Date:	Friday 3 December 1954
Time:	day
Type:	de Havilland DH.100 Vampire FB Mk 5
Owner/operator:	5 FTS RAF
Registration:	VZ447
MSN:	EEP/42292
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Cambridge-St.Neots Road, near RAF Bourn, Cambridgeshire -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Landing
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	RAF Oakington, Cambridgeshire
Destination airport:	RAF Bourn, Cambridgeshire
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
de Havilland DH.100 Vampire FB.Mk 5 WA447: Delivered 13/8/51. Known RAF service was with the RAF Flying College at RAF Manby Lincolnshire, and 5 FTS RAF Oakington, Cambridgeshire

Written off (destroyed) 3/12/54: Engine failed, overshot forced landing on disused airfield of RAF Bourn, Cambridgeshire. Aircraft Destroyed by Fire. Pilot survived with serious burn injuries, which were treated at the crash site. According to a contemporary local newspaper report ("Cambridge Daily News" 4 December 1954):

"A Vampire jet aircraft from RAF Oakington attempting to land on a disused runway at Bourn aerodrome, overshot and crashed across the main Cambridge to St Neots Road. It landed in a field and burst into flames. The pilot managed to pull himself clear of the wreckage suffering from severe burns and was given first aid by Sister Joan Webb of the Medical Research Department of Bourn Pest Control.

All that was recognisable of the wreckage was the tail assembly and jet engine propulsion unit. The pavement on the other side of the road was smashed and crumpled by the impact when the plane crashed".

1. Cambridge Daily News - 4 December 1954
2. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.166 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft SA100-VZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1985 p.10)
4. Category Five; A Catalogue of RAF Aircraft Losses 1954 to 2009 by Colin Cummings p.106
5. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/_DH100%20prodn%20list.txt
6. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=WA
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Bourn
8. http://www.ldhs.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Oakington-Scrapbook-1897-to-1990.pdf

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
29-May-2008 05:23	JINX	Added
08-Jun-2008 21:43	JINX	Updated
18-May-2015 17:56	MiG21	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Phase, Destination airport]
10-Jan-2020 11:20	stehlik49	Updated [Aircraft type, Nature, Operator]
29-Apr-2020 18:27	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Cn, Operator, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
29-Apr-2020 18:32	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]
29-Apr-2020 18:39	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Location, Source]
29-Apr-2020 20:46	MIG21	Updated [Operator, Operator]
31-Jul-2022 15:44	Ade01	Updated [Registration]