Date:	Friday 19 February 1943
Time:	day
Type:	Fairey Battle Mk I
Owner/operator:	22 AACU RAF
Registration:	L5726
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RAF Drigh Road, Karachi -   India
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Drigh Road, Karachi, India
Destination airport:	RAF Drigh Road, Karachi, India

Narrative:
Fairey Battle L5726, 22 AACU (Anti-Aircraft Co-Operation Unit) RAF: Written off (damaged beyond repair) 19 February 1943. Fumes entered cockpit, and pilot belly landed the aircraft at RAF Drigh Road, Karachi, India. Pilot - Pilot Officer Ramdas Shivram Shipurkar - sustained slight injuries (effects from inhaling of fumes)

Battle L5726 had been transferred to the SAAF (South African Air Force) as "1058" on 19 July 1942. Sent from there to the RAF in India, and taken back on RAF charge as L5726 with 22 AACU on 2 November 1942

The incident had no lasting harm to the pilot; he rose through the ranks over the next 22 years to become a Group Captain, retiring from service with the Indian Air Force on 9 June 1964 as the Commanding Officer of IAS New Dehli AFB

RAF Drigh Road was near Karachi, which was in India at the time of the above incident. It is now in Pakistan, after the partition of India in 1947.

1. The Battle File (Sidney Shail, Air Britain, 1997 p.172)
2. Royal Air Force Aircraft L1000-L9999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1979 p.37)
3. Lake, A (1999). Flying units of the RAF. p.30 Shrewsbury: Airlife. ISBN 1-84037-086-6.
4. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 29/49/2: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C7159135
5. http://www.rafcommands.com/archive/10679.php
6. http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/Database/Units/WW2/22AACU
7. http://www.rafcommands.com/database/serials/details.php?uniq=L5726
8. http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/Database/2177
9. https://biggles.fandom.com/wiki/Drigh_Road_Airfield

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
29-Mar-2008 23:02	JINX	Added
19-Nov-2018 20:50	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Operator]
26-Oct-2020 22:05	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Phase, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
26-Oct-2020 22:09	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source]
27-Oct-2020 08:26	Uzi	Updated [Operator, Operator]