Date:	Tuesday 4 November 1947
Time:	day
Type:	Hawker Tempest Mk II
Owner/operator:	226 OCU RAF
Registration:	PR657
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Other fatalities:	1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RAF Bentwaters, Suffolk, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Landing
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Bentwaters, Woodbridge, Suffolk
Destination airport:	RAF Bentwaters, Suffolk

Narrative:
Hawker Tempest PR657, 226 OCU, RAF: Written off (destroyed) in a flying accident at RAF Bentwaters, Suffolk, 4 November 1947. Aircraft lost propeller blade, lost height and crashed onto the Station HQ Building.

At 2000 feet agl (above ground level) the aircraft's engine was clearly heard to be over speeding. A propellor blade came off, followed by the propeller mechanism and the reduction gearing.

The aircraft then began a gentle descending turn, until it struck the Station Headquarters building a RAF Bentwaters, Woodbridge, Suffolk. Pilot killed, plus one person (AC.1 Ground Crew) on the ground also killed.

Crew of Tempest Mk. II PR657
Pilot II (1606028) John Frederick JANES (Pilot, aged 23) RAFVR: Killed on active service 04/11/1947, buried at St. Leonards Churchyard, Heston, Middlesex
AC1 (2296336) Frank Robinson (Ground Crew) RAFVR. Killed on active service 04/11/1947.
Buried Rowley Regis Cemetery, Staffordshire.

1. Halley, James (1999). Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents. Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.68. ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Final Landings: A Summary of RAF Aircraft and Combat Losses 1946 to 1949 by Colin Cummings p.346
3. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AVIA 5/29/W2400: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C6578246
4. 226 OCU RAF ORB for the period 1-8-46 to 31-12-1950: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR27/1632: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C4101342
5. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2735053/janes,-john-frederick/
6. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2713192/robinson,-frank/
7. https://www.ancestry.com/genealogy/records/john-frederick-janes-24-fn9jr5
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._226_Operational_Conversion_Unit_RAF#Operational_history
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Bentwaters#Second_World_War

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
26-Nov-2019 23:19	Dr. John Smith	Added
27-Nov-2019 11:51	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Location, Destination airport, Operator]
06-May-2023 21:46	Dr. John Smith	Updated [[Operator, Location, Destination airport, Operator]]
07-May-2023 08:14	Nepa	Updated [[[Operator, Location, Destination airport, Operator]]]