Date:	Saturday 19 March 1949
Time:	day
Type:	Supermarine Spitfire F.XIV
Owner/operator:	611 (West Lancashire) Sqn RAF
Registration:	RM924
MSN:	6S-662694
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RAF Hooton Park, Wirral Peninsula, Cheshire, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Landing
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Hooton Park, Wirral Peninsula, Cheshire
Destination airport:	RAF Hooton Park, Wirral Peninsula, Cheshire

Narrative:
RM924: Spitfire F.XIV. MSN 6S-662694. Built at Vickers Armstrongs (Supermarine) at Keevil, Wiltshire with Griffon G65 engine. To 39 MU RAF Colerne, Chippenham, Wiltshire 7-12-44. To 430 (City of Sudbury) Squadron, RCAF 15-3-45. To 2 Squadron, RAF Celle, Lower Saxony, West Germany 22-3-45. Accident Cat. C (Repairable) 7-4-45. To 412 RSU (Repair & Servicing Unit) for repairs. To 610 (County of Chester) Squadron, RAF Hooton Park, Wirral, Cheshire 30-1-48. To 611 (West Lancashire) Squadron, RAF Woodvale, Southport, Lancashire coded 'RAR-K' 1-3-49

Written off (damaged beyond repair) in an undercarriage collapse on landing at RAF Hooton Park, Wirral Peninsula, Cheshire 19-3-49. The pilot had difficulty in retracting the undercarriage shortly after take-off from Hooton Park, due to a faulty undercarriage locking latch. The pilot then selected 'undercarriage down' but the main undercarriage indicator lights did not illuminate, so the pilot had no indication of whether or not the undercarriage was fully 'up' or fully 'down and locked'. On advice from ATC (Air Traffic Control) at Hooton Park, the pilot operated the emergency undercarriage system, which appeared to move the undercarriage to fully 'down and locked'. However, upon touchdown, the starboard undercarriage leg collapsed, and the aircraft sustained damage.

Damage initially assessed as Cat. C (Repairable); not repaired and re-cat E 19-7-49. Struck off charge and broken up for scrap

1. Halley, James (1999). Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents. Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Final Landings: A Summary of RAF Aircraft and Combat Losses 1946 to 1949 by Colin Cummings p.486
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft PA100-RZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain)
4. 611 Sqn RAFVR ORB for the period 1-6-46 to 31-3-57: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR27/2517: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C2505155
5. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/spitfire/p097.html
6. https://allspitfirepilots.org/aircraft/RM924
7. https://www.avialogs.com/spitfire-and-seafire-registry/item/102041-rm924
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/430_Tactical_Helicopter_Squadron#History
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._2_Squadron_RAF#Cold_War_(1945%E2%80%931988)
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._610_Squadron_RAF#Post-war
11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._611_Squadron_RAF#Postwar_operations
12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Hooton_Park#Post-war_operations

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
31-Mar-2023 18:34	Dr. John Smith	Added