Accident de Havilland DH.100 Vampire FB Mk 5 VV608,
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ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 231996
 
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Date:Monday 16 August 1954
Time:day
Type:Silhouette image of generic VAMP model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different    
de Havilland DH.100 Vampire FB Mk 5
Owner/operator:5 FTS RAF
Registration: VV608
MSN: EEP/42...
Fatalities:Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage: Destroyed
Location:Dry Drayton, 2 miles SW of RAF Oakington, Cambridgeshire, England -   United Kingdom
Phase: Take off
Nature:Training
Departure airport:RAF Oakington, Cambridgeshire
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating: Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources
Narrative:
De Havilland DH.100 Vampire FB Mk.5 VV608, 5 FTS RAF: Written off (destroyed) 16/8/54 when aircraft caught fire on take-off and crashed in the RAF Oakington circuit at Dry Drayton, two miles South West of Oakington, Cambridgeshire 16.8.54. Pilot killed.

According to a contemporary newspaper report ("Cambridge Daily News" 16 August 1954):

"The pilot of an RAF Vampire jet trainer from Oakington airfield was killed when his plane crashed into a cornfield at Dry Drayton. He succeeded in missing 18 Council houses, and women picking fruit in a nearby orchard before the plane - smoke pouring from its tail - crashed into a field off the Oakington Road. It is thought the pilot might have been attempting to make a forced landing and crashed through a hedge before skidding along the ground for some distance. The engine and tailplane were 40 yards apart but still intact after the crash"

Crew of Vampire VV608:
Pilot Officer Ralph Douglas Hey (pilot, aged 20)

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 SA100-VZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1983 p 91)
3. Category Five; A Catalogue of RAF Aircraft Losses 1954 to 2009 by Colin Cummings p.83
4. National Archives (PRO Kew) File BT233/1226: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C424347
5. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=VV
6. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/_DH100%20prodn%20list.txt
7. http://www.ldhs.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Oakington-Scrapbook-1897-to-1990.pdf
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dry_Drayton

Revision history:

Date/timeContributorUpdates
07-Jan-2020 18:14 Dr. John Smith Added
07-Jan-2020 19:18 stehlik49 Updated [Operator, Nature, Operator]
18-Apr-2020 22:44 Dr. John Smith Updated [Cn, Operator, Source, Narrative]
18-Apr-2020 22:45 Dr. John Smith Updated [Source]
19-Apr-2020 08:21 Investig Updated [Operator, Operator]
11-Jul-2023 22:05 Nepa Updated [[Operator, Operator]]

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