Date:	Friday 25 February 1949
Time:	day
Type:	de Havilland DH.103 Hornet F Mk 3
Owner/operator:	Controller (Air) Mos/DeHavilland Aircraft
Registration:	PX383
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	1/2 mile from RAF Barkway, Royston, Hertfordshire -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.)
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	Hatfield Aerodrome, near St. Albans, Hertfordshire
Destination airport:

Narrative:
DH Hornet F3 PX383, on charge with C(A) MoS (Controller (Air) Ministry of Supply) at DeHavilland Aircraft Ltd. Written off (damaged beyond repair) 25-2-49 on a test flight from Hatfield. On take off from Hatfield, the starboard engine's boost pump control failed, and the pilot was unable to jettison the underwing drop tanks as he attempted to "clean up" the aircraft's configuration for asymmetric flight

The additional drag from the drop tanks made it impossible to control the aircraft, and, as a result, the pilot decided to bail out. The now-unpiloted aircraft then dived into the ground into houses half-a-mile form RAF Barkway in Royston, Hertfordshire.

There were no fatalities, but two civilians on the ground in the houses (Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Camp) sustained minor injuries. The DeHavilland civilian test pilot Mr. Geoffrey Pike, had, as already stated, bailed out, and parachuted safely to earth.

RAF Barkway (1942-2011) was one of the smallest Royal Air Force stations in the United Kingdom. It was a Communications Station and was a small collection of buildings and a large radio mast

1. Halley, James (1999). Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents. Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd, ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Final Landings: A Summary of RAF Aircraft and Combat Losses 1946 to 1949 by Colin Cummings p.480
3. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/_DH103 prodn list.txt
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Barkway

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
15-Jun-2018 20:09	Nepa	Added
18-Sep-2020 13:20	Anon.	Updated [Phase, Narrative]