Date:	Friday 11 May 1951
Time:	day
Type:	De Havilland DH.82A Tiger Moth
Owner/operator:	17 RFS RAF
Registration:	T6866
MSN:	85113
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	near Wepham, one mile west of Burpham, West Sussex, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	RAF Hornchurch, Essex
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
De Havilland DH.82A Tiger Moth MSN 85113; Taken on charge as T6866 at 24 MU RAF Ternhill, Shropshire 4.11.41. To 28 EFTS RAF Pendeford, Wolverhampton, Staffordshire 28.1.42. To 25 RFS RAF Pendeford, Wolverhampton, Staffordshire 26.6.47. To 14 RFS RAF Hamble, Hampshire 11.3.48, coded “RCL-N”. To 17 RFS RAF Hornchurch, Essex 21.3.51, coded "19"

Written off (damaged beyond repair) 11.5.51 when crashed near Wepham, one mile West of Burpham, West Sussex. The crew flew the Tiger Moth at an altitude below the briefed safety height, and the aircraft struck a tree. The cause of the accident was attributed to the pupil pilot under instruction begin so engrossed in what was being said to him by the instructor, the he failed to notice how close to the ground the aircraft was...until it was too late. Of the two crew on board, one was killed, and one was seriously injured

Crew of Tiger Moth T6866:
Flying Officer Walter Alexander Nicholls, RAF (Instructor Pilot) - killed on active service 11/5/1951
Sergeant Pilot D E Knight (Pupil Pilot Under Instruction) - survived, although with injuries

Wreckage recovered to 58 MU RAF Newark, Nottinghamshire, where Struck Off Charge as Cat.E2(FA) 29.5.51.

Burpham is a rural village and civil parish in the Arun District of West Sussex, England. The village is on an arm of the River Arun slightly less than 2 miles (3.2 km) northeast of Arundel. Wepham is a rural hamlet in the parish about 1.7 miles (2.7 km) northeast of Arundel on the road between Burpham and Warningcamp.

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.113 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Royal Air Force Aircraft T1000-V9999 (James J Halley, Air Britain)
3. Last Take Off; A Catalogue of RAF Aircraft Losses 1950 to 1953 by Colin Cummings p.137
4. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/p851.html
5. https://air-britain.com/pdfs/production-lists/DH82.pdf
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burpham

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
22-Jan-2021 21:53	Dr. John Smith	Added
23-Jan-2021 10:17	Roy	Updated [Operator, Location, Operator]
03-Oct-2021 23:28	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Operator, Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative, Category]
04-Oct-2021 09:17	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Operator]