Date:	Saturday 18 September 1948
Time:	day
Type:	Supermarine Spitfire PR Mk XIX
Owner/operator:	237 OCU RAF
Registration:	PM622
MSN:	EA.
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RAF Leuchars, Fife, Scotland -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.)
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Leuchars, Fife
Destination airport:	RAF Leuchars, Fife

Narrative:
PM622: Spitfire PR XIX. Built by Vickers Armstrong (Supermarine) at Eastleigh, Southampton with Griffon G66 engine. To 6 MU RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire 1-11-45. To 8 OTU RAF Benson, Oxfordshire 17-12-46. To 237 OCU coded 'BE-83' in April 1948

Written off 18-9-48 when lost wing during aerobatics display at RAF Leuchars, Fife. During a high-speed low level run at RAF Leuchars, the aircraft's starboard wing failed in an upload and broke off. The remainder of the aircraft then broke apart in flight. The pilot was killed

Crew of Spitfire PM622
Flight Lieutenant Leonard Alfred Smith, RAF - killed on active service 18-9-48

1. L'Echo d'Oran 19 September 1948
2. Halley, James (1999). Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents. Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
3. Final Landings: A Summary of RAF Aircraft and Combat Losses 1946 to 1949 by Colin Cummings p.443
4. Air-Britain Royal Air Force Aircraft PA100-RZ999
5. 237 OCU RAF ORB for the period 1-8-1947 to 31-12-1951: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR29/1643: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C4101353
6. "RAF Write offs 1948": Air Britain Aeromilitaria No.1 1979: https://air-britain.com/pdfs/aeromilitaria/Aeromilitaria_1979.pdf
7. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/spitfire/p089.html
8. https://www.rafcommands.com/database/serials/details.php?uniq=PM622
9. https://www.avialogs.com/spitfire-and-seafire-registry/item/91904-pm622
10. https://allspitfirepilots.org/aircraft/PM622
11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._237_Operational_Conversion_Unit_RAF
12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Leuchars#Cold_War

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
20-Sep-2013 03:40	JINX	Added
25-Mar-2015 18:39	H.Shaft	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location]
01-Aug-2020 14:25	TB	Updated [Total fatalities, Other fatalities, Location, Source]
19-Jul-2021 11:50	Anon.	Updated [Location, Operator]
05-Jul-2022 10:33	Nepa	Updated [Aircraft type, Location, Operator]