Date:	Sunday 18 May 1952
Time:	day
Type:	Percival Prentice T Mk I
Owner/operator:	7 RFS RAF
Registration:	VS366
MSN:	5830/13
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	near Oaks in Charnwood, 2 miles south of Shepshed, Leicestershire -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	RAF Desford, Leicestershire
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Percival Prentice T.Mk.I VS366, 7 RFS (Reserve Flying School) RAF: Built by Blackburn & General Aircraft Ltd., and delivered in January 1949. Written off (destroyed) 18/5/1952 when crashed near Oaks in Charnwood, two miles South of Shepshed, Leicestershire.

The aircraft had been airborne for approximately fifteen minutes on a sortie from RAF Desford, Leicestershire when it was seen flying straight and level at an altitude of 1,000 feet agl. The sound of the engine then died away (presumed engine failure), and the aircraft turned to port, began to lose height, then went into a near-vertical dive into a field two miles south of Shepshed. Both crew were killed

Crew of Prentice VS366
Flight Lieutenant Harold E W Butterworth (QFI Instructor Pilot) RAF - killed
Flying Officer Laurence Harry Williams (Pupil Pilot Under Instrucition) RAF - killed

The reported crash location is near Oaks in Charnwood is a hamlet of scattered houses in the English county of Leicestershire within the Charnwood Forest. Oaks in Charnwood is located in and is part of the Civil Parish of Charley in North West Leicestershire at approximate coordinates 52.736°N 1.297°W

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.128 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Last Take-off: A Record of RAF Aircraft Losses 1950 to 1953 Colin Cummings p 248
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft WA100-WZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain 1983)
4. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=VS
5. https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/photolists/%40MAR_11_18.pdf
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Desford#Post-war
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shepshed

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
07-Mar-2021 22:43	Dr. John Smith	Added
08-Mar-2021 15:46	INV	Updated [Operator, Location, Narrative, Operator]