Date:	Wednesday 2 October 1946
Time:	day
Type:	Supermarine Spitfire Mk Vc
Owner/operator:	335 Sqn RHAF
Registration:	EF566
MSN:	WA.3853
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Lagakadas, Central Macedonia, NE of Thessaloniki -   Greece
Phase:	Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.)
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	Sedes AB, Thessaloniki, Central Macedonia, Greece
Destination airport:

Narrative:
EF566: Spitfire Vc, MSN WA.3853. Built by Westland Aircraft at Yeovil, Somerset with Merlin M45 engine. Delivered to the RAF at 8MU RAF Little Rissington Gloucestershire 1-3-43. Transferred to 82MU RAF Litchfield, Staffordshire 19-3-43 for packing and crating for shipment overseas. Shipped on the "SS682" 12-4-43, arriving at Casablanca 25-4-43. To North West Africa 31-5-43. Merlin 46 engine installed Middle East 30-11-44. To Royal Hellenic Air Force 25-4-46. To 335 Squadron, RHAF at Sedes AB, Thessaloniki, Central Macedonia, Greece as "GN-G", later just "G"

Written off (destroyed) 2-10-46: dived into ground at Lagakadas, Central Macedonia, Greece. The aircraft dived from 6,000 feet, and attempted to recover from the dive at 4,000 feet. However, the dive continued with an aileron turn, the aircraft failed to recover from the dive, and crashed. Some sources state the aircraft caught fire on impact with the ground.

It was suspected that the pilot 'blacked out' due to g-induced forces (G-LOC: 'G'-induced Loss Of Consciousness) while attempting to pull out of the dive, and did not recover in time to pull out of the terminal dive. It was also suggested that the pilot's health was "suspect", and if he had undergone a medical, he would have been found as "unfit to fly".

Crew:
W/Cdr Nikolaos Volonakis (pilot) Royal Hellenic Air Force - killed on active service 2-10-46

Lagkadas (Greek: Λαγκαδάς, Lagkadás) is a town and municipality in the northeast part of Thessaloniki regional unit, Greece. Lagkadas is located northeast of Thessaloniki, at a distance of about 20 km from its center and at an altitude of about 130m, in the center of the valley of Mygdonia.

1. Final Landings: A Summary of RAF Aircraft and Combat Losses 1946 to 1949 by Colin Cummings p.226
2. http://aviationarchaeology.gr/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Supermarine-Spitfire-losses-in-Greece-1942-1953.pdf
3. "RAF Write-offs 1946": Air Britain Aeromilitaria 1979 p.103: https://air-britain.com/pdfs/aeromilitaria/Aeromilitaria_1979.pdf
4. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/spitfire/p033.html
https://allspitfirepilots.org/aircraft/EF566
5. https://www.avialogs.com/spitfire-and-seafire-registry/item/99165-ef566
6. https://www.rafcommands.com/database/serials/details.php?uniq=EF566
7. https://morisgeorge.com/portfolio-item/spitfire_mkvc_gng_ef566/ [Greek text]
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/335th_Squadron_(HAF)#Post%E2%80%93war_history
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lagkadas

Spitfire Vc EF566/"G" of 335 Squadron, RHAF landing at Heraklion, Greece in 1945

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
18-Sep-2014 18:50	TB	Added
02-Jan-2018 18:13	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Operator, Total fatalities, Location, Phase, Source, Embed code, Narrative]
15-Feb-2018 07:43	Nepa	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Narrative]
31-May-2023 12:47	Dr. John Smith	Updated [[Aircraft type, Operator, Narrative]]
18-Aug-2023 17:39	Nepa	Updated [[[Aircraft type, Operator, Narrative]]]
13-Sep-2023 12:24	Dr. John Smith	Updated [[[[Aircraft type, Operator, Narrative]]]]