Date:	Wednesday 6 May 1953
Time:	day
Type:	North American AT-16 Harvard T.2B
Owner/operator:	22 FTS RAF
Registration:	KF300
MSN:	14A-2020
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Maplebeck, 7 miles NW of Newark, Nottinghamshire, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	RAF Syerston, Nottinghamshire
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
North American Harvard T.2B KF300 [MSN 14A-2020]. Direct Purchase, so no former USAAF serial. First noted in RAF service with 5 (Pilots) AFU, RAF Tern Hill, Shropshire, in January 1945. To 21 FTS RAF Snitterfield, Warwickshire in May 1945, coded "FAP-W". To 17 SFTS RAF Spitalgate, Grantham, Lincolnshire, coded "FCE-L" in August 1946. To 1 FTS, still at RAF Spitalgate, Grantham, Lincolnshire, in June 1947. To 7 SFTS RAF Cottesmore, Oakham, Rutland, in February 1948 coded "FBA-F".

To CFS Examining Wing, RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire, July 1949. To CFS, RAF Little Rissington, Gloucestershire from March to July 1950. After overhaul and storage, to 22 FTS RAF Syerston, Nottinghamshire from April 1951 coded "FCJ-Q" later "Y-H"

Written off destroyed 6 May 1953 when crashed at Maplebeck, 7 miles North-West Newark, Nottinghamshire. The aircraft took off from RAF Syerston, Nottinghamshire, and climbed through a low cloudbase, breaking through the cloud at an altitude of 1,600 feet. Twenty minutes later, the Harvard descended through the cloud base, emerging at high speed in a shallow dive. The aircraft then went out of control, flicked to the right, before diving vertically into the ground, and burst into flames on impact. Both crew were killed.

According to a contemporary local newspaper report ("Nottingham Journal" of May 8th 1953) which reported the following:

"Unexplained air crash
'Death by misadventure' was the inquest verdict at Newark yesterday on a Syrian Air Force pilot, Lieut. Edmund Youssaf Jamal (24), and an R.A.F. flying instructor, Flt.-Lieut. Robert Herrick (33), both of R.A.F. station Syerston, who were killed when their blazing Harvard plane crashed on Wednesday.

The plane, on a training flight, came down at Maplebeck, near Newark. Wednesday's crash was seen by Margaret Rose and her brother Douglas. Douglas said the plane began a spiral dive, burst into flames, and crashed. "There was a flash and an explosion before it burst into flames and another as it hit the ground," he said. "It was revving terrifically before it hit the ground."

The Newark coroner said the cause of the accident was obscure."

Crew of Harvard FX300
Flight Lieutenant (70899) Robert HERRICK (QFI Flying Instructor, aged 30) RAF - killed in service 6/5/1953
Second Lieutenant Edmund Yusef JAMAL (Pupil Pilot Under Instruction, aged 24), Syrian Air Force - killed in service 6/5/1953

The QFI Instructor Pilot was a WWII veteran, having been shot down on May 17th 1940 flying Hawker Hurricane Mk I L2140 from 79 Sqdn, which was lost near the town of Vilvoorde in Belgium. Flying Officer Robert Herrick bailed out and became POW until May 1945. He spent much of the war as a PoW at Stalag Luft III. The Hurricane was a write-off.

The crash location of Maplebeck is a village in Nottinghamshire, England. It is located 6 miles north of Southwell, 7 miles north west of Newark-on-Trent, and is part of the civil parish of Winkburn. It is in the civil parish of Caunton. Some published sources (e.g. Link #5) give the crash location as "Thirlby-by-Bourne, South Kesteven, Lincolnshire". The newspaper report above disproves this.

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.144 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Last Take-off: A Record of RAF Aircraft Losses 1950 to 1953 by Colin Cummings p 366
3. The Harvard File (John F Hamlin, Air Britain, 1988 p.119)
4. Nottingham Journal of May 8th 1953
5. http://www.bcar.org.uk/1950s-incident-logs#1953
6. http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?23378-Seeking-full-name-of-P-O-R-Herrick-79-Squadron&highlight=HERRICK&p=136023#post136023
7. http://www.rafcommands.com/Ross/Air%20Force%20PoWs/RAF%20POWs%20Query%20H_1.html
8. http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/showthread.php?p=250148
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maplebeck.

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
27-Apr-2021 00:04	Dr. John Smith	Added
27-Apr-2021 00:05	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source]
27-Apr-2021 09:19	Emil	Updated [Operator, Location, Narrative, Operator]
27-Apr-2021 15:24	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Cn, Narrative]