Date:	Wednesday 17 February 1954
Time:	day
Type:	Avro Lincoln B Mk 2
Owner/operator:	61 Sqn RAF
Registration:	RA687
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 6
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RAF Wittering, Cambridgeshire, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Take off
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Wittering (EGXT)
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Avro Lincoln B.Mk.2 RA687, 61 Squadron, RAF Wittering. Written off (damaged beyond repair) 17/2/54 in a take off accident. Whilst taking off from RAF Wittering, Cambridgeshire, an engine failed, and the pilot - Flight Sergeant R E Ratcliffe - could not control the consequent swing off the runway. The take off was abandoned, the aircraft overshot, and the aircraft's undercarriage collapsed; RA687 was damaged beyond economic repair.

The fact that 61 Squadron RAF was about to re-equip with EE Canberra B.Mk.2s (which arrived from 16 August 1954) may have also been a deciding factor in the decision not to repair RA687.

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.155 ISBN 0-85130-290-4
2. Category Five; A Catalogue of RAF Aircraft Losses 1954 to 2009 by Colin Cummings p.35
3. National Archives (PRO Kew): 61 Squadron Operational Record Book (Air Ministry Form AM/F.540) for February 1954 - File AIR 27/2624/76 at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8424939
4. http://www.no-50-and-no-61-squadrons-association.co.uk/history-of-n0-61-squadron/

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
05-Apr-2020 21:32	Dr. John Smith	Added
06-Apr-2020 08:54	Iwosh	Updated [Operator, Location, Departure airport, Operator]