Date:	Thursday 5 July 1951
Time:
Type:	de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito NF Mk 30
Owner/operator:	29 Sqn RAF
Registration:	NT582
MSN:	RO-B
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	English Channel, 5miles S of Middleton-on-Sea, West Sussex, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.)
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	RAF Tangmere, West Sussex
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Mosquito NT582: Dived into the sea off Sussex coast on air firing practice. 05/07/1951.
The crew were engaged in air to air firing practice against a towed drogue target. The pilot broke away from the target sharply, and the Mosquito dived into the sea, due to it stalling in a steep turn to starboard. The aircraft crashed into the English Channel, five miles south of Middleton-on-Sea, West Sussex.
Crew:
Sgt (578116) Norman Thomas KING (pilot) RAF - killed
Sgt (1550766) Murdo MACLEOD (nav.) RAF - Killed



According to a contemporary newspaper report ("Portsmouth Evening News" - Friday 6 July 1951):
"DEATH-DIVE PILOT SAVED THEM.
A Mosquito from RAF stn Tangmere yesterday afternoon crashed into the sea near a Littlehampton fisherman's boat, about five miles from the coast, at Middleton-on-Sea.

The plane plunged into the water about 50 yards from Mr. G.H. Burtenshaw's boat carrying six persons. The sea was littered with wreckage.

The aircrew were Sgt King (pilot) and Sgt McLeod (nav.) whose body was recovered by Mr. Burtenshaw's party, and taken ashore at Littlehampton. The search is continuing for the pilot.

Within seconds of the crash, a twin-engined target-towing plane circled the area, and speedboats from Bognor and Littlehampton, and Selsey Lifeboat arrived on the scene. A Sea Otter, flying from the direction of Portsmouth, landed on the sea nearby, and took off a few minutes later. Then another Mosquito circled the area, and just before dusk a white Lancaster bomber joined the search.

Mr. Burtenshaw and his party had been watching two aircraft at target practice over the sea. "Suddenly we saw one of the planes tearing down at us, and it looked out of control," he said "We thought we were for it but it banked at the last moment and crashed into the water not more than 50 yards away. The pilot seemed to bank his machine deliberately to avoid us.'"

There is another article in the Bognor Regis Observer - Saturday 14 July 1951 which opens with the sentence "After a week’s search there was still no trace the body of the pilot who was killed in last Thursday’s plane crash five miles off the coast of Middleton-on-Sea." The rest of the article is more or less the same as the above one.blb

1. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/_DH98%20prodn%20list.txtt
2. ORB 29 Sqdn RAF
3. West Sussex Gazette - Thursday 12 July 1951
4. Belfast News-Letter - Friday 6 July 1951
5. Bognor Regis Observer - Saturday 14 July 1951
6. https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8423915
7. http://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=15148.0
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middleton-on-Sea
9. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells.
X. Last Take Off: A Record of RAF Aircraft Losses 1950 to 1953 by Colin Cumings.

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
20-Apr-2014 11:51	Nepa	Added
20-Apr-2014 12:00	Nepa	Updated [Departure airport]
29-Aug-2014 14:00	MUDr. Roup	Updated [Location, Narrative]
24-Jul-2015 19:59	Nepa	Updated [Aircraft type, Cn, Total fatalities, Narrative]
10-Oct-2015 09:24	Nepa	Updated [Location, Narrative]
09-Dec-2018 18:46	Nepa	Updated [Location, Source, Narrative, Operator]
13-Feb-2020 22:51	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Other fatalities, Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
13-Feb-2020 22:52	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source]
18-Feb-2020 21:24	Nepa	Updated [Aircraft type, Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative, Operator]
22-Jun-2021 19:50	Anon.	Updated [Time, Source, Operator]
28-Sep-2021 09:41	Nepa	Updated [Narrative, Operator]