Date:	Friday 6 September 1946
Time:	day
Type:	de Havilland DH.103 Hornet F Mk 3
Owner/operator:	de Havilland Aircraft Co Ltd
Registration:	PX315
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Hatfield Aerodrome, Hatfield, Hertfordshire -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Landing
Nature:	Test
Departure airport:	Hatfield Aerodrome, Hatfield, Hertfordshire (EGTH)
Destination airport:	Hatfield Aerodrome, Hatfield, Hertfordshire (EGTH)
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
De Havilland Hornet F.3 PX315, DeHavilland Aircraft Ltd. Written off (damaged beyond repair) 6-9-46 in a landing accident at Hatfield Aerodrome, Hatfield, Hertfordshire.

On approach to land, a flap bracket fractured, causing the port flap to jam at an angle of 20 degrees, and the starboard flap to become jammed shut. This created severe directional control problems for the pilot. The aircraft's approach speed therefore had to be maintained at 170 knots, much higher than normal, in order to maintain directional control with the flaps in an asymmetric condition

After touchdown, the aircraft overran the runway, ran into a drainage ditch and overturned, trapping the pilot, who was slightly injured, but had to cut his own way out of the wooden fuselage side.

Crew of Hornet PX315
Squadron Leader H J Greenland (test pilot) - slightly injured

The pilot survived this incident, and two months later he was involved in another landing accident that also involved a DH Hornet; this time Hornet PX362. The ailerons were fouled by (quite literally) a "spanner in the works", which caused the ailerons to jam. Hornet PX362 was landed on its partially lowered undercarriage, but was repaired and returned to service. Hornet PX362 was written off in a crash on 2-4-55 when it crashed at Butterworth, Malaya (see separate entry).

1. Halley, James (1999). Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents. Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. ISBN 0-85130-290-4. p.51
2. Final Landings: A Summary of RAF Aircraft and Combat Losses 1946 to 1949 by Colin Cummings p.211
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft PA100-RZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain)
4. "RAF Write-offs 1946": Air Britain Aeromilitaria 1979 p.103: https://air-britain.com/pdfs/aeromilitaria/Aeromilitaria_1979.pdf
5. The Hornet File (L.G. Cooper, Air Britain, 1992)
6. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/_DH103%20prodn%20list.txt
7. https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/profile/3817-david-collins/
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hatfield_Aerodrome#Postwar

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
15-Jun-2018 18:58	Nepa	Added
15-Jun-2018 20:45	Nepa	Updated [Location]
17-Nov-2019 01:29	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Operator, Total fatalities, Other fatalities, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
07-Jun-2023 21:26	Dr. John Smith	Updated [[Time, Operator, Total fatalities, Other fatalities, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]]