Date:	Friday 19 September 1947
Time:	day
Type:	Supermarine Spitfire F Mk XIV
Owner/operator:	17 Sqn RAF
Registration:	RN128
MSN:	CHA.
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Hiroshima Bay, off Hiroshima, Chūgoku region -   Japan
Phase:	Initial climb
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	Yoshijima Airport, Hiroshima, Japan
Destination airport:	Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan

Narrative:
RN128: Spitfire F. XIV. Built by Vickers Armstrong at Chattis Hill with Griffon G65 engine. To 9MU RAF Cosford, Shropshire 5-1-45. To 222MU 19-2-45 for packing and crating for overseas shipment. Shipped on the SS 'Defender' 8-3-45, arriving India 6-4-45. Shipped to Japan 26-9-46. To 17 Squadron RAF in October 1946. In April 1946, No. 17 Squadron arrived in Japan to form part of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force. The squadron remained here until it disbanded on 23 February 1948.

Written off (destroyed) 19-9-47 due to an engine fire on take-off. The aircraft's engine was seen to be emitting white smoke on take-off. The pilot opted to climb the Spitfire to a sufficient altitude in order to bail out. He then bailed out over Hiroshima Bay at an altitude of approx.800 feet

However, possibly due to problems in abandoning the aircraft while it was still climbing, the pilot's parachute did not fully deploy before the pilot struck the sea, sustaining fatal injuries on impact. The cause of the engine problems that led to the fatal incident was never determined, as it proved impossible to recover the wreckage from the deep tidal waters where it crashed

According to the relevant entry in the 17 Squadron ORB (see links #4 and #10):

"In 1947 David Alexander was a pilot in the RAF as part of the Occupation forces in Japan. He was one of the 7 pilots in ‘B’ Flight 17 Squadron RAF. The squadron were conducting normal peacetime training sorties with David flying Spitfire Mk XIV RN128 when the Squadron diary for September 19th 1947 records:

WE WERE ALL SHOCKED TO HEAR OF THE DEATH OF FLYING OFFICER ALEXANDER IN A FLYING ACCIDENT NEAR IWAKUNI. AS YET NEWS IS VERY MEAGRE AND WE ARE WAITING TO HEAR THE FULL FACTS …."

"On the 23rd the diary notes:

SIGNALS HAVE ARRIVED REPORTING THAT FLYING OFFICER ALEXANDER WAS IN FORMATION WHEN HIS AIRCRAFT DEVELOPED ENGINE TROUBLE. HE ATTEMPTED TO GAIN HEIGHT PRIOR TO BALING OUT. HE BALED OUT AND AIRCRAFT CRASHED INTO DEEP WATER, WE STILL DON’T KNOW WHETHER HIS ‘CHUTE OPENED OR NOT.

David was 21 years old"

Crew of Spitfire RN128
F/O (57718) David Hugh ALEXANDER (pilot) RAF - killed on active service 19-9-47: buried at Yokohama War Cemetery, British Section R. C. 15., Yokohama, Japan

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.338
3. Air-Britain Royal Air Force Aircraft PA100-RZ999
4. 17 Sqn RAF ORB for the period 1-4-1946 to 23-2-1948: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR27/2400: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C2505038
5. "RAF Write offs 1947": Air Britain Aeromilitaria No. 1978: https://air-britain.com/pdfs/aeromilitaria/Aeromilitaria_1978.pdf
6. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/spitfire/p097.html
7. https://www.avialogs.com/spitfire-and-seafire-registry/item/102117-rn128
8. https://www.rafcommands.com/database/serials/details.php?uniq=RN128
9. https://allspitfirepilots.org/aircraft/RN128
10. https://blandfordschoolsmemorial.co.uk/flying-officer-david-alexander-17-sqn-raf/
11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._17_Squadron_RAF#Post-War

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
09-May-2023 09:45	Nepa	Updated
29-Aug-2023 16:49	Dr. John Smith	Updated
02-Sep-2023 19:27	Dr. John Smith	Updated