Date:	Tuesday 31 August 1948
Time:
Type:	Avro Lincoln B Mk 2
Owner/operator:	44 Sqn RAF
Registration:	RF419
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 9
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	1/2 mile west of RAF Wyton, St. Ives, Cambridgeshire, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Landing
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Wyton, St. Ives, Cambridgeshire
Destination airport:	RAF Wyton, St. Ives, Cambridgeshire

Narrative:
Avro Lincoln B.2 RF419, 44 Squadron RAF: Written off (damaged beyond repair) 31-8-49 when belly landed half a mile West of RAF Wyton, St. Ives, Cambridgeshire

The Avro Lincoln was on a night training sortie with nine persons on board; the 'usual' crew of seven, plus two Air Training Corps Cadets on a night 'Air Experience' training flight. The pilot initiated an overshoot on final approach, but the aircraft lost altitude too rapidly. Despite the pilot checking the rate of descent, the aircraft struck the ground hard, damaging the propellers on three engines. The aircraft then bounced on touchdown, became airborne again, and then was belly landed close to the runway at RAF Wyton after the undercarriage collapsed on the second touchdown.

All nine persons on board were uninjured. The subsequent Board of Inquiry attributed the incident to the inexperience of the pilot; he had only flown 21 hours in total, of which only 2 were on Avro Lincolns.

1. Halley, James (1999). Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents. Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.25. ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Final Landings: A Summary of RAF Aircraft and Combat Losses 1946 to 1949 by Colin Cummings p.425
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft PA100-RZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain 1985)
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_accidents_and_incidents_involving_the_Avro_Lincoln
5. 44 Sqn RAF ORB for August 1948: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR27/2414/27: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8439260
6. https://www.rafcommands.com/database/serials/details.php?uniq=RF419
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._44_Squadron_RAF#Cold_War_(1946%E2%80%931982)
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Wyton#History

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