Date:	Friday 11 October 1946
Time:	day
Type:	Supermarine Spitfire F Mk XVIIIe
Owner/operator:	1 SFTS RIAF
Registration:	MT766
MSN:	6S 479801
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RIAF Peshawar, Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, British India -   Pakistan
Phase:	Landing
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RIAF Ambala, Ambala Cantt, Haryana, India
Destination airport:	RIAF Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, British India

Narrative:
MT873: Spitfire LF. VIIIe, MSN 6S 479801. Built at Vickers Armstrongs (Supermarine) at Woolston, Southampton with Merlin M66 engine. To 9MU RAF Cosford. Shropshire 18-8-44. To 215MU RAF Locharbriggs, Dumfries 26-9-44 for packing and crating for overseas shipment. Shipped on the ss 'Martaban' and the 'LS.2448', 30-10-44 arriving India 8-12-44. To 81 Squadron, Alipore, India, coded 'FL-D' by May 1945. 81 Squadron arrived at Alipore, India in December 1943, equipped with more modern Spitfire VIII, starting operations in January 1944, flying fighter and ground attack missions in support of the Second Battle of Arakan and the Battle of Imphal as part of the RAF Third Tactical Air Force. It was withdrawn to Ceylon (Sri Lanka) in August 1944 and disbanded on 20-6-45

To 1 SFTS RIAF Ambala, Ambala Cantt, Haryana, India on or after 20-6-45 when 81 Squadron RAF disbanded.

Written off (damaged beyond repair) 11-10-46 when flaps failed on approach, and aircraft overshot landing; undercarriage raised to stop RIAF Peshawar, Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, British India. The flaps on Spitfire MT766 were unserviceable due to a leak on the air pressure system. The pilot approach RIAF Peshawar too fast, and after touchdown, the pilot retracted the undercarriage in order to facilitate an emergency stop.

The incident was the second landing accident at RIAF Peshawar involving a Spitfire in the space of two days: Spitfire MT873 had crashed at the same airfield the previous day (see separate entry)

The subsequent Board of Inquiry deemed that pilot error was responsible. The pilot had only 29 flying hours on Spitfires, and had received no instruction whatsoever on flapless landing procedures

Not repaired: Struck Off Charge 31-10-46 as Cat. E(FA)

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.230
3. Air-Britain Royal Air Force Aircraft MA100-MZ999
4. 81 Sqn RAF ORB for the period 1-6-1946 to 31-12-1949: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR27/2435: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C2505073
5. "RAF Write-offs 1946": Air Britain Aeromilitaria 1979 p.103: https://air-britain.com/pdfs/aeromilitaria/Aeromilitaria_1979.pdf
6. https://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/Database/Aircraft/MT766
7. https://www.avialogs.com/spitfire-and-seafire-registry/item/89750-mt766
8. https://allspitfirepilots.org/aircraft/MT766
9. [photo of MT766 as FL-D of 81 Sqn, May 1945]: https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/raf-ww2-spitfire-mt766-81-squadron-518632270
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._81_Squadron_RAF#Second_World_War
11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacha_Khan_International_Airport

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
29-May-2023 13:10	Dr. John Smith	Added
31-May-2023 12:14	Dr. John Smith	Updated
02-Jun-2023 20:32	Nepa	Updated
13-Sep-2023 11:26	Dr. John Smith	Updated