On 9 November 1971, a Royal Air Force Lockheed Hercules C.1 crashed into the sea off the coast of Livorno by Meloria shoal, Italy, killing all 46 passengers and 6 crew.

[1] At the time it was described by Italian officials as the worst military air disaster in Italy in peacetime.

[2] The Hercules serial number XV216, from RAF Lyneham in Wiltshire, was due to carry out an early morning parachute drop at Cagliari, Sardinia, as part of a large-scale joint training exercise called Coldstream.

[3] The Hercules known as Chalk 4 was the fourth of the 10 aircraft due to depart at fifteen-minute intervals from San Giusto military airport in Pisa, Italy.

[2] The wreckage was found lying in 200 feet (61 m) of water, although small fragments had already been recovered, the salvage operation, which was hindered by the bad weather, was led by the Italian Navy.