Date:	Sunday 23 June 1946
Time:	afternoon
Type:	Supermarine Spitfire F.VIII
Owner/operator:	1 Sqn RIAF
Registration:	MV403
MSN:	SUP.
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Devi Ahillyabai Holkar, Indore, Madhya Pradesh -   India
Phase:	Landing
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	Yelahanka Airfield, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
Destination airport:	Indore Airfield, Madhya Pradesh, India
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
MV403: Spitfire LF VIII. built by Supermarine Aircraft at Woolston with Merlin M66 engine. To 6MU RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire 1-8-44. To 76MU 8-8-44 for packing and crating for overseas shipment. To 1PATP, and then shipped on the SS 'Avristan' 13-9-44, arriving India 29-10-44. To 67 Squadron RAF which ad re-assembled at Alipore and formed part of the defence of Calcutta, converting to Spitfires in February 1944. The squadron disbanded officially on 23-8-45 at Akyab, but kept its aircraft until the end of the month (31-8-45).

To 1 Squadron RIAF on or after 1-9-45 at Yelahanka Airfield, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India when 67 Squadron disbanded.

Written off (damaged beyond repair) 23-6-46: Undershot landing and overturned Indore Airfield, Devi Ahillyabai Holkar, Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India. The pilot allowed the aircraft to undershoot on approach. The aircraft touched down short of the runway into soft ground, and overturned. The pilot seems to have survived OK

Crew of Spitfire MV403
Flt/Lt (IND/1715) Phiroz Mehta, RIAF (Pilot, aged 24) - survived OK

Damage assessed as Cat. E 23-6-46. Not repaired, formally Struck Off Charge 11-7-46 as Cat. E2(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.167
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft MA100-MZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain)
4. 1 Sqn RIAF ORB for June and July 1946: National Archives (PRO Kew File AIR 27/17/31: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8406311
5. "RAF Write-offs 1946": Air Britain Aeromilitaria 1979 p.100: https://air-britain.com/pdfs/aeromilitaria/Aeromilitaria_1979.pdf
6. https://www.avialogs.com/spitfire-and-seafire-registry/item/89928-mv403
7. https://allspitfirepilots.org/aircraft/MV403
8. https://www.rafcommands.com/database/serials/details.php?uniq=MV403
9. https://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/Database/Aircraft/MV403
10. http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/Database/1715
11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._67_Squadron_RAF#World_War_II
12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._1_Squadron_IAF
13. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devi_Ahilya_Bai_Holkar_Airport#History

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
22-Jun-2023 18:17	Dr. John Smith	Added
23-Jun-2023 17:03	Nepa	Updated
15-Sep-2023 16:24	Dr. John Smith	Updated