late sixteenth century, including a sketch of Coire Mhic Fhearchair on his maps, however there is little evidence of any recorded visits to the summits of Beinn Eighe prior to the nineteenth century. The earliest recorded ascent appears to have been during surveying of the boundary between the Gairloch and Torridon Estates, which surveyor George Campbell Smith was required to determine and delineate in 1851. Air crash The Triple Buttress Corrie was the scene of an aviation tragedy on the night of 13–14 March 1951. An Avro Lancaster crashed about 5 m below the crest of the summit ridge in a gully now known as Fuselage Gulley (or Far West Gulley) above Loch Coire Mhic Fhearchair. The aircraft, which was part of 120 Squadron, had taken off from RAF Kinloss around 6 pm for a maritime reconnaissance mission in the vicinity of Rockall and the Faroe Isles, and was due back at around 2:30 am. During the return journey the weather conditions were poor, with freezing temperatures and a strong north-easterly wind. Although experienced local mountaineers offered to assist, the RAF initially determined that the search would be handled by their own search teams. It was not until 16 March (two days after the crash) that the location of the crash was identified, from an Airspeed Oxford taking part in the search. The search had been directed to the Beinn Eighe area as a result of reports from local witnesses, who had seen a red flash over the mountain. The RAF rescue teams arrived at the foot of the mountain on 17 March but despite several attempts were unable to reach the crash site due to the mountainous terrain and adverse winter weather conditions. Finally, two Royal Marine commandos reached the crash site. It was not until nearly 6 months after the incident that the bodies of the crew were finally recovered. The length of time taken to complete the recovery operation was a key factor in the introduction of formal training courses for the RAF Mountain Rescue Teams; prior to this MRS teams were neither adequately trained nor equipped to undertake recovery operations in such extreme mountainous areas. It also led to the creation of an Air Ministry post of Inspector of Land Rescue (ILR). Similarly, the involvement of local gamekeepers and gillies in removing the bodies was instrumental in the formation of the Kinlochewe and Torridon Mountain Rescue