Date:	Tuesday 23 August 1949
Time:	day
Type:	Supermarine Spitfire F Mk 24
Owner/operator:	80 Sqn RAF
Registration:	PK723
MSN:	CBAF.255
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RAF Kai Tak, Kowloon Bay -   Hong Kong
Phase:	Approach
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Kai Tak, Kowloon Bay, Hong Kong
Destination airport:	RAF Kai Tak, Kowloon Bay, Hong Kong

Narrative:
PK723: Spitfire F.24, MSN CBAF.255. Built by Vickers Armstrong (Supermarine) at South Marston, Swindon, Wiltshire with Griffon G61 engine. Test flown Flying Officer Brown for 20 minutes on 27-2-46 (probable first flight). To 33MU RAF Lyneham 26-11-46. To HMS Sanderling, RNAS Renfrew, Abbotsinch, Glasgow 4-7-49 for packing and crating for shipment overseas. To 80 Squadron FEAF (Far East Air Force) 15-7-49 and delivered to RAF Kai Tak, Kowloon Bay, Hong Kong

Written off (damaged beyond repair) 23-8-49 when stalled on approach and crashed at RAF Kai Tak, Kowloon Bay, Hong Kong. The pilot was making his first ever solo flight in a Spitfire F.24, as well as his first ever sortie from RAF Kai Tak. Despite being briefed to make one "dummy" approach to RAF Kai Tak, overshoot, and then land after the second approach, the pilot attempted to land on the first approach. However, the Spitfire was wrongly set up for such an approach, and therefore the pilot tightened his final turn in order to try and line up with the runway at Kai Tak. This caused the Spitfire to stall at low altitude and dive into the ground. The pilot was killed

According to a contemporary newspaper report ("Border Morning Mail" (Albury, NSW) Wednesday 24 Aug 1949 Page 12):

"SPITFIRE PILOT KILLED AT HONG KONG
HONG KONG, Tues.—
The pilot of a Spitfire was killed instantly when his plane crashed while landing at Kai Kak airfield today. RAF authorities are not disclosing the pilot's name until the next of kin have been notified. The pilot was attached to the 80th Squadron.

Crew of Spitfire PK723:
Flying Officer William Rhodes Pickering RAF (pilot) - killed on active service 23-8-49

1. Halley, James (1999). Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents. Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Final Landings: A Summary of RAF Aircraft and Combat Losses 1946 to 1949 by Colin Cummings p.524
3. Border Morning Mail (Albury, NSW) Wednesday 24 Aug 1949 Page 12
4. Royal Air Force Aircraft SA100-VZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain)
5. 80 Sqn RAF ORB for the period 1-6-1946 to 31-12-1950: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR27/2434/1: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8439303
6. https://www.rafcommands.com/database/serials/details.php?uniq=PK723
7. https://www.avialogs.com/spitfire-and-seafire-registry/item/79808-pk723
8. https://allspitfirepilots.org/aircraft/PK723
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._80_Squadron_RAF#Post-World_War_II_and_disbandment
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Kai_Tak#Squadrons

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
07-Sep-2013 08:32	JINX	Added
27-Mar-2015 17:57	Jixon	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator]
31-Jul-2023 20:49	Dr. John Smith	Updated [[Aircraft type, Operator]]
04-Aug-2023 19:16	Dr. John Smith	Updated [[[Aircraft type, Operator]]]