Date:	Monday 19 March 1951
Time:	day
Type:	North American AT-16 Harvard T Mk 2B
Owner/operator:	502 (Ulster) Sqn RAF
Registration:	FX249
MSN:	14A-1552
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Hope Mountain, Hope, Flintshire (Sir-y-Fflint) near Wrexham -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:
Destination airport:	RAF Aldergrove, Belfast, Northern Ireland (BFS/EGAA)
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
North American AT-16 Harvard T.2B 43-34666 (MSN 14A-1552). Delivered to RAF as Harvard IIb FX249. To No 16 (Polish) Service Flying Training School, Newton, Nottinghamshire, September 1944. To No 3 (Pilot) Advanced Flying Unit November 1945. To No 3 Service Flying Training School, South Cerney, Gloucestershire March 1946. No 3 Flying Training School, Feltwell, Norfolk April 1947. To No 502 (Ulster) Squadron, Royal Auxiliary Air Force, Aldergrove, County Antrim, Northern Ireland July 1948.

Written off (destroyed) when crashed on Hope Mountain, Hope, Flintshire (Sir-y-Fflint) near Wrexham 19 March 1951. The aircraft crashed into high ground in adverse weather conditions. The pilot took a different route to the one that he had been briefed to take. He flew below the advised safety height on the different route. The RAF Board of Inquiry judged that the flight should never have taken place, given the prevailing weather conditions at the time which were conducive to icing of the airframe. The pilot was killed.

Crew of Harvard KF249:
Sergeant James HANNA, RAF VR (Pilot) - killed on active service 19/3/1951

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.89 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. The Harvard File (John F Hamlin, Air Britain, 1988 p,116)
3. Last Take Off; A Catalogue of RAF Aircraft Losses 1950 to 1953 by Colin Cummings p.124
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hope,_Flintshire

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
16-Jan-2021 00:10	Dr. John Smith	Added
16-Jan-2021 11:41	HB	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Operator]