A Royal Air Force Vulcan bomber crashed in Zabbar 34 years ago today, killing five crew members and a woman resident.

The accident was sparked off by a bad landing at Luqa airport at the end of a flight from RAF Waddington.

The only civilian casualty, Vincenza Zammit, 48, was in the town's main road when she was hit by a falling chunk of the aircraft.

The crash caused devastation in Zabbar and many still consider it to be a miracle that casualties were so low.

According to the Kew National Archives the accident was avoidable and the captain was found to have been negligent in his handling of the aircraft.

The pilot and co-pilot escaped with their lives after ejecting from the aircraft moments before it crashed.

A board of inquiry had analysed a series of four photos taken by Godfrey Mangion, an aircraft and photo enthusiast, showing the bomber - XM645 - very close to the runway threshold.

From these photos the board determined that the power up and nose down commanded by the captain took place about 1.3 seconds before impact, at a height of only some 20 feet.

The aircraft hit the undershoot with sufficient force to sheer off the undercarriage, bounced back into the air some 20 feet or so, then hit the runway again some 600 feet after the impact before climbing away again with the captain attempting to do a circuit and land.

Fire broke out on the starboard wing as a consequence.