Date:	Tuesday 24 November 1953
Time:	day
Type:	de Havilland DH.100 Vampire FB Mk 5
Owner/operator:	229 OCU RAF
Registration:	VV619
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	near Chard Station, 1/4 mile NE of Chard, Somerset,England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	RAF Chivenor, Barnstaple, Devon
Destination airport:	RAF Chivenor, Barnstaple, Devon
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
De Havilland DH.100 Vampire FB.Mk.5 VV619, 229 OCU, RAF: delivered 24 February 1949. Written off (destroyed) 24 November 1953 when crashed a quarter of a mile north east of Chard, Somerset. Possible CFIT (Controlled Flight Into Terrain). The pilot was undertaking a low level cross country navigation sortie, with a breif to fly no higher than 250 feet, and became lost in low cloud. While trying to fix his position, the aircraft struck the ground, close to the railway line near Chard Station, and the pilot was killed.

Crew of Vampire VV619:
Pilot Officer (607952) Anthony Corbin Roland Pugh (pilot) RAF - killed in service 24/11/1953

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.152 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Last Take-off: A Record of RAF Aircraft Losses 1950 to 1953 Colin Cummings p 430
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft SA100-VZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1985)
4. Wings Over Somerset: Aircraft Crashes Since the End of World War II by Peter Forrester
5. Chard And Ilminster News 28 November 1953
6. 229 OCU ORB (Operation Record Book)(Air Ministry Form AM/F.540) for the period 1/1/1951 to 31/12/1955: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 29/2167 at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C4101877
7. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=VV
8. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/_DH100%20prodn%20list.txt
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chard,_Somerset

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
17-Feb-2020 02:37	Dr. John Smith	Added
18-Feb-2020 12:00	Iwosh	Updated [Operator, Nature, Operator]
22-May-2021 23:44	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Operator, Location, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
23-May-2021 12:24	Iwosh	Updated [Operator, Location, Narrative, Operator]