Pollock’s Perilous Flight

On the 5th April 1968, Flight Lieutenant Alan Pollock flew unauthorized underneath Tower Bridge.

Why did he do it? He was frustrated with ongoing defence cuts and the lack of official recognition of the 50th Anniversary of the formation of the RAF; and so Pollock decided to hop into his Hawker Hunter jet and fly over London.

He was originally supposed to be flying back to base at West Raynham, Norfolk from RAF Tangmere, Sussex when he decided to split from the other three Hunter pilots. He tapped coded messages over his radio transmitter in order to tell the others that he had ‘lost visual contact and had problems with verbal communication,’ and went off on his demonstration.

He flew over the River Thames, with the route being the safest and quietest option. He wanted to fly over Parliament as well as Downing Street to draw attention to those in charge; he flew three loud circuits around Parliament, but without a target map, he didn’t know exactly where No.10 was.

He flew over other notable bridges of London; Blackfriars Bridge, London Bridge, and Waterloo Bridge being a few, before he saw Tower Bridge, which he ‘forgot was there’.

Flying under Tower Bridge was a split-second decision he made when he only had ‘10 seconds to grapple with the seductive proposition’.

‘Years of fast low-level strike flying made the decision simple’, and he flew the jet under the bridge; the first and last time this has ever occurred. He also believed that a trial would at least give him the chance of voicing his opinions on the issues the Air Force was facing.

As part of the No. 1 Squadron in the RAF, he felt that the 50th anniversary of the Force should have been recognised in a more significant way than it was. Although knowing that he would face serious consequences, he believed ‘it was worth flying over London.’

Pollock was arrested by a Flying Officer upon returning to his RAF base and was later invalided from the RAF on medical grounds, in order to avoid a court-martial. A court martial would have given him the chance to present his case, and potentially receive public support.

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