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Date: | Wednesday 16 January 1946 |
Time: | night |
Type: | North American P-51C-10-NT Mustang Mk III |
Owner/operator: | 309 (Ziemia Czerwienska) Sqn RAF |
Registration: | KH484 |
MSN: | 111-28974 |
Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
Location: | Drabblegate, 1.2 miles NNE of Aylsham, Norfolk, England -
United Kingdom
|
Phase: | En route |
Nature: | Military |
Departure airport: | RAF Andrews Field, Great Dunmow, Essex |
Destination airport: | RAF Andrews Field, Great Dunmow, Essex |
Narrative:North American P-51C-10-NT Mustang: Ex-USAAF 44-10841 [MSN 111-28974] to RAF as Mustang III KH484. Issued to 309 'Ziemia Czerwienska' (Polish) Squadron, RAF Andrews Field, Great Dunmow, Essex coded "KC-H". Written off (damaged beyond repair) 16-1-46 when crashed near Aylsham, Norfolk.
While on a night flying navigation training sortie from RAF Andrews Field, the engine failed, and white smoke was seen to be coming from the engine compartment. The pilot - Warrant Officer T. Wisniewski - attempted to restart the engine, and when this failed, he changed the fuel tanks, and then tried again to restart the engine, still without success.
Once the Mustang had descended to 800 feet AGL, he jettisoned the external fuel drop tanks, and prepared to make a forced landing near Aylesham, Norfolk. However, as the area immediately ahead of the aircraft was built up with houses, the pilot turned the aircraft away and force landed in a wooded area, near Drabblegate (1.2 miles North North-east of Aylsham) with the aircraft being destroyed when it crashed into trees. Although the aircraft was written off ("deemed damaged beyond repair") the pilot was uninjured.
The crash location is near Aylsham, a historic market town and civil parish on the river Bure in north Norfolk, England, nearly 9 miles north of Norwich
Sources:
1. Halley, James (1999). Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents. Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.26 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Final Landings: A Summary of RAF Aircraft and Combat Losses 1946 to 1949 by Colin Cummings p.28
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft KA100-KZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain)
4. 309 (Polish) Squadron ORB (Operations Record Book) for the period 1/1/1946 to 31/12/1950: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 27/2427/37 at
https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8420252 5. "RAF Write-offs 1946": Air Britain Aero militaria 1979 p.103:
https://air-britain.com/pdfs/aeromilitaria/Aeromilitaria_1979.pdf 6.
http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1944_1.html 7.
http://www.polishsquadronsremembered.com/309/309_story.html 8.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._309_Polish_Fighter-Reconnaissance_Squadron 9.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Andrews_Field#RAF_Fighter_Command_use 10.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aylsham Revision history:
Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
31-May-2021 23:37 |
Dr. John Smith |
Added |
01-Jun-2021 18:14 |
Angel Dick one |
Updated [Operator, Location, Operator] |
01-Jun-2021 21:11 |
Dr. John Smith |
Updated [Narrative] |
26-Jul-2023 12:31 |
Dr. John Smith |
Updated [[Narrative]] |