Date:	Tuesday 30 April 1946
Time:	day
Type:	Supermarine Spitfire LF Mk XVI
Owner/operator:	61 OTU RAF
Registration:	TE239
MSN:	CBAF.
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RAF Keevil, Trowbridge, Wiltshire, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Take off
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	RAF Keevil, Trowbridge, Wiltshire
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
TE239: Spitfire LF.XVI. Built at CBAF (Castle Bromwich Aircraft Factory) with Merlin 266 engine. Delivered to the RAF at 19 MU St. Athan 4-5-45. First issued for service to 61 OTU RAF Keevil, Trowbridge, Wiltshire 6-1-46

Written off (damaged beyond repair) 30-4-46 in a take-off accident at RAF Keevil, Trowbridge, Wiltshire. During the take-off run, the aircraft had become airborne, and had climbed to an altitude of 15 feet, when the aircraft's engine cut out. The pilot reacted by closing the throttle, raising the undercarriage, and making a belly landing on the runway at RAF Keevil.

However, the subsequent RAF Board of Inquiry into the incident blamed the accident on 'pilot error', in that the pilot should have concluded that the 'engine failure' was simply a misfire, and thus not as serious as he thought. (Not an EFATO - Engine Failure at Take Off). The pilot, the Board of Inquiry stated, should have continued the take-off, as the misfire would have cleared by itself during the climb out from RAF Keevil!

Damage assessed as FACE (Flying Accident Cat. E) 30-4-46. Formally Struck Off Charge 10-7-46

1. Halley, James (1999). Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents. Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.39. ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Final Landings: A Summary of RAF Aircraft and Combat Losses 1946 to 1949 by Colin Cummings p.134
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft SA100-VZ999 (James J. Halley, Air Britain 1985)
4. 61 OTU RAF ORB (Operations Record Book) (Air Ministry Form AM/F.540) for the period 1-6-1941 to 30-6-1947: National Archives (PRO Kew) file AIR 29/685/1 at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C7161034
5. "RAF Write-offs 1946": Air Britain Aeromilitaria 1979 p.101: https://air-britain.com/pdfs/aeromilitaria/Aeromilitaria_1979.pdf
6. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/spitfire/p111.html
7. https://allspitfirepilots.org/aircraft/TE239
8. http://www.rafcommands.com/database/serials/details.php?uniq=%20TE239
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Keevil#RAF_Flying_Training_Command_use

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
14-Jul-2021 13:26	Dr. John Smith	Added
14-Jul-2021 21:30	dandy	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Operator]
29-Jun-2023 20:56	Dr. John Smith	Updated [[Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Operator]]
16-Sep-2023 12:20	Dr. John Smith	Updated [[[Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Operator]]]