Date:	Thursday 25 September 1952
Time:	10:10 LT
Type:	de Havilland DH.100 Vampire FB Mk 5
Owner/operator:	229 OCU RAF
Registration:	VZ813
MSN:	EEP/42...
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Two Bridges, 2 miles NE of Princetown, Dartmoor, Devon, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.)
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	RAF Chivenor, Barnstaple, Devon (EGDC)
Destination airport:	RAF Chivenor, Barnstaple, Devon (EGDC)
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
DeHavilland DH.100 Vampire FB.Mk.5 VZ813, 229 OCU, RAF Chivenor, Devon. Delivered 15 August 1949. Written off (destroyed) when crashed at Two Bridges, 2 miles NE of Princetown, Dartmoor, Devon, on 25 September 1952. Pilot killed

Pilot Officer Alan Leslie Fletcher (pilot) RAF was completing a training flight that involved dog fighting, cine gun ranging and tracking above minimum height of 10,000 ft. After a few minutes as the lead aircraft he swapped roles and radioed he was in position. His aircraft was last seen and heard in a steep dive, before hitting the ground at high speed and disintegrating. Quantities of canopy perspex were found scattered in a field a mile away from the crash site.

Accident Investigators concluded that Pilot Officer Fletcher had most likely been rendered unconscious as result of his head striking the canopy whilst flying through the lead aircraft's slip stream. The court of inquiry recommended the issue of hard shell helmets. Pilot Officer Fletcher is buried in Boscombe East Cemetery, Bournemouth. Dorset.

The reported crash location of Two Bridges is an isolated location on the river West Dart in the heart of Dartmoor National Park in Devon, England. It is situated around 2.5 km (1.6 miles) north east of Princetown at the intersection of the two roads that cross Dartmoor: one is the old turnpike road which was built across Dartmoor in the late 18th century (now known as the B3212); the other is the B3357.

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents. Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p135. ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Last Take-off: A Record of RAF Aircraft Losses 1950 to 1953 p 297
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft SA100-VZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1983 p 92)
4. National Archives (PRO Kew) File BT233/116: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C424237
5. 229 OCU ORB (Operation Record Book)(Air Ministry Form AM/F.540) for the period 1/1/1951 to 31/12/1955: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 29/2167 at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C4101877
6. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=VZ
7. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/_DH100%20prodn%20list.txt
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_Bridges,_Devon

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
01-Jan-2016 16:08	GeorgeR	Added
18-Jan-2016 17:56	JIXN	Updated [Time, Operator]
16-Dec-2018 21:08	Anon.	Updated [Narrative]
24-Dec-2019 19:48	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
25-Dec-2019 12:02	stehlik49	Updated [Operator, Operator]
09-Jan-2020 12:32	stehlik49	Updated [Aircraft type, Destination airport, Operator]
24-Mar-2021 23:55	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Operator, Source, Narrative]
24-Mar-2021 23:55	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
24-Mar-2021 23:57	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source]
24-Mar-2021 23:58	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source]
25-Mar-2021 00:02	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Cn, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Narrative]
25-Mar-2021 00:05	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
25-Mar-2021 00:06	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
25-Mar-2021 00:07	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
25-Mar-2021 10:00	ABBA	Updated [Operator, Location, Narrative, Operator]