Date:	Tuesday 1 September 1953
Time:	day
Type:	de Havilland DH.100 Vampire FB Mk 5
Owner/operator:	229 OCU RAF
Registration:	VZ190
MSN:	EEP/42...
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Other fatalities:	1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Bristol Channel, 1 mile SW of Hartland Point, North Devon, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.)
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Chivenor, Barnstaple, Devon (EGDC)
Destination airport:	RAF Chivenor, Devon (EGDC)
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
de Havilland DH.100 Vampire FB Mk 5 VZ190, 229 OCU RAF: delivered 21/11/1949. Written off (damaged beyond repair) 1/9/1953 when collided with Vampire WA403 over the Bristol Channel, one mile South West of Hartland Point, North Devon.

A pair of Vampire FB.Mk.5s from 229 OCU (WA403 and VZ190) had taken off from RAF Chivenor, Devon to practice battle formation training. During the manouvring that this flying exercise entailed, Vampire FB.5 WA403 and VZ190 collided, one mile south-west of Harland Point, Devon. The pilot of Vampire WA403 did not bail out, and was killed when the aircraft hit the waters of the Bristol Channel. The pilot of Vampire VZ190 abandoned his aircraft, successfully bailed out, and survived

Crew of Vampire WA403:
Pilot Officer (4078083) P J Perrott (pilot) RAF - bailed out, survived uninjured.

The reported collision location is one mile south west of Hartland Point, a 325 foot (99 metre) high rocky outcrop of land on the north-western tip of the Devon coast in England. It is three miles (5 km) north-west of the village of Hartland. The point marks the western limit (on the English side) of the Bristol Channel with the Atlantic Ocean continuing to the west.

As noted above Vampire VZ190 was deemed "beyond economic repair", and was Struck Off Charge on 16/09/1953 as Cat. 5(M) at No.49 MU Colerne, Chippennham, Wiltshire. Note that "M" stands for "Missing", indiciating that the wreckage was not found and/or not recovered

The London Gazette for 15 June 1971, reported that a "Flight Lieutenant P J Perrott, AFC" (presumably the same person, as he has the same service number) retired from RAF Service with effect from 22 May 1971 (see link #7)

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p 149 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Last Take-off: A Record of RAF Aircraft Losses 1950 to 1953 by Colin Cummings p 407
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft SA100-VZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1983)
4. 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
5. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=VZ
6. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/_DH100%20prodn%20list.txt
7. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/45396/supplement/6315/data.pdf
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hartland_Point

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
13-May-2021 18:07	Dr. John Smith	Added
13-May-2021 18:07	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Cn]
13-May-2021 18:14	Vicktor	Updated [Operator, Location, Destination airport, Narrative, Operator]
14-May-2021 13:34	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]