Date:	Friday 8 March 1946
Time:	day
Type:	Supermarine Spitfire F Mk 21
Owner/operator:	122 (Bombay) Sqn RAF
Registration:	LA251
MSN:	SMAF.4384
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Moray Firth, 3 miles north of Lossiemouth, Morayshire, Wales -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Dalcross, Inverness (EGPE)
Destination airport:

Narrative:
LA251: Spitfire F.21, MSN SMAF.4384. Built at Vickers Armstrongs South Marston with Griffon 61 engine. Test flown by Flight Lieutenant Johnson, Vickers Armstrong South Marston, for 25 minutes 13-3-45 (possible first flight). Delivered to the RAF at 39MU RAF Colerne, Chippenham, Wiltshire by Flying Officer Gasold (Air Transport Auxiliary) on 22-3-45. To 1 Squadron, RAF Tangmere, Chichester, West Sussex 14-6-45 as JX-Y. In May 1945, 1 Squadron converted to the Spitfire Mk.21, but these were only used operationally to cover landings on the Channel Islands between 9-5-1946 and 16-5-1946.

To 122 Squadron RAF Dalcross, Inverness, 14-2-46 as MJ-G. After the end of the war, 122 squadron was re-equipped with the Spitfire Mk.21, but was disbanded at RAF Dalcross on 1 April 1946 when it was renumbered No. 41 Squadron.

Written off (destroyed) 8-3-46: The aircraft was number 3 in a four-aircraft formation, flying over the Moray Firth. At 4,000 feet, the aircraft's engine failed completely, and the Spitfire began to lose altitude. At 700 feet, the aircraft dived steeply into the Moray Firth, three miles north of Lossiemouth. It is not clear if this happened when the pilot was trying to bail out. However, the pilot was killed, so it is not clear if he succeeded in leaving the aircraft. Additionally, the pilot was flying over open water, yet he was not wearing a lifejacket, and Spitfire LA251 was not carrying a dinghy. These factors would have considerably reduced the pilot's chances of survival, assuming that he had successfully bailed out.

Crew of Spitfire LA251:
Flt/Lt (174225) Alexander SUTHERLAND DFC (pilot, aged 23) RAF - killed in service 8-3-46; As the body of the pilot was not found/not recovered, he is commemorated on Panel 285 of the Runnymede Memorial, Surrey.

Spitfire LA251 was Struck Off Charge as Cat. E(m) 28-3-46

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. Final Landings: A Summary of RAF Aircraft and Combat Losses 1946 to 1949 by Colin Cummings p.89
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft EA100-EZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain)
4. 122 Squadron ORB (Operations Record Book) (Air Ministry Form AM/F.540) for the period 1-5-41 to 28-2-46: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 27/915 at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C2503554
5. "RAF Write-offs 1946": Air Britain Aeromilitaria 1979 p.96: https://air-britain.com/pdfs/aeromilitaria/Aeromilitaria_1979.pdf
6. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/spitfire/p054.html
7. CWGC: https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/1808253/alexander-sutherland/
8. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/15264349/alexander-sutherland
9. https://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?26666-Spitfire-LA251-Lost-with-pilot-1946
10. https://www.ancientfaces.com/person/alexander-sutherland-birth-1923-death-1946/164976281#biography
11. https://www.avialogs.com/spitfire-and-seafire-registry/item/79451-la251
12. https://allspitfirepilots.org/aircraft/LA251
13. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._1_Squadron_RAF#Post-War
14. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._122_Squadron_RAF#History
15. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moray_Firth

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
20-Jun-2021 02:06	Dr. John Smith	Added
20-Jun-2021 08:35	Schneck	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Narrative, Operator]
17-Sep-2023 16:19	Dr. John Smith	Updated [[Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Narrative, Operator]]