Date:	Friday 12 June 1953
Time:	night
Type:	North American AT-16 Harvard T.2B
Owner/operator:	RAF College Cranwell
Registration:	KF272
MSN:	14A-1973
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	near Belton, 2 miles south west of RAF Barkston Heath, Lincolnshire -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	RAF Cranwell, Sleaford, Lincolnshire
Destination airport:	RAF Cranwell, Sleaford, Lincolnshire
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
North American Harvard T.2B KF272 [MSN 14A-1973]. Direct Purchase, so no former USAAF serial. First noted in RAF service with 11 (P) AFU RAF Calverley, Cheshire in January 1945. To RAF 2 FTS RAF Chipping Northon, Oxfordshire, March 1945. To 20 FTS March 1946 RAF Church Lawford, Warwickshire coded "FAJ-H". To 20 SFTS September 1946 coded "FAJ-H" (still at RAF Church Lawford, Warwickshire). To 2 FTS, still at RAF Church Lawford, Warwickshire July 1947, still as "FAJ-H".To RAF College Cranwell September 1948 coded "FAB-K"

Written off (destroyed) 12 June 1953 when crashed near Belton, 2 miles south west of RAF Barkston Heath, Lincolnshire. The pilot took off from RAF Cranwell on his first night flying solo on the Harvard. Shortly after takeoff, he called ATC (Air Traffic Control) at Cranwell, with the single word "DOWNWIND". Nothing further was heard from Harvard KF272 or its pilot, until the wreckage was found crashed in a field near Belton, 2 miles south west of RAF Barkston Heath, Lincolnshire

The weather reports for the time of the accident (night of 12/13 June 1953) suggested that the prevailing weather conditions were low cloud and poor visibilty (low-lying mist and fog). Although the subsequent RAF Board of Inquiry deemed that the main cause of the destruction of Harvard KF272 was that the pilot flew the aircraft into the ground while night flying at low altitude, there was criticism that the relatively inexperienced pilot had been allowed to conduct a night flying sortie in such poor weather conditions. The pilot was killed

Crew of Harvard KF272:
Flight Cadet Michael John GOODALL, RAF (pilot, aged 21) - killed in service 12/6/1953, buried at Sidcup Cemetery, Sidcup, London Borough of Bexley, Greater London

The reported crash location of Belton is a village in the civil parish of Belton and Manthorpe, in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated on the A607 road, and 3 miles (5 km) north from the market town of Grantham. RAF Cranwell, where the Harvard took off, is approximately 10 miles to the North East.

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.145 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Last Take-off: A Record of RAF Aircraft Losses 1950 to 1953 by Colin Cummings p 376
3. The Harvard File (John F Hamlin, Air Britain, 1988 p.117)
4. http://www.bcar.org.uk/1950s-incident-logs#1953
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belton,_South_Kesteven
6. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/207677105/michael-john-goodall

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
30-Apr-2021 17:54	Dr. John Smith	Added
30-Apr-2021 19:18	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
30-Apr-2021 19:28	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]