[1] XA897 was the first Vulcan bomber delivered to the Royal Air Force; after arriving at RAF Waddington, the aircraft was loaned to C-in-C Air Marshal Sir Harry Broadhurst and Squadron Leader Donald "Podge" Howard for a 26,000 mi (42,000 km; 23,000 nmi) round the world trip to showcase the aircraft's advanced design.

The Vulcan had been fitted with bomb bay fuel tanks to cover the great distance from Aden and the aircraft approached Heathrow in torrential rain.

The court of inquiry convened to review the crash determined that XA897's approach was affected by poor visibility due to heavy rain (three Russian Tu-104 aircraft carrying the Bolshoi Ballet had already been diverted away from Heathrow to RAF Manston that morning) and that the aircraft was not equipped to use the instrument landing system (ILS) installed at Heathrow.

Howard attempted to abort the landing believing he was at 150 ft (46 m) he applied power but his aircraft collided with the ground which removed his undercarriage and severely damaged the Vulcan's control surfaces.

He further claims that a fifty-year D-Notice had been placed on the incident,[2] even though numerous Air Ministry and Board of Trade files relating to the crash are available at the UK National Archives.