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Date: | Wednesday 25 August 1954 |
Time: | day |
Type: | Supermarine Swift F Mk I |
Owner/operator: | 56 (Punjab) Sqn RAF |
Registration: | WK213 |
MSN: | |
Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
Location: | Hempstead Wood, Thaxted, Suffolk -
United Kingdom
|
Phase: | En route |
Nature: | Military |
Departure airport: | RAF Waterbeach, Cambridgeshire |
Destination airport: | |
Confidence Rating: | Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
Narrative:Supermarine Swift F.Mk.1 WK213: Delivered 24/2/54. Sole RAF service (six months) was with 56 (Punjab) Squadron, RAF: Written off 25/08/1954: Nosewheel could not be lowered, aircraft abandoned and plane crashed at Hempstead Wood, Thaxted, Suffolk. Pilot (Flying Officer John Hobbs) ejected safely at 8,000 feet and 250 knots.
30/08/1954: Wreck scrapped by 71 Maintenance Unit, at RAF Bicester.
Note: The crash location is confusing and contradictory. Several sources give the crash location as "Hempstead Wood, Thaxted, Suffolk" as per the above. The official File at the National Archives, Kew (File BT233/230 - see link 4) gives the crash location as "near Newmarket, Cambs." [sic]. Whereas the Wikipedia entry (see link #9) gives Thaxted as "a village and civil parish in the Uttlesford district of northwest Essex, England. The town is 15 miles (24 km) north from the county town of Chelmsford". So, depending on who you believe, WK213 crashed in Suffolk, or Cambridgeshire, or Essex!
Sources:
1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.162 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Royal Air Force Aircraft WA100-WZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1983 p 65)
3. Category Five; A Catalogue of RAF Aircraft Losses 1954 to 2009 by Colin Cummings p.84
4. National Archives (PRO Kew) File BT233/230:
https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C424351 5.
http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=WK 6.
http://web.archive.org/web/20171123224900/http://www.ejection-history.org.uk:80/aircraft_by_type/swift/swift.htm 7.
http://web.archive.org/web/20170624000012/http://www.millionmonkeytheater.com:80/Swift.html 8.
http://www.ukserials.com/prodlists.php?type=1076 9.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thaxted Revision history:
Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
17-Jun-2008 21:19 |
JINX |
Added |
15-Jan-2012 15:12 |
Nepa |
Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Phase, Source] |
14-Apr-2013 00:25 |
Dr. John Smith |
Updated [Departure airport, Source, Narrative] |
26-Jul-2014 10:21 |
angels one five |
Updated [Aircraft type, Operator] |
03-Jun-2015 15:36 |
QQ3 |
Updated [Aircraft type, Operator] |
08-Jan-2020 23:00 |
Dr. John Smith |
Updated [Time, Phase, Source, Narrative] |
20-Apr-2020 00:14 |
Dr. John Smith |
Updated [Source, Narrative] |
21-Apr-2020 22:58 |
Dr. John Smith |
Updated [Narrative] |