Date:	Monday 5 April 1948
Time:	14:39 LT
Type:	Vickers Wellington Mk X
Owner/operator:	1 ANS RAF
Registration:	RP504
MSN:	FFS-J
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 3
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	North Sea, 150 miles East of Tynemouth, Northumberland -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	RAF Topcliffe, North Yorkshire
Destination airport:	RAF Topcliffe, North Yorkshire
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Vickers Wellington T.Mk.10 RP504 (FFS-J) of 1 ANS (Air Navigation School), RAF: Written off (destroyed) when crashed into the North Sea east of Tynemouth, Northumberland 5 April 1948. All three crew on board killed

Left its base (RAF Topcliffe, North Yorkshire) at 09:30 Local Time for a NAVEX training mission over the North Sea. At 14:35 Local Time, the crew informed ground about his position and that he was flying at an altitude of 15,000 feet some 150 miles (192 km) from his departure point, over the North Sea east of Tynemouth, Northumberland. A few minutes later, the aircraft crashed into the sea in unknown circumstances. Nothing further was heard of the aircraft and it is assumed to have crashed into the sea. According to the following eyewitness report (see link #4)

"There were three nasty accidents at this airfield involving loss of life whilst I was there. All involved Wellington aircraft. On my day of arrival, I was told that one of them had come down in the sea and none of the crew had survived. Apparently, the pilot was due for his demob in a few days' time..."

Crew.
Pilot: John Owen Davies, RAF (aged 26)
Co Pilot: 1501713 Flight Sergeant Peter Jezzard, R.A.F.V.R., DFM+
Navigator: George Thomas Lowe RAF

No trace of the aircraft nor the crew was ever found. On 17 June 1948, it was presumed that the aircraft was "missing", and that all the crew were presumed dead; letters of condolence were sent to the next of kin of the crew. According to a biography of Flt Sgt Peter Jezzard (see link #6):

"...having completed his second tour of duty, Jezzard was posted as an Instructor to R.A.F. Jurby, Isle of Man, January 1945. He was posted to 1 A.N.S. R.A.F. Topcliffe, North Yorkshire in March 1947. Jezzard was killed when his Wellington crashed into the North Sea whilst on a Navigation Exercise, 5.4.1948. He is commemorated on the Armed Forces Memorial, Staffordshire."

1. Halley, James (1999). Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents. Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Final Landings: A Summary of RAF Aircraft and Combat Losses 1946 to 1949 by Colin Cummings p.383
3. http://ww2talk.com/index.php?threads/raf-crew-lost-in-1948.62012/
4. https://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/des-witnessed-fatal-crash-wellington-bomber-raf/story-25989944-detail/story.html
5. https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-vickers-619-wellington-x-north-sea-3-killed
6. https://www.pprune.org/military-aviation/329990-gaining-r-f-pilots-brevet-ww-ii-554.html#post9840779
7. Biography of Flt Sgt Peter Jezzard: http://www.auction-net.co.uk/viewAuction.php?id=1631 (Item 34) (Auction of his medals and papers in 2013)
8. https://www.ancestry.com/genealogy/records/john-owen-davies-24-g4x0cd

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
27-Sep-2008 01:00	ASN archive	Added
24-Apr-2017 23:25	Dr.John Smith	Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
24-Apr-2017 23:59	Dr.John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]
20-Nov-2018 18:26	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Nature, Operator]
18-Nov-2019 16:36	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Cn, Location, Source, Narrative]
18-Nov-2019 16:47	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Operator, Source, Narrative]
18-Nov-2019 22:06	Anon.	Updated [Operator, Operator]