Date:	Friday 14 February 1947
Time:	day
Type:	Supermarine Spitfire PR Mk XI
Owner/operator:	7 Sqn RIAF
Registration:	PL997
MSN:	6S 583737
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 (Pakistan)
Destination airport:

Narrative:
PL997: Spitfire PR XI, MSN 6S 583737. Built by Vickers Armstrongs (Supermarine) with Merlin M70 engine. To RAF Benson, Oxfordshire 25-11-44. To 1 OADU (Overseas Aircraft Delivery Unit) 12-12-44. To Middle East Air Command 17-12-44. To ACSEA (Air Command South East Asia) 10-1-45. To 681 Squadron at RAF Mingaladon, Burma in June 1945; the squadron received Spitfire PR.XIX photo-reconnaissance aircraft in August of that year. 681 Squadron moved to RAF Kai Tak, Hong Kong, in September 1945, when the war formally ended. Detachments from the squadron however were still located and kept busy at a wide range of airfields across the South-East Asian theatre of war. The squadron was disbanded by renumbering it to No. 34 Squadron RAF on 1 August 1946 at RAF Palam, Punjab, (then) British India.

To 6 Squadron RIAF later in August 1946. To 7 Squadron RIAF at RIAF Gawilor, Madhya Pradesh, India, by January 1947. 7 Squadron RIAF flew Spitfires from December 1945 till July 1947 at RIAF Gawilor, when the squadron converted to the Tempest Mk. II.

Written off (damaged beyond repair) 14-2-47: Engine cut on take-off and crash landed at RIAF Kohat, Kohat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, British India (Pakistan after the October 1947 partition of India). During the take off the aircraft crashed off the runway and was destroyed by fire. The pilot survived OK

Although the cause was not determined, it was thought by the subsequent Board of Inquiry that the pilot forgot to tighten the throttle friction nut, and thus the throttle lever slipped back to the 'closed' position due to engine vibration.

Crew:
Pilot Officer (IND/3276) L P Darney (pilot) RIAF: survived OK. He was commissioned on 19-11-45 and remained in service until he relinquished his commission on 10-1-51

Damage assessed as Cat E 14-2-47; Struck Off Charge 27-3-47

1. Final Landings: A Summary of RAF Aircraft and Combat Losses 1946 to 1949 by Colin Cummings p.271
2. Air-Britain Royal Air Force Aircraft PA100-RZ999
3. 7 Sqn RIAF ORB for the period 1-1-1946 to 31-5-1947: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 27/2392/1: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8418937
4. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/spitfire/p088.html
5. https://www.rafcommands.com/database/serials/details.php?uniq=PL997
6. https://www.avialogs.com/spitfire-and-seafire-registry/item/91587-pl997
7. https://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/Database/Aircraft/PL997
8. https://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/Database/3276
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._681_Squadron_RAF#History
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._6_Squadron_IAF#History
11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._7_Squadron_IAF#History
12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PAF_Base_Kohat

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
20-Sep-2013 02:55	JINX	Added
27-Mar-2015 18:37	Jixon	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Departure airport]
31-Dec-2018 16:47	TB	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Total fatalities, Other fatalities, Source]
14-May-2023 16:07	Nepa	Updated [[Aircraft type, Operator, Total fatalities, Other fatalities, Source]]
07-Sep-2023 02:08	Dr. John Smith	Updated [[[Aircraft type, Operator, Total fatalities, Other fatalities, Source]]]