refinements had also been mooted but were dismissed as not being cost-effective. By 2010, the Tucano fleet was scheduled to be withdrawn from RAF service in 2015, at which point it was to have been replaced by the winner of the UK Military Flying Training System (UKMFTS) programme. However, the type's out of service date was put back by several years; the last of the Beechcraft T-6Cs, the Tucano's direct replacement, was delivered to RAF Valley on 3 December 2018. On 25 October 2019, the Tucano was withdrawn from RAF service; to mark the type's retirement, an aerial display was performed at RAF Linton-on-Ouse, North Yorkshire, which was also set for closure. Accidents and incidents On 22 Feb 1990, the first export Tucano Mk 51 ZH203 (destined for Kenya) crashed near Rathlin Island due to tailplane flutter in high speed weapons carriage trials, killing Shorts Chief Test Pilot Allan Deacon who ejected but drowned. The RAF lost 5 aircraft in service, all non-fatal (four involved ejections): ZF316 on 12 May 1992, ZF270 on 13 May 1996, ZF293 on 22 Aug 2000, ZF344 on 12 Mar 2009 and ZF349 on 8 Jan 2013. On 22 June 2015, movie soundtrack composer James Horner died when the Tucano he was piloting crashed in central California in a remote region of the Los Padres National Forest about 60 miles (97 km) north of Santa Barbara. Horner was the sole occupant of the plane. Variants Tucano T1 Two-seat basic trainer for the RAF – 130 delivered (one other aircraft (T42) was severely damaged by an IRA bomb blast whilst in final assembly in 1990 and was subsequently sold privately to the USA in 2013 by Shorts). Tucano Mk.51 Export version for Kenya – 12 delivered (13 were flown as the first was lost - see above). Tucano Mk.52 Export version for Kuwait – 16 delivered. Operators Kenya Air Force (1990 – present) Flying Training School Former operators Kuwait Air Force (1995 – present) 19th Training Squadron (Grounded) Empire Test Pilots' School Royal Air Force (June 1988 – October 2019) No. 1 Flying Training School No. 72 Squadron (July 2002 – October 2019) No. 76 (Reserve) Squadron (May 2007 – May 2011) No. 207 (Reserve) Squadron (July 2002 – January 2012) No. 3 Flying Training School No. 7 Flying Training School Specifications (Tucano) See also References Citations Bibliography External links Aircraft of the Royal Air Force