Date:	Friday 8 March 1946
Time:	day
Type:	Hawker Tempest Mk V
Owner/operator:	56 OTU RAF
Registration:	EJ666
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Hirwaun, Cynon Valley, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Glamorgan, Wales -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	RAF St. Athan, Glamorgan, South Wales
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Hawker Tempest Mk. V EJ666, 56 OTU, RAF: Written off (damaged beyond repair) in a flying accident on 8 March 1946 at Hirwaun, Glamorgan.

During a flying training sortie, the pilot became unwell, and because of this, he dropped his maps to the cockpit floor, and was unable to retrieve them. Without his maps to refer to, he soon became lost. When the engine of the Hawker Tempest began to fail, due to fuel starvation, as the aircraft had run out of fuel, he made a 'wheels up' forced belly landing in a field near Hirwaun, Glamorganshire

Hirwaun (Welsh "Long Meadow") is a village and community at the north end of the Cynon Valley in the County Borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, South Wales. It is 4 miles (6 km) North-West of the town of Aberdare, at approximate co-ordinates 51.73864°N 3.49887°W.

1. Halley, James (1999). Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents. Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p, 33 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Air-Britain Royal Air Force Aircraft EA100-EZ999
3. Final Landings: A Summary of RAF Aircraft and Combat Losses 1946 to 1949 by Colin Cummings p.88
4. 56 OTU ORB (Operations Record Book) (Air Ministry Form AM/F.540) for the period 1-1-1939 to 28-2-1946: National Archives (PRO Kew) file AIR 29/683/1 at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C7161029
5. "RAF Write-offs 1946": Air Britain Aeromilitaria 1979 p.103: https://air-britain.com/pdfs/aeromilitaria/Aeromilitaria_1979.pdf
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hirwaun

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
20-Jun-2021 01:27	Dr. John Smith	Added
20-Jun-2021 08:30	Schneck	Updated [Operator, Location, Nature, Operator]