[1][2] The aircraft was an Avro Lancaster B Mk III GR, registration TX269, which entered service in September 1945 with RR Merlin 224 engines; its callsign was RL-N.[3] It belonged to the 38th RAF Squadron stationed at Malta's Luqa airport.

[1][2] The crew of a sailing ship en route to Porto Santo Stefano observed the bomber flying at very low altitude[4] and crashing on the island of Montecristo.

The sea was too rough, and the sailing ship, unable to approach Montecristo, continued towards its destination; an alert was raised from Porto Santo Stefano to the Port Authority of Livorno, which sent two corvettes to the island's waters.

A Supermarine Seafire launched from the British aircraft carrier Triumph spotted the wreckage of TX269 on the rocks of the upper Santa Maria Valley, on the southwestern side of Montecristo.

[5] L'Unità of Sunday, September 5, 1948, reported:[4] "A sailing ship en route to Porto Santo Stefano spotted this morning (Sept. 4) a plane flying at very low altitude, crashing into the cliffs of the island of Montecristo and catching fire.