Date:	Friday 31 August 1945
Time:	16:30
Type:	Miles M.33 Monitor TT Mk II
Owner/operator:	A&AEE RAF
Registration:	NP409
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Fort Victoria, Sconce Point, 1 mile west of Yarmouth, Isle of Wight -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Test
Departure airport:	RAF Boscombe Down, Wiltshire
Destination airport:

Narrative:
At 16:30 hrs on Friday 31st August 1945, Miles M.33 Monitor TT.Mk.II NP409 crashed into the sea one mile off the coast to the west of Yarmouth, Isle of Wight while being flown by Sub Lt Keneth William Ambrose Fehler RNVR, with observer Lt Leonard Roland Habgood RNVR. Both crew were killed and the aircraft had only flown 4 hours 30 minutes at Boscombe Down to the time of the crash.

The detail had been to complete a simple target towing flight at a constant speed of 300 mph but two hours after take-off the aircraft was seen by eye witnesses to be in level flight in a westerly direction over the Solent at about 2,000 ft altitude, with both engines running normally, when the starboard wing dropped sharply and the aircraft then rolled over onto its back and dived vertically into the sea near Fort Victoria, Sconce Point, 1 mile West of Yarmouth, Isle of Wight, with apparently no attempt being made to recover.

The findings of the Court of Inquiry were inconclusive but, due to the problems previously experienced with the back of the pilot's seat and the fact that the seat in NP409 had not been modified, it was suggested that perhaps this had failed causing the pilot to fall back and lose control of the aircraft. A letter dated 3rd December 1945 from Chief Inspector (Accidents), Air Ministry to Flying Training Command, Accidents Section read:

Ref: File AVIA/5/26-W2257 - "Accident to Monitor II NP.409 on 31.8.45"

The investigation of this accident has been disappointing. The aircraft crashed into the sea near Fort Victoria, Isle of Wight, and in spite of protracted operations by an efficient salvage gang, only a few small pieces of wreckage were recovered. These small pieces show that the airframe is completely disintegrated, but they provide no evidence which is of any value in assessing the cause of the accident. We have nothing to add to the findings of the Court of Inquiry and do not propose to issue the usual Précis of Investigation in this instance.

It is also noteworthy that neither of the two crew were found or recovered. Both were on detachment from HMS Daeadlus, RNAS Lee-on-Solent. Both crew are commemorated on the Lee on Solent Memorial (Bay 6, Panel 3).

1. Miles Aircraft - the Wartime Years: Peter Amos, Air Britain 2012 ISBN 10: 0851304303
2. Mondey, David (1982). The Hamlyn Guide to British Aircraft of World War II. Chancellor Press. p. 173. ISBN 1851526684.
3. Bridgman, L, (ed.) (1998) Jane's fighting aircraft of World War II. Crescent. ISBN 0-517-67964-7. 1998, p. 131.
4. Thetford, Owen. British Naval Aircraft since 1912 . London: Putnam, Fourth edition, 1978 ISBN 0-370-30021-1 pp. 256–257.
5. "Fleet Air Arm Archive - Miles Monitor". Archived from the original on 25 February 2017. Retrieved 5 March 2007.
6. Sturivant, Ray. Fleet Air Arm Fixed-Wing Aircraft since 1946. Tonbridge, Kent: Air-Britain, 2004. ISBN 0-85130-283-1.
7. Brown, Don L. (1970). Miles Aircraft since 1925 (1st ed.). London: Putnam & Company Ltd. pp. 207–211. ISBN 0-370-00127-3.
8. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AVIA/5/26-W2257: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C6578104
9. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AVIA 18/2865: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C11052206
10. https://www.thunder-and-lightnings.co.uk/memorial/entry.php?id=159
11. https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2974253/kenneth-william-ambrose-fehler/
12. https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2974405/leonard-ronald-jack-habgood/
13. https://www.fort-victoria.co.uk/miles-crash
14. https://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=19404.0
15. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miles_Monitor#Variants
16. https://wight.hampshireairfields.co.uk/iowc.html
17. https://www.naval-history.net/xDKCas1945-08AUG.htm
18. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Victoria,_Isle_of_Wight

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