Date:	Monday 15 August 1949
Time:	day
Type:	de Havilland DH.103 Hornet F Mk 3
Owner/operator:	41 Sqn RAF
Registration:	PX363
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RAF Church Fenton, North Yorkshire -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.)
Nature:	Demo/Airshow/Display
Departure airport:	RAF Church Fenton, North Yorkshire (EGCM)
Destination airport:	RAF Gütersloh, West Germany (GUT/ETUO)
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
DH Hornet F3, PX363 "EB-B" of 41 Squadron, RAF: Written off (destroyed) when flew into ground during a loop at RAF Church Fenton, North Yorkshire, 15/8/1949. The pilot was rehearsing for an air display to be held at RAF Gütersloh, North Rhine-Westphalia, West Germany. As part of the display routine, he completed a loop, and then entered a high-speed dive after passing through the top of the loop, but delayed pulling out of the dive.

The aircraft 'mushed' into the ground and was destroyed. The RAF Board of Inquiry deemed that, because the cloud base was at 5,000 feet, the pilot may have tightened the loop to avoid entering the cloud base, and blacked out due to high "g" loadings.

Crew of Hornet PX363:
Flight Lieutenant Thomas Robinson, RAF (pilot, service number 103968) - killed on active service 15/8/1949.

The pilot had only been promoted from Flying Officer to Flight Lieutenant on 2/6/1949.

NOTE: The aircraft crashed at RAF Church Fenton, North Yorkshire, while practising for an air display at Gutersloh, West Germany. It did NOT - despite some published sources - crash at Gutersloh, West Germany!

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 1946-1949 by Colin Cummings p. 521
3. Air Yorkshire June 1966; http://s617306976.websitehome.co.uk/AYASMagazines/1966%2006.pdf
4. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/_DH103%20prodn%20list.txt
5. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/38679/supplement/3753/data.pdf
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Church_Fenton#Postwar

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
15-Jun-2018 19:12	Nepa	Added
28-Oct-2019 19:46	Uli Elch	Updated [Operator, Location, Destination airport, Narrative]
02-Nov-2019 08:32	Anon.	Updated [Operator, Operator]
05-Feb-2020 11:14	stehlik49	Updated [Location, Operator]
25-Aug-2020 22:50	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Total fatalities, Other fatalities, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
25-Aug-2020 22:51	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source]