History Hunters International

Aviation archaeology and the law

In the UK the remains of all aircraft which have crashed whilst in military service (whether on land or sea) are protected by the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986, under which &undefined;it is an offence to tamper with, damage, move or unearth the remains unless the Secretary of State has issued a licence authorising those things to be done and that they are done in accordance with the conditions of the licence&undefined;. Application forms for licences and a copy of the Notes for Guidance of Recovery Groups can be obtained from:

PMA Cas 2
Bldg 182
Ministry of Defence
Royal Air Force
Innsworth
Gloucester GL3 1EZ

More informally the hobby also has a self-regulating body, the British Aviation Archeological Council (BAAC), which aims to &undefined;maintain ethical standards of behaviour, coordinate activities and provide a forum for discussion&undefined; for member groups, although by no means all the active groups in the UK are members of this organisation. The BAAC may be contacted via:

BAAC Publicity Officer
Mr R Collis
8 Holly Road
Oulton Broad
Lowestoft
Suffolk NR32 3NH
E-mail:

The information on this page was provided by the Lancashire Aircraft Investigation Team, who worked with Time Team on the Warton Marsh excavation. Their website is at: http://web.ukonline.co.uk/lait/site/index.htm