Date:	Wednesday 26 July 1950
Time:	day
Type:	de Havilland DH.100 Vampire FB Mk 5
Owner/operator:	226 OCU RAF
Registration:	VV681
MSN:	EEP/42...
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Broomhills, 1 mile North of Botesdale, Suffolk, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	RAF Stradishall, Suffolk
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
De Havilland DH.100 Vampire FB.Mk.5 VV681, 226 OCU, RAF: Written off (destroyed) 26/7/50 when crashed at Broomhills, one mile north of Botesdale, Suffolk. Pilot killed

The aircraft was number three in a formation tail chase. It was seen to leave the formation, and enter into a steep dive, from which it crashed without any attempt at a recovery. It is thought possible that the pilot blacked out due to anoxia (oxygen starvation) and did not recover.

Pilot of Vampire VV681
Pilot Officer Francis Henry William Coates (pilot, Service Number 3037407, aged 23) - killed on active service 26/7/50

The reported crash location is one mile north of Botesdale, a village and civil parish in the Mid Suffolk district of the English county of Suffolk. The village is about 6 miles (10 km) south west of Diss, 25 miles (40 km) south of Norwich and 16 miles (26 km) north east of Bury St Edmunds.

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd., p 104. ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Last Take-off: A Record of RAF Aircraft Losses 1950 to 1953 by Colin Cummings p 70
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft SA100-VZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1985 p 92)
4. National Archives (PRO Kew) File BT233/29: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C424150
5. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AVIA 5/31/S2504: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C6578350
6. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=VV
7. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/_DH100%20prodn%20list.txt
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botesdale
9. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/38901/supplement/2181/data.pdf

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
30-Dec-2019 19:47	Dr. John Smith	Added
30-Dec-2019 20:35	stehlik49	Updated [Operator, Nature, Operator]
27-Dec-2020 21:17	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Operator, Source, Narrative]
27-Dec-2020 21:19	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
27-Dec-2020 21:54	stehlik49	Updated [Operator, Location, Operator]