Date:	Monday 18 March 1946
Time:	day
Type:	Airspeed Oxford Mk II
Owner/operator:	Methwold SF RAF
Registration:	AB754
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Newton Poppleford, 4 miles NW of Sidmouth, Devon, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Methwold, Norfolk
Destination airport:	RAF Exeter, Devon (EXT/EGTE)

Narrative:
Airspeed Oxford Mk. II AB754, RAF Methwold Station Flight: Written off (damaged beyond repair) 18 March 1946 due to a CFIT (Controlled Flight into Terrain).

The Oxford took off from its home base at RAF Methwold, Norfolk to fly to RAF Exeter, Devon. However, the pilot Group Captain Patrick George Chichester AFC, became lost in conditions of low cloud and poor visibility. In order to ascertain his position, the pilot descended to a very low level (below the low cloud base). While trying to re-orientate himself, he allowed the Airspeed Oxford to fly into the ground at Newton Poppleford, four miles north west of Sidmouth, Devon. Both persons on board - the pilot, and his passenger - were injured.

The pilot, Group Captain Patrick George Chichester was born on 18 March 1901. He was the son of George Chichester and Frances Caroline Hibbert. He married Gladys Evelyn Vesta Clemency Barnes, daughter of William Carnegie Barnes and Gladys Mary Studd, on 22 April 1931.

He was educated at Sherborne School, Sherborne, Dorset, England. He gained the rank of Group Captain in 1939 in the Royal Air Force. He fought in the Second World War between 1939 and 1943. He was awarded the Air Force Cross (A.F.C.) in Greece. By June 1963 he had risen to the rank of Acting Wing Commander. He was appointed Officer, Order of the British Empire (O.B.E.) in 1963 in the Birthday Honours List. He died on 10 December 1983 at age 82 at Stowford Lewdown, Okehampton, Devon, England - which is approximately 45 miles west of the crash location some 37 years earlier

The reported crash location of Newton Poppleford is a large village situated on the A3052 road between Exeter and Sidmouth on the west side of the River Otter in East Devon, at approximate co-ordinates 50.698719°N 3.295049°W. The presumed destination of RAF Exeter (now Exeter Airport) is six-and-a-half miles north north-west of the crash location.

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft AA100-AZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain)
2. The Oxford Consul & Envoy File (John F Hamlin, Air Britain, 2001)
3. Halley, James (1999). Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents. Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.34. ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
4. Final Landings: A Summary of RAF Aircraft and Combat Losses 1946 to 1949 by Colin Cummings p.93
5. "RAF Write-offs 1946": Air Britain Aeromilitaria 1979 p.96: https://air-britain.com/pdfs/aeromilitaria/Aeromilitaria_1979.pdf
6. http://www.thepeerage.com/p21935.htm
7. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/43010/supplement/4801/data.pdf
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Methwold
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newton_Poppleford

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
22-Jun-2021 21:31	Dr. John Smith	Added
29-Jun-2021 07:54	Anon.	Updated [Operator, Location, Operator]
08-Jul-2023 17:28	Dr. John Smith	Updated [[Operator, Location, Operator]]