Date:	Tuesday 6 April 1948
Time:	day
Type:	Supermarine Spitfire PR Mk XIX
Owner/operator:	541 Sqn RAF
Registration:	PM623
MSN:	6S 683520
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RAF Benson, Wallingford, Oxfordshire, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Landing
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Benson, Oxfordshire (EGUB)
Destination airport:	RAF Benson, Oxfordshire (EGUB)

Narrative:
PM623; Spitfire PR.XIX, MSN 6S 683520. Built at Vickers Armstrong (Supermarine) at Eastleigh, Southampton with Griffon G66 engine. Supermarine production prototype reintroduction visual undercarriage indicator wing. Undershot on landing 12-12-44. To 6MU RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire 31-10-45. To 82 Squadron, RAF Benson, Oxfordshire 25-6-47. On 1-10-46, 82 squadron was reformed at RAF Benson equipped with Avro Lancasters and Supermarine Spitfire PR. XIXs to undertake aerial surveys of Nigeria, the Gold Coast, Sierra Leone and Gambia. The squadron moved to Kenya in October 1947. Spitfire PM623 remained in the UK, and was transferred to 541 Squadron, RAF Benson. Oxfordshire 3-12-47.

Written off (damaged beyond repair) 6-4-48 when landed with undercarriage unlocked at RAF Benson, Oxfordshire. On final approach to RAF Benson, the pilot selected undercarriage "down", but did not confirm that the undercarriage was "down and locked" by pushing the undercarriage selection lever fully. In addition, the pilot failed to check that he had "three greens" (green lights confirming that the undercarriage was down and locked).

As the undercarriage selection lever had not been operated correctly, the aircraft's undercarriage retraction sequence cycled back to "undercarriage up" again, and the aircraft made a wheels-up landing at RAF Benson, with the undercarriage semi-retracted. The aircraft then skidded along the runway at RAF Benson, severely damaging the underside of the aircraft.

Damage initially assessed as FAAC (Flying Accident Cat. C) 6-4-48; not repaired, re-cat E 6-4-48 and struck off charge

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.542
3. Air-Britain Royal Air Force Aircraft PA100-RZ999 (James J Halley Air Britain)
4. 541 Sqn RAF ORB for April 1948: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR27/2501/12: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8423003
5. "RAF Write offs 1948": Air Britain Aeromilitaria No.1 1979: https://air-britain.com/pdfs/aeromilitaria/Aeromilitaria_1979.pdf
6. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/spitfire/p089.html
7. https://allspitfirepilots.org/aircraft/PM623
8. https://www.avialogs.com/spitfire-and-seafire-registry/item/91905-pm623
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._541_Squadron_RAF#Postwar
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._82_Squadron_RAF#Post-war_operations_in_Africa
11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Benson#Post-war

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
20-Sep-2013 03:42	JINX	Added
12-Aug-2014 09:50	Jixon	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Destination airport]
05-Mar-2020 20:42	Iwosh	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator]
17-Jul-2023 07:52	Nepa	Updated [[Aircraft type, Operator]]
24-Aug-2023 20:37	Dr. John Smith	Updated [[[Aircraft type, Operator]]]