Date:	Tuesday 1 February 1955
Time:	day
Type:	de Havilland DH.100 Vampire FB Mk 5
Owner/operator:	5 FTS RAF
Registration:	WA262
MSN:	EEP/42...
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Landbeach, 3 miles north of Cambridge, Cambridgeshire -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.)
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	RAF Oakington, Cambridgeshire
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
De Havilland Vampire FB.Mk.5 WA262: Delivered 7/12/50. RAF career was with 28 Squadron, 202 AFS (Advanced Flying School) 210 AFS, 206 AFS and 5 FTS RAF Oakington, Cambridgeshire

Written off (destroyed) 1/2/55: Abandoned in spin during aerobatic practice. The aircraft became uncontrollable and failed to recover from the spin, and dived into the ground at Landbeach, Cambridgeshire. Pilot was killed as he was unable to successfully bail out from the aircraft at a safe altitude, and the parachute failed to deploy in time. According to one published source (see link #6)

"In early 1955, a period of bad weather probably contributed to a number of aircraft crashes - on 1 February for example, Vampire FB.5 (WA262) spun in close to Landbeach church and the pilot was killed, after bailing out too low."

Crew of Vampire WA262:
Flying Officer David Waine RAF (pilot, Service Number 2608806, aged 22) - killed on active service 1/2/55

The reported crash location of Landbeach is a small fen-edge English village about three miles (5 km) north of Cambridge at approximate co ordinates 52.265°N 0.162°E.

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.168 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Royal Air Force Aircraft WA100-WZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1985 p.8)
3. Category Five; A Catalogue of RAF Aircraft Losses 1954 to 2009 by Colin Cummings p.115
4. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=WA
5. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/_DH100%20prodn%20list.txt
6. https://www.scribd.com/document/188146049/RAF-Oakington-Vol-1
7. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/39935/supplement/4367/data.pdf
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landbeach

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
28-May-2008 14:33	JINX	Added
08-Jun-2008 21:44	JINX	Updated
18-May-2015 17:57	MiG21	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator]
10-Jan-2020 11:21	stehlik49	Updated [Aircraft type, Nature, Operator]
05-May-2020 22:18	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Cn, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
06-May-2020 05:57	MIG21	Updated [Operator, Location, Operator]