East Devon’s Jim Rider shares the remarkable true story following the last flight of a Viscount

News Desk
Authored by News Desk
Posted Wednesday, March 20, 2019 - 8:46pm

This remarkable true story, set in the last days of one of Great Britain’s magnificent airliners, follows the bizarre circumstances that caused a routine flight from Santander to Devon to end in near disaster.

The Vickers Viscount’s final flight is re-created in rich detail and set in the context of the lives of those who witnessed it. From the heart-stopping moment of realisation that the plane was not going to reach Exeter Airport, you will be in the cockpit with Geoff Whittaker – the pilot whose job it was to do the near impossible – on the ground with witnesses and alongside the terrified passengers in the cabin, every one of them staring death in the face.

Meticulously researched, Forced Landing: The Last Flight of a Viscount perfectly captures the drama of July 17th 1980 that briefly put Ottery St Mary into the headlines.

Jim Rider has lived in East Devon since 1987 and retired from the Royal Marines as a Captain in 1994. He served as Her Majesty the Queen’s Director of Music in HM Royal Yacht, Britannia and worked personally for HM the Queen in the Royal Household on matters of state ceremonial and high profile international events. 

Jim has a passion for writing and says, “I was asked by a neighbour if I had heard about a plane crash near the neighbouring town of Ottery Saint Mary in the 80s. I had not. I am a fan of ‘Google Earth’ and when he told me that the plane came down on the nearby cricket pitch I was soon checking it out. Then followed a journey of discovery and I loved the detective work – I needed to know how a big airliner could possibly land there. Forced Landing is a result of my meticulous research. I found witnesses, photos, press reports, damaged trees, gaps in a hedge, a bent propeller blade and I even interviewed the pilot’s widow.”

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