Date:	Friday 24 July 1953
Time:	day
Type:	de Havilland DH.100 Vampire FB Mk 5
Owner/operator:	208 AFS RAF
Registration:	WA438
MSN:	EEP/422..
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Other fatalities:	1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RAF Merryfield, Ilton, Ilchester, Somerset, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Taxi
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Merryfield, Somerset
Destination airport:	RAF Merryfield, Somerset
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
de Havilland DH.100 Vampire FB Mk 5, WA438, 208 AFS (Advanced Flying School), RAF: Delivered 17 July 1951. On 24 July 1953, two planes collided on the runway at Merryfield on landing due to a mistaken signal. de Havilland DH.100 Vampire FB Mk 5 serial number WA438 and de Havilland DH.100 Vampire FB Mk 5 serial number VV456 from 208 AFS both based at RAF Merryfield. Both had landed at Merryfield at the end of separate sorties, and both pilots were killed.

Crew of Vampire WA438;
Pilot Officer (4090854) Richard Barrie LANE (pilot) RAF - killed in service 24 July 1953

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.147 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Last Take-off: A Record of RAF Aircraft Losses 1950 to 1953 by Colin Cummings p 393
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft WA100-WZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1985)
4. Wings Over Somerset: Aircraft Crashes since the End of World War II By Peter Forrester
5. 208 AFS ORB (Operations Record Book)(Air Ministry Form AM/F.540) for the period 1/11/1951 to 31/5/1954: National Archives (PRO Kew) flie AIR 29/2147 at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C4101857
6. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/_DH100%20prodn%20list.txt
7. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=WA
8. http://www.friendsofsomersetarchives.org.uk/files/Snippets/Snippets%20Mar%202013.pdf

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
29-May-2008 05:17	JINX	Added
08-Jun-2008 21:50	JINX	Updated
09-Sep-2014 17:20	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Phase, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
17-May-2015 07:08	MiG21	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Narrative]
17-May-2015 07:14	MiG17	Updated [Narrative]
06-May-2021 17:34	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Cn, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
06-May-2021 19:37	MiG17	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Operator]