Date:	Friday 28 October 1949
Time:	day
Type:	Handley Page Halifax GR MK.VI
Owner/operator:	202 Sqn RAF
Registration:	RG835
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 7
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RAF Aldergrove, Belfast, Northern Ireland -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Standing
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Aldergrove, Northern Ireland
Destination airport:

Narrative:
Handley Page Halifax RG835: Written off (damaged beyond repair) 28 October 1949 in an accident while static at RAF Aldergrove, Belfast, Northern Ireland.

The aircraft was static and 'parked up' prior to being prepared for an air test. The pilot found that the undercarriage retraction lever was slightly above the 'neutral' position, and therefore he inadvertently moved the lever to the 'UP' position. When the No.3 engine was started up, the undercarriage retracted while the aircraft was still parked, and the aircraft sank onto its belly, The damage sustained was sufficient to render the aircraft as "beyond repair".

No. 202 Squadron was reformed by the re-numbering of No. 518 Squadron as a weather reconnaissance squadron at RAF Aldergrove near Belfast on 1 October 1946, flying converted Handley Page Halifax GR.6 & A.9 bombers on long-range meteorological flights over the North Atlantic (codenamed "Bismuth" operations)

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.546
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_Helicopter_Command_Flying_Station_Aldergrove#Post_war
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._202_Squadron_RAF#Weather_Reconnaissance

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