THE Vulcan bomber, one of the biggest draws at the Bournemouth Air Festival, may cancel after two engines were destroyed in an aborted training flight.

Witnesses described smoke and debris coming from the giant plane as it tried to take off from Robin Hood Airport in South Yorkshire at noon on Monday.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is investigating and the Vulcan to the Sky Trust said two of the four engines were damaged beyond repair.

Vulcan enthusiast Maurice Long, who observed the test flight, told the Daily Telegraph: “It got to the end of the runway and then you couldn’t see anything but smoke coming out of the back end. There was a flashing and explosions and two bangs.”

The emergency services rushed to the scene but no-one was injured.

The plane has a packed schedule including the Bournemouth Air Festival, held this year from August 30 to September 2, and it is said to boost airshow visitor numbers by 10 per cent.

A Vulcan to the Sky spokesman told the Echo he could not comment on when the plane might fly again until the CAA had completed its investigation.

The internal investigation found the two port side engines suffered heat and blade damage after ingesting silica gel bags as the plane was easing to full power.

He said the crew cut the engines as soon as there was a problem. There was no airframe damage and the team has four spare engines.

The plane relies on fundraising appeals to keep flying and engineering director Andrew Mr Edmondson said the extra costs were “very worrying.”

Former Vulcan pilot Colston Nichols from Lilliput in Poole, 68, said: “The trouble with a single air intake is the chances are if one engines blows out it damages the adjacent engine. Everytime I have lost one engine flying I have generally speaking lost two.

“I was looking forward to seeing it again and it will be very difficult to repair in time. But yes, I think they will be able to do it.”

A spokesman for Bournemouth Tourism said: “We are led by Vulcan to the Sky. There is still some time before the Air Festival so hopefully it will be ready to display.”

The Avro Vulcan is a long range nuclear bomber that first flew in 1952. Airframe XH558 was sold by the Ministry of Defence in 1992.

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