Date:	Friday 23 July 1948
Time:	day
Type:	Supermarine Spitfire LF Mk XVI
Owner/operator:	203 AFS RAF
Registration:	SL618
MSN:	CBAF IX.4699
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	near Buckfastleigh, Teignbridge, Devon, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Chivenor, Barnstaple, Devon
Destination airport:

Narrative:
Spitfire LF XVI SL618: MSN CBAF IX.4699. Built at CBAF (Castle Bromwich Aircraft Factory) with Merlin M266 engine. Delivered to 29MU RAF High Ercoll, Shropshire 30-8-45. To 61OTU, RAF Keevil, Wiltshire 19-2-46. unit became 203 AFS at RAF Keevil 1-4-47

Written off (damaged beyond repair) when engine failed and aircraft force landed near Buckfastleigh, Teignbridge, Devon 23-7-48. The aircraft had been engaged on a sector reconnaissance, and had been airborne from RAF Chivenor, Barnstaple, Devon for 50 minutes. At this point, 50 minutes into the flight, the engine failed, as a piston seized, and this, in turn, caused a connecting rod to fracture.

The pilot selected a field near Buckfastleigh for a forced landing, but, as the Spitfire was overshooting, he skidded to starboard, and the starboard wing hit the ground first. The Spitfire then ran through a hedge, ripping off the port wing, and coming to a halt after running along the ground for 100 yards after touchdown. The pilot appears to have survived with only minor injuries.

Buckfastleigh is a market town and civil parish in Devon, England situated beside the Devon Expressway (A38) at the edge of the Dartmoor National Park. It is part of Teignbridge and, for ecclesiastical purposes, lies within the Totnes Deanery. It is 18 miles (29 km) east-northeast of Plymouth, 20 miles (32 km) southwest of Exeter

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.413
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft SA100-VZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain)
4. 203 AFS ORB for the period 1-6-47 to 31-12-50: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 29/1771: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C4101481
5. "RAF Write offs 1948": Air Britain Aeromilitaria No.1 1979: https://air-britain.com/pdfs/aeromilitaria/Aeromilitaria_1979.pdf
6. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/spitfire/p099.html
7. https://allspitfirepilots.org/aircraft/SL618
8. https://www.avialogs.com/spitfire-and-seafire-registry/item/90135-sl618
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Chivenor#1946%E2%80%941949
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buckfastleigh

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
20-Aug-2023 01:53	Dr. John Smith	Updated