Date:	Monday 23 June 1952
Time:	day
Type:	de Havilland DH.100 Vampire F Mk 1
Owner/operator:	208 AFS RAF
Registration:	TG298
MSN:	EEP/40025
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Harcombe House, Chudleigh, near Newton Abbot, Devon -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	RAF Merryfield, Ilton, Ilchester, Somerset (EGDI)
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
De Havilland DH.100 Vampire F.Mk.1 TG298, 208 AFS, RAF: Crashed and destroyed when dived into the ground from high altitude at Harcombe House, Chudleigh, near Newton Abbot, Devon, on 23.6.52; pilot killed

The aircraft broke away from formation flying at 28,000 feet, and failed to acknowledge repeated radio calls to rejoin. The aircraft then made several movements is random directions, before entering a near-vertical dive. At about 500 feet, the aircraft started to recover, but then made one-and-a-half flick rolls before breaking up in flight. The subsequent Board of Inquiry into the accident concluded that the pilot had passed out due to anoxia (oxygen starvation) and lost control of the aircraft for this reason

Pilot of Vampire TG298:
Pilot Officer Alan Durham, RAF (pilot, aged 19) - killed 23/6/1952

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.130 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Last Take-off: A Record of RAF Aircraft Losses 1950 to 1953 by Colin Cummings p 259
3. Wings Over Somerset: Aircraft Crashes since the End of World War II By Peter Forrester
4. Royal Air Force Aircraft SA100-VZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain)
5. 208 AFS ORB (Operations Record Book)(Air Ministry Form AM/F.540) for the period 1/11/1951 to 31/5/1954: National Archives (PRO Kew) flie AIR 29/2147 at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C4101857
6. National Archives (PRO Kew) File BT233/98: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C424219
7. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AVIA 5/31/S2580: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C6578426
8. http://www.dehavilland.ukf.net/_DH100%20prodn%20list.txt
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chudleigh

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
02-Mar-2013 20:08	Dr. John Smith	Added
04-Dec-2018 20:11	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Location, Nature, Operator]
29-Dec-2019 23:01	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Source, Narrative]
30-Dec-2019 20:38	stehlik49	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Operator]
10-Jan-2020 20:31	stehlik49	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator]
09-Dec-2020 16:22	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Operator, Source]
10-Dec-2020 18:17	AlLach	Updated [Operator, Operator]
12-Mar-2021 00:24	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Departure airport, Source, Narrative]