Date:	Monday 24 February 1947
Time:
Type:	Bristol Beaufighter Mk X
Owner/operator:	42 Sqn RAF
Registration:	RD772
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RAF Thorney Island, Emsworth, Hampshire, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Approach
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Thorney Island, Hampshire
Destination airport:	RAF Thorney Island, Hampshire

Narrative:
Bristol Beaufighter RD772: Written off (damaged beyond repair) 24/02/1947.

The starboard engine failed in flight, and the aircraft therefore made an asymmetric approach to RAF Thorney Island. The undercarriage was lowered, but would not fully lock down. On touchdown the undercarriage collapsed, and the aircraft made a belly landing. The belly landing caused severe damage to the underside of the aircraft, although the crew on board appear to have survived uninjured.

On 1 October 1946, No. 254 Squadron at RAF Thorney Island was renumbered to No. 42 Squadron. Equipped with Bristol Beaufighter, it was a strike unit in RAF Coastal Command until disbanded on 15 October 1947

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Royal Air Force Aircraft PA100-RZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain)
3. Last Take Off; A Catalogue of RAF Aircraft Losses 1950 to 1953 by Colin Cummings p.272
4. 42 Sqn RAF ORB for the period 1-10-1946 to 15-10-1947: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR27/2414: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C2505052
5. https://www.hampshireairfields.co.uk/hancrash.html
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._42_Squadron_RAF#Beaufighters_and_Shackletons_(1946%E2%80%931971)
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Thorney_Island#Post-war_units

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
20-May-2023 21:18	Dr. John Smith	Added