Date:	Wednesday 16 January 1946
Time:	night
Type:	North American P-51C-10-NT Mustang Mk III
Owner/operator:	309 (Ziemia Czerwienska) Sqn RAF
Registration:	KH484
MSN:	111-28974
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Drabblegate, 1.2 miles NNE of Aylsham, Norfolk, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Andrews Field, Great Dunmow, Essex
Destination airport:	RAF Andrews Field, Great Dunmow, Essex

Narrative:
North American P-51C-10-NT Mustang: Ex-USAAF 44-10841 [MSN 111-28974] to RAF as Mustang III KH484. Issued to 309 'Ziemia Czerwienska' (Polish) Squadron, RAF Andrews Field, Great Dunmow, Essex coded "KC-H". Written off (damaged beyond repair) 16-1-46 when crashed near Aylsham, Norfolk.

While on a night flying navigation training sortie from RAF Andrews Field, the engine failed, and white smoke was seen to be coming from the engine compartment. The pilot - Warrant Officer T. Wisniewski - attempted to restart the engine, and when this failed, he changed the fuel tanks, and then tried again to restart the engine, still without success.

Once the Mustang had descended to 800 feet AGL, he jettisoned the external fuel drop tanks, and prepared to make a forced landing near Aylesham, Norfolk. However, as the area immediately ahead of the aircraft was built up with houses, the pilot turned the aircraft away and force landed in a wooded area, near Drabblegate (1.2 miles North North-east of Aylsham) with the aircraft being destroyed when it crashed into trees. Although the aircraft was written off ("deemed damaged beyond repair") the pilot was uninjured.

The crash location is near Aylsham, a historic market town and civil parish on the river Bure in north Norfolk, England, nearly 9 miles north of Norwich

1. Halley, James (1999). Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents. Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.26 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Final Landings: A Summary of RAF Aircraft and Combat Losses 1946 to 1949 by Colin Cummings p.28
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft KA100-KZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain)
4. 309 (Polish) Squadron ORB (Operations Record Book) for the period 1/1/1946 to 31/12/1950: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 27/2427/37 at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8420252
5. "RAF Write-offs 1946": Air Britain Aero militaria 1979 p.103: https://air-britain.com/pdfs/aeromilitaria/Aeromilitaria_1979.pdf
6. http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1944_1.html
7. http://www.polishsquadronsremembered.com/309/309_story.html
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._309_Polish_Fighter-Reconnaissance_Squadron
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Andrews_Field#RAF_Fighter_Command_use
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aylsham

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
31-May-2021 23:37	Dr. John Smith	Added
01-Jun-2021 18:14	Angel Dick one	Updated [Operator, Location, Operator]
01-Jun-2021 21:11	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
26-Jul-2023 12:31	Dr. John Smith	Updated [[Narrative]]