Date:	Monday 23 September 1946
Time:	day
Type:	Supermarine Spitfire FR Mk XVIII
Owner/operator:	8 Sqn RIAF
Registration:	TZ169
MSN:	6S 676541
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RIAF Sulur, near Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu -   India
Phase:	Taxi
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:
Destination airport:	RIAF Sulur, Tamil Nadu, India

Narrative:
TZ169: Spitfire FR.XIV, MSN 6S 676541. Built by Vickers Armstrong (Supermarine) ay Aldermaston with Griffon G65 engine. To 6MU RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire 27-8-45. To 47MU RAF Sealand, Flintshire 15-9-45 for packing and crating for shipment overseas. Shipped on the SS 'Fort Michipicoten' 23-9-45, arriving India 18-10-45. To ACSEA (Air Command South East Asia) 29-11-45. To 8 Squadron RIAF in December 1945

Written off (damaged beyond repair) 23-9-46: Taxied into ditch at RIAF Sulur near Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India. The pilot taxied the Spitfire off the perimeter track, and the aircraft dropped into a drainage ditch, sustained severe damaged to port wing, undercarriage and propeller.

Crew of Spitfire TZ169
Flying Officer (IND/2881) Samir Banerji, RIAF (Pilot) - uninjured.

Not repaired: Struck Off Charge 31-10-46 as Cat. E(FA)

1. Halley, James (1999). Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents. Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.25. ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Final Landings: A Summary of RAF Aircraft and Combat Losses 1946 to 1949 by Colin Cummings p.222
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft SA100-VZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain)
4. 8 Sqn RIAF for the period 1-12-1945 to 30-11-1946: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 27/123/11: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8407579
5. "RAF Write-offs 1946": Air Britain Aeromilitaria 1979 p.103: https://air-britain.com/pdfs/aeromilitaria/Aeromilitaria_1979.pdf
5. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/spitfire/p114.html
6. https://www.avialogs.com/spitfire-and-seafire-registry/item/80256-tz169
7. https://allspitfirepilots.org/aircraft/TZ169
8. https://www.rafcommands.com/database/serials/details.php?uniq=TZ169
9. https://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/Database/Aircraft/TZ169
10. https://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/Database/2881
11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulur_Air_Force_Station#History

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
01-Jun-2023 15:53	Dr. John Smith	Added
02-Jun-2023 13:59	Dr. John Smith	Updated
02-Jun-2023 17:10	Nepa	Updated
12-Sep-2023 12:02	Dr. John Smith	Updated
13-Sep-2023 13:19	Dr. John Smith	Updated