Date:	Tuesday 12 March 1946
Time:	day
Type:	Hawker Hurricane IIc
Owner/operator:	1402 Met Flt RAF
Registration:	PZ817
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Stiffkey, 4 miles west of Blakeney, Norfolk, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Langham, Holt, Blakeney, Norfolk
Destination airport:

Narrative:
Hawker Hurricane Mk. IIc PZ817, 1402 (Meteorological) Flight RAF: Written off (damaged beyond repair) 12 March 1946 in a forced landing near Stiffkey, Norfolk.

While on a sortie from RAF Langham, Holt, Blakeney, Norfolk, when the aircraft was flying at 2,300 feet, the engine lost power, then failed completely after the Hurricane had descended to 400 feet. The pilot - Warrant Officer A J W G Hopkins - then attempted an 'engine out' forced landing in a field between Stiffkey and Morton-in-the-Hill, Norfolk.

Despite being written off as "damaged beyond economic repair" due to a FACE (Flying Accident Cat. E) the pilot appears to have escaped uninjured. The engine failure was attributed to several tappets in the engine fracturing.

The reported crash location was near Stiffkey, a village and civil parish on the north coast of the English county of Norfolk. It is situated on the A149 coast road, some 6 km (3.7 miles) east of Wells-next-the-Sea, 6 km (3.7 miles) west of Blakeney, and 40 km (25 miles) north-west of the city of Norwich.

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.93
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft PA100-RZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain)
4. "RAF Write-offs 1946": Air Britain Aeromilitaria 1979 p.96: https://air-britain.com/pdfs/aeromilitaria/Aeromilitaria_1979.pdf
5. http://www.rafcommands.com/database/serials/details.php?uniq=%20PZ817
6. 1402 (Meteorological) Flight RAF ORB (Operations Record Book) (Air Ministry Form AM/F.540) for the period 1-10-1936 to 31-5-1946: File AIR 29/866/2 at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C7161884
7. History of the Meteorological Reconnaissance Flights for the period 1925-1975: Met Office, Exeter, File MET/2/5/3/7 at https://library.metoffice.gov.uk/Portal/Default/en-GB/recordview/index/626609
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Langham#Based_units
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Royal_Air_Force_aircraft_independent_flights
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stiffkey

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
21-Jun-2021 22:37	Dr. John Smith	Added
22-Jun-2021 12:16	TB	Updated [Operator, Location, Operator]
09-Jul-2023 20:02	Dr. John Smith	Updated [[Operator, Location, Operator]]