Date:	Tuesday 25 March 1947
Time:	day
Type:	Supermarine Spitfire LF Mk IX
Owner/operator:	32 Sqn RAF
Registration:	MA522
MSN:	CBAF.
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Al Faluja, Palestine, 30 km NE of Gaza -   Israel
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Ramat David, Ramat Yishay, Palestine
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
MA522: Spitfire LF IX, built at CBAF (Castle Bromwich Aircraft Factory) with Merlin M63 engine. To 39MU RAF Colerne, Chippenham, Wiltshire 27-6-43. To 82MU RAF Lichfield, Fradley, Staffordshire 29-6-43 for packing and crating for shipment overseas. Shipped on the ss 'La Pampa' 2-7-43, arriving Casablanca, Morocco 14-7-43. To USAAF 31-1-44. Returned to RAF charge 31-5-44. To 93 Squadron. To Middle East Air Command 19-7-45. To 32 Squadron, RAF Ramat David, Palestine later in 1945 coded "GZ-R"

Written off (damaged beyond repair) 25-3-47 in a wheels-up landing at an airstrip at Al Faluja, Palestine,30 km NE of Gaza. The cause of the incident was pilot error, in that the pilot miscalculated his estimated flight time, used the wrong boost settings for maximum range, and was unaware that all this would limit the Spitfire's endurance. As a direct result, the Spitfire ran out of fuel en-route and sooner than expected and the pilot had to make an immediate forced landing at an airstrip at Al Faluja when the aircraft's fuel state became critical, and the aircraft's engine stopped due to fuel exhaustion

Not repaired Struck Off Charge 30-4-47 as Cat. E(FA)

al-Faluja (Arabic: الفالوجة) was a Palestinian Arab village in the British Mandate for Palestine, located 30 kilometers northeast of Gaza City. The village and the neighbouring village of Iraq al-Manshiyya formed part of the Faluja pocket, where 4,000 Egyptian troops, who had entered the area as a result of the 1948 war, were besieged for four months by the newly established Israel Defense Forces. The 1949 Armistice Agreements allowed for a peaceful transfer of those areas outside Gaza to Israeli control, allowing Egyptian troops to remain in Gaza. Following the agreements, the Arab residents were harassed and abandoned the village. The Israeli town of Kiryat Gat, as well as the moshav Revaha, border the site of the former town.

NOTE: Not to be confused with the similarly-named Al Fallujah, a city in Al Anbar Governorate, Iraq

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.212
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft PA100-RZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain)
4. "RAF Write-offs 1947": Air Britain Aeromilitaria 1978 No. 2: https://air-britain.com/pdfs/aeromilitaria/Aeromilitaria_1978.pdf
5. 32 Sqn RAF ORB for the period 1-1-1946 to 31-12-1950: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR27/2409/1: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8674237
6. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/spitfire/p057.html
7. https://allspitfirepilots.org/aircraft/MA522
8. https://www.avialogs.com/spitfire-and-seafire-registry/item/84273-ma522
9. https://www.rafcommands.com/database/serials/details.php?uniq=MA522
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._32_Squadron_RAF#Post-war
11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramat_David_Airbase#RAF_Ramat_David

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
04-Sep-2023 08:11	Nepa	Updated