Date:	Monday 4 November 1946
Time:	day
Type:	Supermarine Spitfire LF.XVI
Owner/operator:	691 Sqn RAF
Registration:	TE287
MSN:	CBAF.11413
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Morte Point Beach, Morte Point, near Mortehoe, Ilfracombe, Devon -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Chivenor, Barnstaple, Devon
Destination airport:

Narrative:
TE287: Spitfire LF.XVI, MSN CBAF 11413. Bulit by CBAF (Castle Bromwich Aircraft Factory) with Merlin M266 engine. To 9MU RAF Cosford Shropshire 27-5-45. To 691 Squadron 5-9-45 at RAF Weston Zoyland, Bridgwater, Somerset. Moved with squadron to RAF Chivenor, Barnstaple, Devon 4-10-46

Written off (destroyed) 4-11-46 engine failed and force-landed on the beach at Morte Point near Mortehoe, Ilfracombe, Devon. The magneto vertical drive shaft in the engine sheared, causing total failure of the ignition system, and therefore engine failure. The pilot made a successful 'wheels up' forced landing on the beach.

Crew of Spitfire TE287
Pilot II S C Williams, RAF (pilot) - survived uninjured

According to some sources, Spitfire TE287 caught fire after landing and was destroyed (burnt out). Morte Point is a peninsula on the north west coast of Devon, England, belonging to the National Trust. To the east is the village of Mortehoe and to the south is the seaside resort of Woolacombe.

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft SA100-VZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1988)
2. Halley, James (1999). Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
3. Final Landings: A Summary of RAF Aircraft and Combat Losses 1946 to 1949 by Colin Cummings p.240
4. ORB 691 Sqn RAF for the period 1-1-1946 to 28-2-1949: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR27/2545: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C2505183
5. "RAF Write offs 1946": Air Britain Aeromilitaria 1979 p.104: https://air-britain.com/pdfs/aeromilitaria/Aeromilitaria_1979.pdf
6. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/spitfire/p111.html
7. https://www.avialogs.com/spitfire-and-seafire-registry/item/90525-te287
8. https://allspitfirepilots.org/aircraft/TE287
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._691_Squadron_RAF
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morte_Point

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
27-May-2023 11:58	Dr. John Smith	Added
27-May-2023 14:31	Dr. John Smith	Updated
12-Sep-2023 12:32	Dr. John Smith	Updated