Date:	Saturday 9 November 1946
Time:	10:50
Type:	de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito NF Mk 30
Owner/operator:	54 OTU RAF
Registration:	MM809
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	near Sutton-Under-Whitestone-Cliff, Thirsk, North Yorkshire, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	RAF Leeming, North Yorkshire
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Mosquito MM809: Took off for training flight. 09/11/1946.
All crews in aircraft from this training unit were briefed to fly above 200 feet ground level on this day. The crew of this aircraft were undertaking a "local sector recce" when the Mosquito dived into the ground at a ninety-degree angle after the pilot lost control in thick cloud cover whilst returning to base from the navigation training. Prior to the crash the aircraft was seen circling over the Hood Hill area at 700 feet, it then rose into cloud before reappearing and diving steeply into the ground at 10.50hrs near Sutton-Under-Whitestone-Cliff, Thirsk. No reason was ever found as to why the pilot lost control, although icing conditions were suspected nothing was proven. Wreckage was spread over a wide area with the bodies of the two airmen being thrown into an adjacent field.
Crew: 
P/O (58032) Michael James Alan SMITH-PEARSE (pilot) RAF - killed 
P/O (58145) Phillip Gough NORTON (pilot u/t) RAF - killed

1. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/_DH98%20prodn%20list.txtt
2. ORB 54 OTU RAF: AIR29/682/1
3. https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C7161027
4. Halley, James Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents.
5. Final Landings: A Summary of RAF Aircraft and Combat Losses 1946 to 1949
6. https://www.yorkshire-aircraft.co.uk/aircraft/yorkshire/yorksother/mm809.html
7. https://www.cwgc.org/find-records
8. https://www.ancestry.com/genealogy/records/michael-james-alan-smith-pearse-24-11yj7fm
9. https://www.rafcommands.com/database/serials/details.php?uniq=NT809
10. https://www.rememberthefallen.co.uk/casualty/norton-phillip-gough/
11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sutton-under-Whitestonecliffe

Remembering Pilot Officer Philip Norton, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, died 75 years ago today on 9th November 1946 aged 19: https://t.co/y2hsfubVOv #WW2

— Remember the fallen (@war_fallen) November 9, 2021

CWGC Grave marker of Michael James Alan Smith-Pearse in Harrogate (Stonefall) Cemetery, Harrogate, Yorkshire September 1 2007

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
31-Jan-2010 10:29	NePa	Added
12-Dec-2010 18:41	angels one five	Updated [Narrative]
06-Feb-2012 08:12	Nepa	Updated [Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
18-Jun-2014 17:35	Nepa	Updated [Aircraft type, Departure airport, Narrative]
11-Jul-2014 04:52	Froome	Updated [Location, Narrative]
04-Jan-2015 21:31	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
05-Jan-2015 08:35	Dr. John Smih	Updated [Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
23-Feb-2015 18:23	DG333	Updated [Location, Narrative]
05-Aug-2015 17:53	Nepa	Updated [Aircraft type, Location, Departure airport]
09-Jan-2019 20:51	Nepa	Updated [Location, Narrative, Operator]
14-May-2019 18:29	Nepa	Updated [Location, Operator]
14-May-2019 18:29	Nepa	Updated [Location, Operator]
20-May-2019 14:59	Nepa	Updated [Location, Operator]
20-May-2019 14:59	Nepa	Updated [Location, Operator]
13-Nov-2019 19:30	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Location, Source, Narrative]
14-Nov-2019 14:30	Nepa	Updated [Location, Narrative, Operator]
14-Nov-2019 14:55	Anon.	Updated [Narrative, Operator]
01-Aug-2021 20:42	Anon.	Updated [Source, Operator]
17-Aug-2021 09:08	Anon.	Updated [Aircraft type, Source, Narrative, Operator]
28-Nov-2021 09:54	Nepa	Updated [Narrative, Operator]
07-May-2022 10:42	Nepa	Updated [Source, Narrative, Operator]
10-May-2023 20:56	Nepa	Updated [[Source, Narrative, Operator]]
26-May-2023 18:52	Dr. John Smith	Updated [[[Source, Narrative, Operator]]]
27-May-2023 18:16	Nepa	Updated [[[[Source, Narrative, Operator]]]]