Date:	Tuesday 22 July 1947
Time:	night
Type:	North American Harvard T Mk 2B
Owner/operator:	7 FTS RAF
Registration:	KF654
MSN:	14A-2354
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RAF Kirton-in-Lindsey, Lincolnshire, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Approach
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Kirton-in-Lindsey, Lincolnshire
Destination airport:	RAF Kirton-in-Lindsey, Lincolnshire

Narrative:
North American Harvard KF654 (MSN 14A-2354): Written off (destroyed) 22 July 1947 when crashed on approach to Kirton-in Lindsey during heavy rainstorm and Destroyed by Fire.

While approaching RAF Kirton-in-Lindsay for a night landing, the Harvard ran into an exceptionally heavy rainstorm. While turning onto final approach to Kirton-in-Lindsay, the pilot lost control, and the aircraft dived into the ground, catching fire on impact. The Belgian pilot was killed.

Crew of Harvard KF654
Sergeant (5950) Andre Van Der Punte (Pilot) Royal Belgian Air Force - killed on active service 22.7.47, buried at Ledeberg Cemetery Ghent, East Flanders (Oost-Vlaanderen), Belgium.

The subsequent Board of Inquiry concluded that the cause of the accident was that the elevator trim tabs had been set to the 'fully up' position, and this would have made any attempt to recover from a dive extremely difficult.

Unusually, as the pilot was buried in Belgium, and therefore has a recognised grave, it seems that the CWGC (Commonwealth War Grave Commission) were not informed; they list him on the Runnymede Memorial, which is reserved for military personnel who have "no known grave".

The incident was the first of two involving the same aircraft type (NA Harvard) of the same unit (7 FTS) and at the same location (RAF Kiton-in-Lindsay) and at night, on consecutive dates: see also the crash of Harvard FX259 on 23-7-47

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Last Take Off; A Catalogue of RAF Aircraft Losses 1950 to 1953 by Colin Cummings p.323
3. The Harvard File (John F Hamlin, Air Britain, 1988).
4. ORB 7 FTS RAF: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR29/1817: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C4101527
5. https://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?24560-470722-Unaccounted-Airmen-22-07-1947&p=142538#post142538
6. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/158290916/andre-van_de_putte
7. https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/1532406/a-van-de-putte/
8. https://www.hangarflying.eu/erfgoedsites/graf-van-sergeant-vlieger-andre-van-de-putte-harvard-kf654/
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._7_Flying_Training_School_RAF#Second_formation
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Kirton_in_Lindsey#RAF_Fighter_Command_use

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
12-May-2023 19:23	Dr. John Smith	Added
12-May-2023 19:24	Dr. John Smith	Updated
12-May-2023 20:09	Nepa	Updated