Did you know a plane crash caused a change to D-Day anniversary events?

The attention of the world is on Normandy this June, thanks to the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings on June 6, 1944. A recent accident, however, cast a shadow on the festivities as a Supermarine Spitfire (Read our earlier article) of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF) crashed recently, killing its pilot and forcing several commemorative flights to be canceled for safety reasons.

The BBMF operates 6 Spitfires, 2 Hurricanes, a Lancaster (Read our earlier article), a C47 Dakota (the British name for the Skytrain) and two Chipmunk trainer planes, and holds memorial flights where the aircraft are piloted by regular Royal Air Force (RAF) pilots. On May 25, one of the Spitfires took off from RAF Coningsby in Eastern England, the home of the BBMF, piloted by Squadron Leader Mark Long. Long radioed in a distress call moments after takeoff. His plane then banked to the right and started descending at a dangerous rate, crashing in a nearby field and killing the pilot. This was the first fatal crash in the history of the BBMF since its founding in 1957, and Long was actually due to take over command of the entire team later this year. The plane itself, MK356, was built in early 1944 and flew many missions leading up to D-Day. It served as a gate guardian after the war, and also appeared in the 1969 movie The Battle of Britain.

The cause of the fatal crash is not yet known, but all BBMF flights have been grounded until the investigation is complete, since if the cause had to do with faulty equipment, there's a chance that the rest of the aging warbirds are also afflicted by the same problem. All BBMF flights planned for the D-Day celebrations had to be canceled, and future planned flights, including the birthday of King Charles III and the Formula 1 Grand Prix at Silverstone, are also in jeopardy.

Save up to 30% with our personalized offers

Choose our pay in full promotion: we are offering all our available tours with a discount of 10% if you book and pay in full until we run out of inventory. The tour price is refundable up until 90 days before departure. This offer applies only in case of new bookings, and can be combined with personalized offers resulting even in an eventual discount of 30%.

Note that by requesting a quote from us you may be eligible for additional personalized offers. If you take advantage of these special tailor-made offers, we will extend the discount to all your team members travelling with you on the trip of a lifetime. These special offers will be valid for 10 days and you will have to pay the full price upon booking.

If you have any questions related to this promotion or our tours, please contact our travel consultants at info@beachesofnormandy.com or by calling our toll-free number: +1 855-473-1999.