Date:	Saturday 19 October 1946
Time:	day
Type:	Supermarine Spitfire LF Mk IX
Owner/operator:	6 Sqn RAF
Registration:	NH345
MSN:	CBAF 8916
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RAF Nicosia, Lefkosia -   Cyprus
Phase:	Approach
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Nicosia, Lefkosia, Cyprus
Destination airport:	RAF Nicosia, Lefkosia, Cyprus

Narrative:
NH345: Spitfire LF.IX, MSN CBAF 8916. Built by CBAF (Castle Bromwich Aircraft Factory) with Merlin M66 engine. To 45MU RAF Kinloss, Morayshire 19-5-44. To 602 (City of Glasgow) Squadron 15-6-44. AST (Airwork Service Training) 16-7-44. To 66 Squadron. Cat. C (repairable) accident when struck HT power cables and force landed at Hammond Farm near Horsham, Sussex 18-7-44. To 215MU RAF Locharbriggs, Dumfries 14-11-44 for packing and crating for overseas shipment. Shipped on the s.s.'Tamele' 13-1-45, arrived Casablanca, Morocco 25-1-45. To 6 Squadron RAF in February 1945. In July 1945, 6 squadron moved to Palestine, where it co-operated with the police, patrolling the Kirkuk-to-Haifa oil pipeline to prevent terrorist attacks.

Written off 19-10-46: engine failed on approach, undershot runway, and undercarriage collapsed at RAF Nicosia, Lefkosia, Cyprus. The engine failed in flight when the carburettor fuel chamber diaphragm and the fuel regulator diaphragm both failed - probably due to the aircraft have been in storage in a Mediterranean climate for up to two years.

The pilot operated the "wobble" pump, in an attempt to start the fuel flow, but without success. A downwind emergency landing was attempted, and the pilot lowered the undercarriage on approach, but not the flaps. The Spitfire touched down approx. 40 yards short of the runway threshold, in rough ground, and tipped up onto its nose. The pilot survived without injuries, but Spitfire NH345 was struck off charge as Cat. E(FA) in November 1946

No. 6 Squadron RAF first used the airfield at RAF Nicosia, Lefkosia, Cyprus on 3-10-46 with the Supermarine Spitfire LF. IX before re-equipping with the Hawker Tempest F.6 in December of that year and moving to RAF Shallufa on 5-9-47.

1. Halley, James (1999). Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents. Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.57. ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Final Landings: A Summary of RAF Aircraft and Combat Losses 1946 to 1949 by Colin Cummings p.235
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft SA100-VZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain)
4. 6 Sqn RAF ORB for the period 1-7-1945 to 31-1-1950: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR27
5. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/spitfire/p079.html
7. https://allspitfirepilots.org/aircraft/NH345
8. https://www.avialogs.com/spitfire-and-seafire-registry/item/86423-nh345
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._602_Squadron_RAF#Second_World_War
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._66_Squadron_RAF#Second_World_War
11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._6_Squadron_RAF#Post-Second_World_War/Cold_War
12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Nicosia

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
28-May-2023 21:20	Dr. John Smith	Added
29-May-2023 08:20	Nepa	Updated
13-Sep-2023 10:58	Dr. John Smith	Updated