The eleven Victors and two Vulcans began taking off from Wideawake at 2350Z at one-minute intervals, with Reeve's Vulcan the eleventh to lift off and Withers's the last. With a full load of bombs and fuel, a sixth crew member and a fresh coat of paint, the Vulcans were well over their rated maximum takeoff weight of . On the warm Ascension Island, the Bristol Olympus 301 engines had to be run at 103 percent of their rated power in order to get the Vulcans airborne. Shortly after takeoff, Reeve suffered a failure. A rubber seal on the captain's "direct vision" side window had perished. Unable to close or seal the window and pressurise the crew cabin, he was forced to return to Ascension. The Vulcan lacked the ability to dump fuel, and it was far too heavy even for an emergency landing, so the crew were forced to remain airborne in a cold and noisy cabin until sufficient fuel had been consumed. Withers took over as the primary Vulcan. Twenty minutes later, one of the Victor tankers returned to Ascension with a faulty refuelling hose system, and its place was taken by the reserve.