Date:	Friday 20 December 1946
Time:	day
Type:	de Havilland DH.82a Tiger Moth II
Owner/operator:	7 EFTS RAF
Registration:	PG686
MSN:	86583
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RAF Braunstone, Braunstone Frith, Leicestershire, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Initial climb
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Braunstone, Braunstone Frith, Leicestershire
Destination airport:

Narrative:
De Havilland DH.82A Tiger Moth MSN 86583: Taken on charge as PG686 at 7 EFTS RAF Desford, Leicestershire 27.4.44.

Written off (damaged beyond repair) 20.12.46 when stalled on take-off and crashed at RAF Braunstone, Braunstone Frith, Leicestershire. At an altitude of 60 feet, shortly after take-off, while still in the initial climb phase, the aircraft stalled and crashed. The aircraft force landed approx. half way along the length of the runway, ran off the end of the runway, through the perimeter hedge, and the starboard undercarriage collapsed.

Due to both crew members suffering memory lapses - as a direct result of injuries sustained - the RAF Board of Inquiry was unable to discover with certainty the actual cause of the accident. It is also not known which of the two crew on board - Instructor Pilot and Pupil Pilot Under Training - was actually flying the aircraft at the moment of impact. According to some sources, the "Pupil Pilot Under Training" was nothing of the sort, but an unauthorised passenger!

According to a history of Leicester Airport and the associated Flying Club (see link #7):
"1935 – March 27th Braunstone was licensed by the Air Ministry and the club moved in.
1939 – August 31st all civil flying was banned as the war became inevitable.
1940 – October the RAF requisitioned the airfield
1947 – The club took residence in President Sir Lindsay Everard’s private airfield as the Braunstone land was not released from the RAF"

Braunstone was officially opened on 27.3.35, and requisitioned by the Air Ministry for RAF use from 10.40 to 27.3.46. However, it seems to have been used as a Relief/Emergency Landing Ground for RAF Desford well after the official closure date. The airfield site is now the Braunstone Frith Industrial Estate

1. Halley, James (1999). Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents. Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.57. ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Air-Britain Royal Air Force Aircraft PA100-RZ999
3. Final Landings: A Summary of RAF Aircraft and Combat Losses 1946-1949 by Colin Cummings p.259
4. 7 EFTS RAF ORB for the period 1-9-1939 to 30-4-1947: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR29/617/4: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C7160934
5. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/p865.html
6. https://air-britain.com/pdfs/production-lists/DH82.pdf
7. https://www.ukairfieldguide.net/airfields/Braunstone
8. https://www.abct.org.uk/airfields/airfield-finder/braunstone-leicester/
9. https://leicesterairport.com/about/a-brief-history/

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
02-Sep-2013 07:46	JINX	Added
08-Jul-2017 22:00	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Cn, Total fatalities, Other fatalities, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
03-Nov-2018 15:01	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Operator]
18-Nov-2019 20:25	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Operator, Source, Narrative]
18-Nov-2019 22:05	Anon.	Updated [Operator, Operator]
29-Aug-2021 02:18	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Operator, Total occupants, Location, Phase, Source, Narrative, Category]
29-Aug-2021 08:55	Anon.	Updated [Operator, Location, Operator]
22-May-2023 20:37	Dr. John Smith	Updated [[Operator, Location, Operator]]