Date:	Wednesday 18 September 1946
Time:	day
Type:	Supermarine Spitfire F Mk VIII
Owner/operator:	6 Sqn RIAF
Registration:	MD387
MSN:	CHA.
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RIAF Ranchi, Jharkhand -   India
Phase:	Take off
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RIAF Ranchi, Jharkhand, India
Destination airport:	RIAF Ranchi, Jharkhand, India

Narrative:
MD387: Spitfire LF.VIII, built by Vickers Armstrongs (Supermarine) at Chattis Hill, with Merlin M66 engine. To 6MU RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire 4-3-44. To 82MU RAF Lichfield 15-3-44 for packing and crating for overseas shipment. Shipped in the SS 'Benreoch' 29-3-44, arriving India 12-5-44. To 3 RFU, then to 6 Squadron, RIAF by 1-11-45.

Written off (damaged beyond repair) 18-9-46: Port tyre burst on take-off and the pilot decided to make a 'wheels up' belly-landing on the grass alongside the runway at RIAF Ranchi, Jharkhand, India, upon return to base.

Crew of Spitfire MD387:
P/O (IND/3063) Trevor Reginald Peters (Pilot) RIAF - survived with minor injuries (cuts and bruises)

Not repaired; Struck Off Charge 24-4-47 as Cat. E(FA)

The pilot of Spitfire MD387 survived this accident, but was killed on 31-10-47 in the crash of Douglas C-47 Dakota MA965 at Pir Panjal, India (see separate entry). He had previously been at the controls of Spitfire TZ163 when it crashed at RIAF Ranchi, Jharkhand on 8-11-46 (see separate entry).

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.219
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft MA100-MZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain)
4. 6 Sqn RIAF ORB for the period 1-11-1945 to 30-4-47: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 27/96/15: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8407238
5. "RAF Write-offs 1946": Air Britain Aeromilitaria 1979 p.103: https://air-britain.com/pdfs/aeromilitaria/Aeromilitaria_1979.pdf
6. https://www.avialogs.com/spitfire-and-seafire-registry/item/89531-md387
7. https://allspitfirepilots.org/aircraft/MD387
8. https://www.rafcommands.com/database/serials/details.php?uniq=MD387
9. http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/Database/3063
10. https://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?24909-471031-Unaccounted-Airmen-31-10-1947&highlight=Peters&p=144346#post144346
11. https://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/Database/Aircraft/MD387
12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birsa_Munda_Airport

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
02-Jun-2023 14:22	Dr. John Smith	Added
02-Jun-2023 17:09	Nepa	Updated
07-Jun-2023 20:26	Dr. John Smith	Updated
13-Sep-2023 13:30	Dr. John Smith	Updated