Date:	Thursday 20 March 1947
Time:	day
Type:	Supermarine Spitfire LF Mk XVI
Owner/operator:	11 AGS RAF
Registration:	TB330
MSN:	CBAF.
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Maughold Head Lighthouse, Ramsey Bay, Maughold, Isle of Man -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Tern Hill, Market Drayton, Shropshire
Destination airport:	RAF Jurby, Isle of Man

Narrative:
TB330: Spitfire LF. XVI. Built at CBAF (Castle Bromwich Aircraft Factory) with Merlin M266 engine. Delivered to 30MU RAF Sealand, Flintshire 5-1-45. To 11 AGS (Air Gunnery School) 14-5-46 at RAF Jurby, Isle of Man

Written off (destroyed) 20-3-47 when flew into high ground at Maughold, Isle of Man. The pilot was tasked with ferrying Spitfire TB330 from RAF Tern Hill, Market Drayton, Shropshire to RAF Jurby on the Isle of Man. He flew across the Irish Sea from the mainland at an altitude of approximately 200 feet. On encountering bad weather en-route, he neither returned to RAF Tern Hill not climbed the aircraft to a safe altitude, above the weather.

In addition, he had not obtained a weather forecast before he set off, and deviated from the route he had been briefed. As the pilot approached the coast of the Isle of Man, he pulled up, but struck the ground on a clifftop adjacent to the Maughold Head Lighthouse, at Maughold, Ramsey Bay, Isle of Man. The Spitfire then struck the perimeter wall of the lighthouse, and crashed into the lighthouse-keepers cottage. The pilot was killed.

Crew of Spitfire TB330:
Pilot II (1559206) Thomas Nelson Berry (Pilot) RAFVR - killed on active service 20-3-47; Buried at Hyde Cemetery, Hyde, Metropolitan Borough of Tameside, Greater Manchester, England

Damage initially assessed as Cat. C (repairable) 20-3-47. Re-Cat. E(FA) and struck off charge 18-4-47

Maughold Head Lighthouse was an active 20th century lighthouse, located on the headland of the same name at the southern end of Ramsey Bay on the eastern coast of the Isle of Man. Completed in 1914, it was designed by David A and Charles Stevenson. Following automation in 1993, the former keeper's cottages were converted into bed and breakfast holiday accommodation, they were later sold in 2014 for a guide price of £600,000

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.282
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft SA100-VZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain)
4. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/spitfire/p107.html
5. "RAF Write offs 1947": Air Britain Aeromilitaria No.2 1978: https://air-britain.com/pdfs/aeromilitaria/Aeromilitaria_1978.pdf
6. https://www.rafcommands.com/database/serials/details.php?uniq=TB330
7. https://www.avialogs.com/spitfire-and-seafire-registry/item/90444-tb330
8. https://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?23969-470320-Unaccounted-Airman-20-03-1947&p=139259#post139259
9. https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2735742/thomas-nelson-berry/
10. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/59976051/thomas-nelson-berry
11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Jurby#No._11_Air_Gunnery_School
12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maughold_Head_Lighthouse

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
20-May-2023 08:35	Nepa	Updated
04-Sep-2023 17:49	Dr. John Smith	Updated