Date:	Thursday 30 May 1946
Time:	day
Type:	Supermarine Spitfire F Mk VIII
Owner/operator:	92 Sqn RAF
Registration:	JF462
MSN:	EA.4266
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Venice Lagoon, 4.5 miles off Venice, Metropolitan City of Venice -   Italy
Phase:	Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.)
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	Treviso, Province of Treviso, Veneto Region
Destination airport:	Zeltweg, Styria, Austria
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
JF462: Spitfire LF. VIII, MSN EA.4266. Built by Vickers Armstrong (Supermarine) at Eastleigh, Hampshire with Merlin M66 engine. First Flown 30-4-43. To 9MU RAF Cosford Shropshire 3-5-43. To 88MU Meikle Ferry, near RAF Tain 24-5-43 for packing and crating for shipment overseas. Shipped on the SS 'R.702' 7-6-43, arriving Casablanca, Morocco 15-6-43. To North West Africa 1-7-43. To Middle East 1-9-43. Returned to North West Africa 1-11-43. To MAAF (Mediterranean Allied Air Force). To 145 Squadron in Italy by 21-6-45. To 92 Squadron on or after 19-8-45 when 145 Squadron disbanded in Italy

Written off (destroyed) 30-5-46 when crashed into the sea (Venice Lagoon) during aerobatics four-and-a-half miles South of Venice, Italy 30-5-46

Crew of Spitfire JF462:
Flying Officer (198046) Dennis Stephen Mannion, RAF VR (pilot, aged 24) - killed on active service 30-5-46, buried at Padua War Cemetery, Padua, Italy

He was killed whilst flying in Spitfire VIII, JF462 of No 92 Sqn, which crashed into the sea off Venice during unauthorised low-level aerobatics. He is buried in Padua War Cemetery

NOTE: The serial number of the Spitfire involved was JF462, and not, despite some published sources, JN642. (No Spitfires had serials beginning "JN...", and the numbers "462" have been transposed as "642"). Additionally, the serial JN642 was allocated to a Miles Master TT.1 (one of a batch of serials between JN634 to JN682).

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.153
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft MA100-MZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain)
4. 92 Sqn RAF ORB for May 1946: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR27/747/23: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8455626
5. "RAF Write-offs 1946": Air Britain Aeromilitaria 1979 p.99: https://air-britain.com/pdfs/aeromilitaria/Aeromilitaria_1979.pdf
6. https://allspitfirepilots.org/pilots/1637-denis-mannion
7. https://allspitfirepilots.org/aircraft/JF462
8. https://www.avialogs.com/spitfire-and-seafire-registry/item/88777-jf462
9. https://www.rafcommands.com/database/serials/details.php?uniq=JF462
10. https://www.rafcommands.com/database/wardead/details.php?qnum=28451
11. CWGC: https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2817410/denis-stephen-mannion/
12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._145_Squadron_RAF
13. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._92_Squadron_RAF#Cold_War
14. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treviso_Airport
15. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venetian_Lagoon#Location

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
25-Jun-2023 14:24	Dr. John Smith	Added
26-Jun-2023 00:49	Dr. John Smith	Updated
26-Jun-2023 08:51	Nepa	Updated
27-Jun-2023 13:19	Dr. John Smith	Updated
16-Sep-2023 09:55	Dr. John Smith	Updated