Date:	Wednesday 22 July 1953
Time:	day
Type:	de Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunk T.10
Owner/operator:	Leeds UAS RAF
Registration:	WD350
MSN:	C1/0288
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Park House Farm, Birkin, SW of Selby, North Yorkshire, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.)
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	RAF Yeadon, West Yorkshire
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
de Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunk T.10, WD350, Leeds UAS (University Air Squadron) RAF: Delivered 21/2/1951. Written off (destroyed) 22/7/1953 when crashed during aerobatics.

The two crew were carrying out dual-control spinning recovery exercises on a sortie from RAF Yeadon, West Yorkshire (the present day Leeds/Bradford Airport). The aircraft dived into the ground during such exercises, after failing to recover from a spin. Of the two crew, the Student Pilot Under Instruction baled out safely, but the Instructor pilot did not leave the aircraft, and was killed.

Crew of Chipmunk WD350:
Flight Lieutenant Maurice Peter DAVIES (QFI Instructor Pilot) RAF- killed in service 22/7/1953
Cadet Pilot Elwin J D DIABLER (Student Pilot Under Instruction) RAF- bailed out, survived with injuries

Birkin is a village and civil parish in the south-west of the Selby district of North Yorkshire, England. It is north of the River Aire, near Beal, North Yorkshire. The closest town is Knottingley, in West Yorkshire, 4 miles (6 km) to the south-west. Until 1974, it was part of the West Riding district of Yorkshire.

Note that some published sources (see link #4) give the crash date as 22/7/1958, and not 22/7/1953. However, as the date of death of the pilot was 22/7/1953, the "1958" date is clearly an error. According to the following extract from his biography (see link #5):

"He was released from the RAF in 1946 as a Flight Lieutenant. He married Phyllis Mirabel Waite in July 1949. He must have rejoined the RAF or RAF Volunteer Reserve in some capacity, as in 1953 he was serving as a pilot with Leeds University Air Squadron. On 22nd July that year he was killed whilst flying in Chipmunk T Mk.10 WD350 which crashed at Park House Farm, Birkin, West Yorkshire when it failed to recover from a spin.

His pupil, Cadet Officer Elwin Diabler, was able to bale out safely.

Davies is buried in Kirkby Wharfe Churchyard".

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. Royal Air Force Aircraft WA100-WZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1983 p.24)
3. Last Take Off; A Catalogue of RAF Aircraft Losses 1950 to 1953 by Colin Cummings p.391
4. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=WD
5. http://www.bbm.org.uk/airmen/DaviesMP.htm

Other occurrences involving this aircraft

22 July 1958

WD350

Leeds UAS RAF

0

Birkin, Selby, North Yorkshire

w/o

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
02-Jun-2008 05:17	JINX	Added
13-Feb-2020 07:42	Iwosh	Updated [Operator, Nature, Operator]
04-May-2021 21:19	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Operator, Total occupants, Location, Phase, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
04-May-2021 21:27	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Departure airport, Narrative]
05-May-2021 08:32	Iwosh	Updated [Operator, Location, Narrative, Operator]
05-May-2021 11:55	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]