Date:	Saturday 16 February 1946
Time:	day
Type:	Avro Lancaster B Mk III
Owner/operator:	12 Sqn RAF
Registration:	ND916
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 4
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Hollesley Heath, south-east of Woodbridge, Suffolk, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Landing
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Strubby, Lincolnshire
Destination airport:	RAF Woodbridge, Suffolk

Narrative:
Avro Lancaster B. Mk. III ND916, 12 Squadron, RAF: Written off (damaged beyond repair) 16 February 1946 in an approach and landing accident at Hollesley Heath, south-east of Woodbridge, Suffolk.

While on a sortie from RAF Strubby, Lincolnshire, the windscreen of Lancaster ND916 became iced over while flying in cloud, and the pilot did not ensure that they were cleared for landing at RAF Woodbridge, Suffolk. Consequently, the pilot's visibility was badly impaired, and the Lancaster touched down a long way down the runway at RAF Woodbridge. The aircraft could not be stopped before it 'ran out of runway', and it overshot, ran off the end of the runway, into a gun emplacement, which ripped off the undercarriage, and spun the aircraft around through 180 degrees.

Despite being written off as FACE (Flying Accident Cat. E) as deemed "damaged beyond repair" on 15 March 1946, the crew were uninjured.

Sutton and Hollesley Heaths is a 483.3-hectare (1,194-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest south-east of Woodbridge in Suffolk.

1. Halley, James (1999). Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents. Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.31 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Final Landings: A Summary of RAF Aircraft and Combat Losses 1946 to 1949 by Colin Cummings p.74
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft NA100-NZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain)
4. The Lancaster File (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1985 p.102)
5. 12 Squadron ORB for the period 1-1-1946 to 31-1-1949: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 27/2394/30 at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8419057
6. "RAF Write-offs 1946": Air Britain Aeromilitaria 1979 p.95: https://air-britain.com/pdfs/aeromilitaria/Aeromilitaria_1979.pdf
7. History of ND916 from 29-4-1944 to 5-1-45: https://35squadron.wordpress.com/2019/07/13/nd-serials/
8. https://www.avro-lancaster.info/ndseries/nd916
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sutton_and_Hollesley_Heaths

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
13-Jun-2021 23:21	Dr. John Smith	Added
14-Jun-2021 08:16	Anon.	Updated [Operator, Location, Operator]
14-Jun-2021 14:42	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]
14-Jun-2021 20:49	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Departure airport, Source, Narrative]