RAF Andover XS609 and crew had been on detachment at Pisa, Italy, from 26 March 1972, for Falcon free fall parachute training at Ampugnano. On 8 April 1972, the routine pattern of morning flying had been completed and the aircraft was to be flown from Ampugnano to Pisa. During the take-off, the co-pilot monitored engine response including water methanol cut-in and full torque/RPM on both engines. At 67 knots, the navigator called “rotate” at which point the captain applied back pressure on the control column to initiate rotation and the co-pilot held both throttles open with his left hand. The aircraft left the ground almost immediately in a fairly flat attitude with airspeed observed to be increasing through 79 knots. At this point there was a change in engine noise; the aircraft was felt to falter and the starboard wing to drop. The captain heard the co-pilot’s call that they had “lost one” and applied corrective aileron and rudder to arrest the roll and yaw to starboard. The roll and yaw to the right continued with the starboard wing tip striking the ground at a point 50 metres from the runway centre line and approximately 160 metres from the rotate point. The starboard wing tip continued to run along the ground with the aircraft pivoting around it and pitching nose down. The aircraft finally came to rest with a double impact, having turned through some 300 degrees. This double impact caused the fuselage to break aft of the cabin by the leading edge and the fin and tail plane to break rearwards. The fuselage and fin remained vertical but the severed front section rolled over on to its right side. Fire broke out immediately in the front section and began to spread rapidly towards the rear of the fuselage and the centre section of the wings. Four passengers suffered fatal injuries in the accident. Conclusion The Board was unable to find anything to account for the failure of the starboard engine. The only tenuous theory was that foreign matter in the fuel control system caused a flame out of the engine.