Date:	Friday 24 March 1961
Time:	day
Type:	de Havilland DH.115 Vampire T Mk 11
Owner/operator:	8 FTS RAF
Registration:	WZ513
MSN:	15100
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Other fatalities:	1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	4 miles South of Binbrook, Lincolnshire, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.)
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	RAF Swinderby, Lincolnshire
Destination airport:	RAF Swinderby, Lincolnshire
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
No.8 FTS: By 1961 the school’s team was flying Vampire T.11s and on 24/3/1961 it suffered a tragic accident when two of its aircraft collided during a formation loop at the graduation parade of No.139 Pilot Course at RAF Swinderby.

WZ513 struck XE944 over Swinderby, Lincolnshire during a formation loop. The pilot of WZ513 was unaware of this but noticed handling problems. He flew to an unpopulated area and ejected over Binbrook. XE944 went into a spin and crashed near Swinderby killing the pilot. He had jettisoned the canopy but had insufficient time to eject

One of the pilots, Flt Lt M T Chapman was unfortunately killed when his Vampire (XE944) crashed in a field near Swinderby, while Sqn Ldr L A Boyer was able to safely eject before his aircraft (WZ513) came down four miles south of Binbrook, south of Grimsby. Despite the temporary set-back, an improvised display team appeared at that year’s Battle of Britain shows at Aldergrove and Finningley later in the year.

1. Halley, James (1999). Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents. Tunbridge Wells, Kent, United Kingdom: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. https://www.pprune.org/aviation-history-nostalgia/307076-airshow-related-accidents-2.html
3. http://www.bcar.org.uk/1960s-incident-logs#1961
4. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AVIA 5/40/S3005: http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C6578785
5. http://www.ukserials.com/losses-1961.htm
6. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/_DH115%20prodn%20list.txt
7. https://www.ab-ix.co.uk/pdfs/dh115.pdf
8. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=XE
9. http://web.archive.org/web/20170421194406/http://www.ejection-history.org.uk:80/PROJECT/YEAR_Pages/1961.htm#mar
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_accidents_and_incidents_involving_Royal_Air_Force_aircraft_from_1945#1960s
11. WZ513 at Celle (ZCN/ETHC), West Germany April 1954: https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/view/1100536/

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
06-Mar-2013 14:21	Dr. John Smith	Added
28-Oct-2013 00:18	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Other fatalities, Source, Narrative]
15-Mar-2019 08:33	stehlik49	Updated [Operator, Nature]
10-Jan-2020 19:16	stehlik49	Updated [Aircraft type, Destination airport, Operator]
03-Dec-2020 00:31	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Location, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
03-Dec-2020 00:48	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Operator, Source]
03-Dec-2020 17:40	DB	Updated [Operator, Location, Operator]