Date:	Thursday 15 August 1946
Time:	day
Type:	Vickers Wellington Mk XVIII
Owner/operator:	54 OTU RAF
Registration:	ND108
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 4
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RAF Leeming, North Yorkshire, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Take off
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	RAF Leeming, North Yorkshire
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Vickers Wellington Mk. XVIII ND108, 54 OTU RAF Leeming, North Yorkshire: Written of (damaged beyond repair) 15 August 1946 in a take-off accident at RAF Leeming.

Prior to the crew starting up the engines of Wellington ND108, the ground crew failed to remote the covers from the aircraft's pitot heads. Neither the Pilot nor the Navigator made checks to ensure that the pitot head covers were removed. None of the crew of Wellington ND108 spotted that the pitot head covers were still in place as the aircraft taxied out to the runway threshold to begin the take-off run

During the take-off run at RAF Leeming, the fact that the pitot head covers were still in place meant that the ASI (Air Speed Indicator) did not register any airspeed. As a result, the pilot abandoned the takeoff, and raised the undercarriage in order to facilitate an emergency stop.

The aircraft was written off as Cat. E(FA) and struck off charge. However, as far as is known, none of the crew of four were injured.

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 1946-1949 by Colin Cummings p.198-199
3. "RAF Write-offs 1946": Air Britain Aeromilitaria 1979 p.102: https://air-britain.com/pdfs/aeromilitaria/Aeromilitaria_1979.pdf
4. ORB 54 OTU RAF for the period 1-3-1941 to 30-4-1947: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR29/682/1 https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C7161027
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._228_Operational_Conversion_Unit_RAF
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Leeming#1940s

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
12-Jun-2023 08:07	Nepa	Updated
12-Jun-2023 15:13	Dr. John Smith	Updated