Date:	Friday 2 February 1951
Time:	day
Type:	de Havilland DH.100 Vampire FB Mk 5
Owner/operator:	229 OCU RAF
Registration:	VV636
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Bishop Hill, near Scotlandwell, Fife, Scotland -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	RAF Leuchars, Fife (ADX/EGQL)
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
de Havilland DH.100 Vampire FB.Mk.5 VV363, 229 OCU RAF: Written off (destroyed) 2/2/1951 when the aircraft flew into the hillside at a rocky outcrop called "Carlin Maggie" on the 1,500 ft (460 m) high Bishop Hill, near Scotlandwell, Fife, after the pilot decided to fly at low altitude below the cloud base in adverse weather conditions and at below the minimum altitude he had been briefed to fly at. In addition to this, it is believed that the instruments failed after the gyro toppled following a hard turn to port. The pilot was killed.

Crew of Vampire VV636:
Pilot Officer Sydney Vincent THOMAS RAF (pilot, aged 24) - killed on active service 2/2/1951

Note that a Hawker Hind - K6819 of 603 (City of Edinburgh) Squadron - which crashed here on 18/2/39 had also left wreckage on the same hillside. Over time, the wreckage of the two aircraft had become "mixed" not only on site, but amongst reports in various fell walking forums.

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.112 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Royal Air Force Aircraft SA100-VZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1983)
3. Last Take Off; A Catalogue of RAF Aircraft Losses 1950 to 1953 by Colin Cummings p.112
4. 229 OCU ORB (Operation Record Book)(Air Ministry Form AM/F.540) for the period 1/1/1951 to 31/12/1955: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 29/2167 at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C4101877
5. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=VV
6. https://www.visitscotland.com/info/towns-villages/bishop-hill-p250381
7. http://www.wtdwhd.co.uk/BishopHil(part2)l.html
8. http://www.edwardboyle.com/drupal/airwrecks_miscellaneous
9. http://www.edwardboyle.com/airwrecks_misc.html

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
09-Jan-2021 23:23	Dr. John Smith	Added
10-Jan-2021 09:40	Slizack	Updated [Operator, Location, Nature, Operator]
09-Mar-2021 20:18	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source]