Date:	Friday 1 March 1946
Time:	day
Type:	Supermarine Spitfire Mk XI
Owner/operator:	83 Group CS RAF
Registration:	PM146
MSN:	SUP.
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RAF Gatwick, Horley, Surrey, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Landing
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Schleswigland, Germany
Destination airport:	RAF Gatwick, Horley, Surrey

Narrative:
PM146: Spitfire PR XI: Built at Vickers-Armstrong (Supermarine) at Woolston, Southampton with Merlin 70 engine. Delivered to the RAF at 1 PP RAF Benson, Oxfordshire 3-1-45. Damaged in service, repaired on site 12-3-45. To 34 WSU (Wing Support Unit), RAF White Waltham, Maidenhead, Berkshire 26-3-45. To 400 ("City of Toronto") Squadron, RCAF at Lüneburg, Germany, 26-4-45. To 83 Group Communications Squadron, RAF Eindhoven, Netherlands 7-8-45 (the same day that 400 Squadron RCAF disbanded).

Written off (damaged beyond repair) when bellylanded in error at RAF Gatwick, Horley, Surrey. The subsequent RAF Board of Inquiry attributed the cause of the accident to the pilot, a very senior officer, who had failed to lower the undercarriage, and did not check the undercarriage indicator light. (The indicator light would have confirmed that the undercarriage was "down and locked"). Spitfire PM146 was therefore assessed as FAAC (Flying Accident (AIR) Cat. C) on 1-3-46. Re-cat E as "beyond economic repair", and Struck Off Charge 21-3-46.

1. Halley, James (1999). Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents. Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.33. ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Royal Air Force Aircraft PA100-RZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain)
3. Final Landings: A Summary of RAF Aircraft and Combat Losses 1946 to 1949 by Colin Cummings p.86
4. 83 Group CS ORB for the period 1-3-1944 to 30-4-1946: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 27/2354/3: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8418796
5. "RAF Write-offs 1946": Air Britain Aeromilitaria 1979 p.96: https://air-britain.com/pdfs/aeromilitaria/Aeromilitaria_1979.pdf
6. http://www.rafcommands.com/database/serials/details.php?uniq=%20PM146
7. https://www.avialogs.com/spitfire-and-seafire-registry/item/91612-pm146
8. https://allspitfirepilots.org/aircraft/PM146
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/400_Tactical_Helicopter_Squadron
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._83_Expeditionary_Air_Group#No._83_(Composite)_Group
11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Gatwick_Airport#1920%E2%80%931945
.

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
20-Sep-2013 03:07	JINX	Added
27-Mar-2015 18:52	Jixon	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Destination airport]
05-Nov-2019 22:45	Anon.	Updated [Operator, Operator]
05-Nov-2019 23:09	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Operator, Total fatalities, Other fatalities, Location, Source, Narrative]
10-Nov-2019 22:54	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source]
12-Nov-2019 22:20	Anon.	Updated [Operator, Operator]
18-Jun-2021 22:26	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
18-Jun-2021 22:27	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
18-Jun-2021 22:27	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
18-Jun-2021 22:28	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
18-Jun-2021 23:55	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Departure airport, Source]
05-Jul-2021 08:49	Anon.	Updated [Location, Operator]
12-Jul-2023 18:09	Dr. John Smith	Updated [[Location, Operator]]
13-Jul-2023 08:15	Nepa	Updated [[[Location, Operator]]]
17-Sep-2023 16:42	Dr. John Smith	Updated [[[[Location, Operator]]]]