ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 193462
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| Date: | Thursday 2 June 1949 |
| Time: | day |
| Type: |  Supermarine Spitfire LF. IX |
| Owner/operator: | Royal Hellenic Air Force Academy |
| Registration: | MH322 |
| MSN: | CBAF. |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | RHAF Dekelia Air Base, Tatoiou, Acharnes, near Athens -
 Greece
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RHAF Dekelia Air Base, Tatoiou, Acharnes, Athens (LGTT) |
MH322: Spitfire LF. IX, built by CBAF (Castle Bromwich Aircraft Factory) with Merlin M61 engine. To 39MU RAF Colerne, Chippenham, Wiltshire 31-7-43. To 405 ARF (Aircraft Repair Flight) at HAL (Heston Aircraft Ltd), Heston, Middlesex 19-8-43. To 131 Squadron RAF at Llanbedr, Wales 27-9-43 as "NX-C". To 313 (Czechoslovak) Squadron RAF 29-8-44 as "RY-E". On 11-7-44, 313 Squadron moved to RAF Skeabrae on Orkney in Scotland. The squadron briefly flew the Spitfire VII in July and August 1944
To 611 (West Lancashire) Squadron 8-10-44, also based at RAF Skaebrae, Orkney as "FY-D". To 151RU (Repair Unit) 1-3-45. To VAO (Vickers Armstrong, Odiham), Odiham, Hampshire 16-4-45 for modifications. Stored until struck off charge when sold to RHAF (Royal Hellenic Air Force) 6-5-48, and operated by the RHAF Academy at RHAF Dekelia Air Base, Tatoiou, Acharnes, near Athens,
Written off (damaged beyond repair) 2-6-49 when crashed after engine failure at RHAF Dekelia Air Base, Tatoiou, Acharnes, near Athens, Greece. Pilot (aged 21) was killed.
According to a rough translation from Greek into English (see link #2 for the original Greek text):
"During a training flight", [on 2-6-49] "he carried out a forced landing in a rocky area of Tatoiou, due to damage to engine, and completely destroyed. Pilot: RHAF Academy Icarus, Nikolaos Papapanagiotou (Ikaros Nikolaos Papapanagiotou of Vasilios) Age 21. KIA".
In March 1947 the academy returned to RHAF Dekelia Air Base, Tatoiou, Acharnes, near Athens. Normal operation of the academy began in October 1947, when the first postgraduates from England were accepted. Tatoi Airport (ICAO: LGTT) is an airport located north of Athens, in Decelea. It started operating in 1918, and it now has a single runway with a length of 1764m (not counting the 347m threshold). The airport is used by the Hellenic Air Force
Sources:
1. https://polemikiaeroporiahaf.blogspot.de/2015_05_29_archive.html
2. https://aviationarchaeology.gr/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Supermarine-Spitfire-losses-in-Greece-1942-1953.pdf
3. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/spitfire/p063.html
4. https://allspitfirepilots.org/aircraft/MH322
5. https://www.rafcommands.com/database/serials/details.php?uniq=MH322
6. https://allspitfirepilots.org/aircraft/MH322
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hellenic_Air_Force_Academy#1940s
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._131_Squadron_RAF#Reformation_in_World_War_II
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._313_Squadron_RAF#History
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._611_Squadron_RAF#Wartime_operations
11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatoi_Airport
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 10-Feb-2017 13:46 | TB | Added |
| 04-Aug-2023 19:59 | Dr. John Smith | Updated |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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