Date:	Monday 14 November 1955
Time:	night
Type:	de Havilland DH.115 Vampire T Mk 11
Owner/operator:	5 FTS RAF
Registration:	XD451
MSN:	15303
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Rampton, 2 miles NNE of RAF Oakington, Cambridgeshire, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Take off
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	RAF Oakington, Cambridgeshire
Destination airport:	RAF Oakington, Cambridgeshire
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
De Havilland DH.115 Vampire T.11 XD451: Crashed and destroyed 14.11.1955 - the engine failed just after take off from RAF Oakington, Cambridgeshire. The instructor took control and managed to avoid some houses at Rampton, Cambridgeshire. XD451 then struck some apple trees in an orchard and caught fire on impact two miles north north east of the airfield. Both crew survived.

One source (see link #1) states that the accident took place during "a night roller landing". (A "Roller landing" is a landing followed by an immediate take off, where the aircraft barely slows down while it is briefly on the ground.)

According to a contemporary newspaper report ("Cambridge Daily News" 15 November 1955):

"A Vampire jet from RAF Oakington skimmed over Rampton before crash-landing in a field. The pilot managed to miss council houses and touched down, bouncing over a ditch and a hedge before coming to rest in an orchard. Several villagers did not hear any explosion and only realised that a plane had crashed when they saw the flames". The two crew sustained some injuries

Crew of Vampire XD451:
Flight Lieutenant W K Graczyk RAF (pupil pilot under instruction, Service Number 500752).
Flight Lieutenant P Norris RAF (QFI Instructor Pilot)

After recovering from his injuries, Flight Lieutenant W K Graczyk's service in the RAF continued for a further eleven years, finally retiring from service on 14/7/66

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.176 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Royal Air Force Aircraft XA100-XZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 2001 p 16)
3. Category Five; A Catalogue of RAF Aircraft Losses 1954 to 2009 by Colin Cummings p.166
4. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AVIA 5/34/S2790: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C6578570
5. National Archives (PRO Kew) File BT233/309: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C424430
6. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=XD
7. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/_DH115%20prodn%20list.txt
8. https://www.ab-ix.co.uk/pdfs/dh115.pdf
9. http://www.ukserials.com/losses-1955.htm
10. Cambridge Daily News 15 November 1955 at https://archive.org/details/CambridgeshireScrapbook2018Revision/page/n2397
11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rampton,_Cambridgeshire
12. http://www.planetrace.co.uk/1950-1959_26.html

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
05-Mar-2013 20:21	Dr. John Smith	Added
25-Dec-2018 21:03	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Location, Nature, Operator]
10-Jan-2020 18:30	stehlik49	Updated [Aircraft type, Location, Operator]
11-Jan-2020 14:27	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
11-Jan-2020 17:01	stehlik49	Updated [Operator, Operator]
02-Jun-2020 20:26	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Operator, Source, Narrative]
02-Jun-2020 20:28	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
03-Jun-2020 08:49	Boile A.	Updated [Operator, Operator]
11-Jul-2023 22:04	Nepa	Updated [[Operator, Operator]]