Date:	Friday 19 March 1954
Time:	day
Type:	Fairey Firefly Mk 1
Owner/operator:	'C' Sqn A&AEE Boscombe Down
Registration:	PP639
MSN:	F.6298
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Boscombe Down, Wiltshire, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Approach
Nature:	Test
Departure airport:	Boscombe Down, Wiltshire (EGDM)
Destination airport:	Boscombe Down, Wiltshire (EGDM)
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Fairey Firefly Mk.1 PP639: Delivered to the ETPS (Empire Test Pilots School) at Cranfield, Bedfordshire 29/8/1946. Later moved with the ETPS to Farnborough, Hampshire. Damaged 2/3/1948 when force landed at Farnborough due to fumes in cockpit. Transferred to permanent CS(A) MoS (Controller Supplies (Air) Ministry of Supply) 21/2/1951.

Transferred from ETPS to "C" Squadron A&AEE Boscombe Down 27/7/1951. Used for Deck Landing Training. Damaged 19/2/1952 when wing dropped on final approach and collided with DLCO's (Deck Landing Control Officer's) barrier on board the carrier HMS Illustrious. Pilot - Lieutenant S.B.Oliver - uninjured.

Offloaded to RNARY (Royal Naval Aircraft Repair Yard) at RNAS Fleetlands 26/9/1952 for repairs. To HMS Siskin, RNAS Gosport for short term storage after completion of repairs, and then returned to "C" Squadron A&AEE Boscombe Down 17/7/1953 for further Deck Landing Practice.

Written off (damaged beyond repair) 19/3/54 when the engine lost power on approach to Boscombe Down, Wiltshire. The pilot - Commander Thomas Walter Lamb RN - had to make a forced landing half-a-mile short of the runway at Boscombe Down in which the Firefly was wrecked. Cause of forced landing attributed to the supercharger drive icing up.

Returned to Royal Navy charge at RNAY Fleetlands on 21/4/1954 for disposal. Struck Off Charge as Cat.ZZ and Sold for scrap 26/5/1954

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.155 ISBN 0-85130-290-4
2. Category Five; A Catalogue of RAF Aircraft Losses 1954 to 2009 by Colin Cummings p.43
3. Fleet Air Arm Fixed Wing Aircraft Since 1946 (Ray Sturtivant, Lee Howard & Mick Burrows, Air Britain, 2004 p.253)
4. https://www.unithistories.com/officers/RN_officersL.html

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
06-Apr-2020 21:47	Dr. John Smith	Added
12-Jun-2020 08:49	Allach	Updated [Operator, Operator]
02-Sep-2020 19:56	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Operator, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
03-Sep-2020 19:38	Boile A.	Updated [Operator, Location, Operator]