Date:	Monday 9 March 1953
Time:	day
Type:	de Havilland DH.100 Vampire FB Mk 5
Owner/operator:	233 OCU RAF
Registration:	WA243
MSN:	EEP/42...
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	near Llanstefan, 2 miles east of Laugharne, Carmarthenshire, Wales -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	RAF Pembrey, Carmarthenshire, Wales
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
de Havilland DH.100 Vampire FB.Mk 5 WA243/"FM-T", 233 OCU RAF Pembrey, Carmarthenshire, Wales. Delivered 18/10/1950. Written off 9/3/1953 when crashed near Llanstefan, 2 miles East of Laugharne, Carmarthenshire

The aircraft was in a loose formation at 15,000 feet over Carmarthenshire, and the formation leader told the others in the formation to keep a look out for a formtion of USAF B-29 bombers in their vicinity at 12,000 feet. For reasons that were never adequately explained, almost immediately afterwards, Vampire WA243 dived into the ground near Llanstefan, 2 miles East of Laugharne, Carmarthenshire The pilot was killed

Crew of Vampire WA243:
Pilot Officer William BROWN (pilot) RAF - killed in service 9/3/1953

The subsequenly RAF Board of Inquiry could only explain the aircraft's sudden dive from 15,000 feet as being caused by anoxia (Oxygen stavation) which caused the pilot to pass out. He never recovered from the anoxia, which would explain why he took no action to recover the aircraft from its terminal dive.

The reported crash location was near Llansteffan, is a village and a community situated on the south coast of Carmarthenshire, Wales, lying on the estuary of the River Tywi, 7 miles (11 km) south of Carmarthen.

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p 142 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Last Take-off: A Record of RAF Aircraft Losses 1950 to 1953 by Colin Cummings p 345
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft WA100-WZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1983)
4. 233 OCU ORB (Operation Record Book)(Air Ministry Form AM/F.540) for the period 1/9/1952 to 31/12/1955: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 29/2175/1 at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C7162877
5. http://ciapoldiescorner.blogspot.com/2009/08/logs-for-17th-august.html
6. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=WA
7. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/_DH100%20prodn%20list.txt
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Llansteffan

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
02-Mar-2008 00:29	JINX	Added
17-May-2015 06:36	MiG21	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Source]
09-Jan-2020 21:43	stehlik49	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator]
15-Apr-2021 23:30	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Cn, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Phase, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
16-Apr-2021 08:40	MiG17	Updated [Operator, Location, Nature, Narrative, Operator]
01-Aug-2021 15:40	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Category]