, Hampshire while attempting to recover from a wing over manoeuvre. One crew member was killed and two were seriously injured | |
| 01/09/1971 | WR986 | G | Shackleton MR3 | 203 Sqn | Declared a write off due to severe damage caused by rat infestation whilst operating with the squadron at Safi, Malta |
| 14/09/1971 | XV630 | 433 | Wasp HAS1 | 829 NAS | Lost height rapidly during a normal approach to HMS Euryalus in the English Channel off Portland, Dorset. It landed heavily in the sea, rolled over and sank. The two crew were rescued. Recovered and to the AIU at Lee-on-Solent and then as ground instruction at the RNEC Manadon |
| 22/09/1971 | XP736 | G | Lightning F3 | 29 Sqn | Dived into the North Sea 30 miles off Lowestoft, Suffolk killing the pilot |
| 30/09/1971 | XR764 | E | Lightning F6 | 56 Sqn | Crashed into Limasol Bay, Cyprus after the pilot ejected following an engine fire |
| 05/10/1971 | WT366 | Canberra B(I)8 | 16 Sqn | Stalled and crashed 12 miles north of Xanten, soon after take off from Laarbruch, West Germany. Both crew were killed | |
| 06/10/1971 | WH973 | Canberra E15 | 98 Sqn | Rolled out of control and crashed at Lobthorpe, 3 miles from Cottesmore, Leics. The crew ejected safely | |
| 09/10/1971 | XG156 | E | Hunter FGA9 | 79 Sqn/229 OCU | Landed at Gibraltar with one of the main wheels retracted and ran off the runway into some concrete blocks. The pilot ejected but was killed. He had been advised to eject over the sea but as he was a poor swimmer he elected to attempt a landing |
| 12/10/1971 | XV479 | J | Phantom FGR2 | 54 Sqn | Crashed onto a cottage shortly after take off from Karup Denmark killing two civilians. The had crew ejected after suspected reheat problems |
| 15/10/1971 | XT904 | Phantom FGR2 | 228 OCU | Crashed into the North Sea off Cromer, Norfolk after the crew ejected following loss of control in a spin | |
| 26/10/1971 | XR658 | Y | Jet Provost T4 | 6 FTS | The airframe was overstressed when the canopy disintegrated and hit the tail causing temporary loss off control. Location unknown. To 8192M with the Exhibition Flt. |
| 29/10/1971 | XR711 | A | Lightning F3 | 111 Sqn | Due to a fault with the reheat on No1 engine it was disabled but allowed to do one more sortie. During take-off from Wattisham, Suffolk as a three ship the pilot lifted off with the other two but had insufficient power to gain height. With the undercarriage already retracted the aircraft sunk back onto the runway, slid along it and took the barrier. The pilot was uninjured. Declared CAT5 XR711 was stripped for spares then put onto the Fire Dump |
| 08/11/1971 | XL575 | 80 | Hunter T7 | 229 OCU | Crashed into a hillside at Cwmystwyth, Cardigan killing the two crew |
| 09/11/1971 | XV216 | Hercules C1 | LTW | Flew into the Ligurian Sea at night 28km off Pisa, Italy during a low level trail with three other Hercules. All fifty two on board were killed including forty six Italian parachutists | |
| 15/11/1971 | XP116 | PO-520 | Wessex HAS3 | 737 NAS | Ditched into the English Channel off Portland, Dorset. To Lee-on-Solent AES as A2618 |
| 26/11/1971 | XA232 | Grasshopper TX1 | 626 GS | Written off in a flying accident possibly at St. Eval, Cornwall | |
| 09/12/1971 | XV347 | Buccaneer S2B | 12 Sqn | Burnt out at Lossiemouth, Morayshire after the port engine blew up while taxying | |
| 13/12/1971 | XR567 | B | Gnat T1 | CFS | Four Gnats were completing a close formation practice over the USAF base at Upper Heyford, Oxfordshire. Upon breaking away, XR567 was crossing the airfield at 500ft when the fin detached. It crashed onto the airfield close to the runway narrowly missing five parked USAF F111Es. The crew were unable to eject in time and were both killed. The fleet were grounded and serious cracks were discovered in the fin on several aircraft. These were rectified at Bitteswell over a four year period |
