Date:	Thursday 29 August 1946
Time:	day
Type:	Supermarine Spitfire HF Mk IX
Owner/operator:	164 (Argentine-British) Sqn RAF
Registration:	TB548
MSN:	CBAF.
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RAF Middle Wallop, Hampshire, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Standing
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Middle Wallop, Hampshire
Destination airport:

Narrative:
TB548: Spitfire HF. IX. Built by CBAF (Castle Bromwich Aircraft Factory) with Merlin M70 engine. To 30MU RAF Sealand, Flintshire 5-2-45. To 164 (Argentine-British) Squadron RAF Middle Wallop, Hampshire 24-6-45

Written off (damaged beyond repair) 29-8-46 at RAF Middle Wallop, Hampshire; the ground servicing crew was about to undertake ground running of the engine. They started the Spitfire's engine using incorrect procedures, causing the aircraft to 'jump forward' and then tip onto its nose.

Damage initially assessed as Cat. B (Repairable) "GACB - Ground Accident Cat. B" as per the aircraft's record card - but re-cat E2 and Struck Off Charge 13-11-46. The fact that 164 Squadron RAF disbanded two days later at Middle Wallop on 31-8-46 (by being renumbered 63 Squadron) may have also been a factor in the decision not to repair TB548.

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.206
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft SA100-VZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain)
4. "RAF Write-offs 1946": Air Britain Aeromilitaria 1979 p.103: https://air-britain.com/pdfs/aeromilitaria/Aeromilitaria_1979.pdf
5. 164 Sqn RAF ORB for the period 1-4-1942 to 31-8-1946: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR27/1085/67: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8390557
6. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/spitfire/p108.html
7. https://www.avialogs.com/spitfire-and-seafire-registry/item/80798-tb548
8. https://www.rafcommands.com/database/serials/details.php?uniq=TB548
9. http://www.hampshireairfields.co.uk/hancrash.html
10. https://allspitfirepilots.org/aircraft/TB548
11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._164_Squadron_RAF#Background
12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AAC_Middle_Wallop#RAF_/_RNAS_use

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
08-Jun-2023 16:17	Dr. John Smith	Added
08-Jun-2023 16:19	Dr. John Smith	Updated
08-Jun-2023 16:33	Nepa	Updated
18-Jun-2023 01:38	Dr. John Smith	Updated
14-Sep-2023 16:17	Dr. John Smith	Updated