Date:	Sunday 8 January 1950
Time:	15:30 LT
Type:	Fairey Firefly FR Mk 1
Owner/operator:	1830 Sqn FAA RN VR
Registration:	PP566
MSN:	F6252
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Meikle Bin, Campsie Fells, Stirlingshire -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RNAS Abbotsinch (HMS Sanderling), Glasgow
Destination airport:	RNAS Abbotsinch (HMS Sanderling), Glasgow
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Fairey Firefly FR.Mk.1: Delivered to the FAA RN (Fleet Air Arm, Royal Navy) at RNAS Culham RDU 18/1/1946. To HMS Sanderling, RNAS Abbotsinch AHU for test flying and preparation for service 27/7/1946. First issued for service on 1/8/1946 to 719 Squadron FAA RN at HMS Gannet, RNAS Eglinton, Northern Ireland. Transferred later in 1946 to 795 Squadron FAA RN, still based at Eglinton

Next issued for service 26/10/1946 to 827 Squadron FAA RN on board HMS Triumph. Damaged in a landing accident on board HMS Triumph 23/5/1947: Pilot, Lieutenant C.V. Howard, uninjured. Aircraft repaired and returned to service. Damaged in an emergency landing on board HMS Triumph 23/9/47: braked sharply, clipped arrestor wire, and began to nose over, damaging the propeller. Pilot - Lieutenant P.L.MacDermott - uninjured.

Returned to the UK 26/6/1948; to Fairey Aircraft at Hamble, Hampshire in December 1948 for overhaul. Issued to 1830 Squadron RNVR (Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve) FAA RN in January 1949 as "208/AC"

Written off (destroyed) 8/1/1950: Aircraft lost contact with base due to radio reception problems, and missed/flew over RNAS Abbotsinch. Failed to see RNAS Abbotsinch through the cloudbase. Initially, the Fairey Firefly was reported missing, and was the subject of a BBC radio appeal for information. Later, it was discovered that Firefly PP566 of 1830 Squadron RNVR coded '208/AC' had clipped a hilltop when inbound to Abbotsinch at 15.30 hrs. The wreckage of the Firefly fighter was discovered close to the summit of the 570m (1,870 ft) Meikle Bin in the Campsie Fells, Stirlingshire. (At approximate coordinates: 56.01374°N 4.13979°W). Both crew died in the accident. The bodies of the two occupants were found nearby.

Crew of Firefly PP566
Lieutenant John A.ROBERTSON, RN (pilot) - killed on active service 8/1/1950
Volunteer Reserve Airman 1st Class, John SMITH RNVR (observer, aged 24) - killed on active service 8/1/1950

Formally Struck Off Charge as Cat.ZZ 12/1/1950. During the 1990s large pieces of wreckage - in particular, the rear fuselage - were recovered by the South Yorkshire Aircraft Museum, and taken to Doncaster. By February 2008, the remains had moved to Andrew Hawkins at Newton Abbot, Devon. He also has the remains of several other Fairey Fireflies - VT709, WB440 and WD889. The hope is to combine these remains into one complete airframe. The Rolls-Royce Griffon engine of PP566, however, remains at the crash site

1. Fleet Air Arm Fixed Wing Aircraft Since 1946 (Ray Sturtivant. Lee Howard & Mick Burrows, Air Britain, 2004 p.252)
2. Aircraft Wrecks: The Walker's Guide: Historic Crash sites on the Moors and Mountains of the British Isles By Alan Clark, Nick Wotherspoon, Mark Sheldon
3. http://www.scotcrash.homecall.co.uk/site19.htm
4. http://www.gairney.plus.com/Aircraft/Photographs/aircraft_Wrecks/aircraft-HGW.htm
5. http://www.aircrashsites-scotland.co.uk/firefly_meikle-bin1b.htm
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meikle_Bin
7. https://www.geograph.org.uk/snippet/8526
8. http://www.edwardboyle.com/wreck29.html
9. http://www.wtdwhd.co.uk/MeickleBin(2016).html
10. https://postjohn.wordpress.com/2009/07/

Engine from Fairey Firefly on Meikle Bin & Carron Valley Forest - Remains of a wing section from Fairey Firefly PP566 which crashed in 1950.Photographed 3 January 2019

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
21-Jul-2016 21:30	Dr.John Smith	Added
03-Jan-2020 19:31	stehlik49	Updated [Operator, Operator]
01-Sep-2020 19:50	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Cn, Operator, Destination airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative]
01-Sep-2020 19:52	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
01-Sep-2020 19:58	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Location, Embed code, Narrative]
01-Sep-2020 19:58	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Embed code]
01-Sep-2020 21:41	Angel Dick one	Updated [Operator, Operator]
12-Sep-2020 20:37	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Embed code]