Date:	Tuesday 14 January 1947
Time:	day
Type:	Supermarine Spitfire LF Mk VIII
Owner/operator:	2 Sqn RIAF
Registration:	MT828
MSN:	6S 643760
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RIAF Kohat, Kohat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, British India -   Pakistan
Phase:	Take off
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RIAF Kohat, Kohat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, British India
Destination airport:	RIAF Kohat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
MT828: Spitfire LF VIII, MSN 6S 643760. Built by Vickers Armstrongs (Supermarine) at Eastleigh, Southampton, Hampshire with Merlin M66 engine. To VAHP (Vickers Armstrong High Post Airfield) 20-7-44. To 9MU RAF Cosford, Shropshire 5-8-44. To 215MU RAF Locharbriggs, Dumfries 27-8-44 for packing and crating for shipment overseas. Shipped on the ss 'Alder Park' 7-10-44, arriving India 19-11-44. To 2 Squadron RIAF at RIAF Kohat, Kohat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, British India on or before 1-4-45

Written off (damaged beyond repair) 14-1-47: Tyre burst on take-off at RIAF Kohat, Kohat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, British India (Pakistan after the October 1947 partition of India). Although the aircraft managed to get airborne safely, upon return to RIAF Kohat, the pilot opted to make a 'wheels-up' belly landing on the airfield. This caused severe damage to the airframe as it slid along the runway at RIAF Khoat at high speed before eventually coming to a halt. However, the pilot appears to have survived with only minor injuries

Crew of Spitfire MT828
Acting Pilot Officer (IND/3236) Melville Vivian Ducasse (Pilot) RIAF- survived with minor injuries.

Damage assessed as Cat. E 14-1-47. Not repaired, Struck Off Charge 27-2-47

1. Final Landings: A Summary of RAF Aircraft and Combat Losses 1946 to 1949 by Colin Cummings p.262
2. Royal Air Force Aircraft MA100-MZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain)
3. 2 Sqn RIAF ORB for the period 1-4-45 to 31-7-1947: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR27/28/21: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8406458
4. https://www.rafcommands.com/database/serials/details.php?uniq=MT828
5. https://allspitfirepilots.org/aircraft/MT828
6. https://www.avialogs.com/spitfire-and-seafire-registry/item/89793-mt828
7. https://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/Database/Aircraft/MT828
8. https://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/Database/3236
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PAF_Base_Kohat

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
08-Sep-2023 11:52	Dr. John Smith	Added
08-Sep-2023 11:53	Dr. John Smith	Updated
08-Sep-2023 20:31	Nepa	Updated
13-Sep-2023 10:08	Dr. John Smith	Updated