Date:	Monday 3 June 1946
Time:	afternoon
Type:	Supermarine Spitfire LF Mk VIII
Owner/operator:	92 Sqn RAF
Registration:	MT715
MSN:	6S 479766
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Treviso, Province of Treviso, Veneto Region -   Italy
Phase:	Take off
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:
MT715: Spitfire LF.VIII, MSN 6S 479766. Built by Vickers Armstrongs (Supermarine) at Eastleigh, Hampshire with Merlin M66 engine. To 9MU RAF Cosford, Shropshire 15-6-44. To 52MU 24-6-44 for crating and packing for overseas shipment. Shipped on the ss 'Samsturdy' 30-6-44, arriving Casablanca. Morocco 13-7-44. To 145 Squadron in Italy by 31-8-44. To 92 Squadron on or after 19-8-45 when 145 Squadron disbanded in Italy

Written off (damaged beyond repair) 3-6-46 when the ASI (Air Speed Indicator) failed during the takeoff run, pilot abandoned take off and undercarriage raised to facilitate an emergency stop at Treviso, Province of Treviso, Veneto Region Italy 3-6-46. Pilot - Flying Officer Hedger - safe

The subsequent Board of Inquiry discovered that the cause of the faulty ASI (Air Speed Indicator) was that the pressure tube had become blocked by insects nesting in the airway of the pitot tube. The Board of Inquiry also stated that the pilot should have been better able to judge the aircraft's airspeed manually, and therefore reproved (reprimanded) the pilot for abandoning the takeoff and causing "the loss of His Majesty's Aircraft MT715". The ground crew were also reproved (reprimanded) for failure to check that the ASI was serviceable, and free of contamination by insects.

Not repaired; Struck Off Charge 25-7-46 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.165
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft MA100-MZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain)
4. 92 Sqn RAF ORB for June 1946: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR27/747/35: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8455628
5. "RAF Write-offs 1946": Air Britain Aeromilitaria 1979 p.100: https://air-britain.com/pdfs/aeromilitaria/Aeromilitaria_1979.pdf
6. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/spitfire/p074.html
7. https://allspitfirepilots.org/aircraft/MT715
8. https://www.avialogs.com/spitfire-and-seafire-registry/item/89712-mt715
9. http://rafcommands.com/database/serials/details.php?uniq=MT715
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._145_Squadron_RAF
11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._92_Squadron_RAF#Cold_War
12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treviso_Airport

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
25-Jun-2023 15:45	Dr. John Smith	Added
25-Jun-2023 16:37	Nepa	Updated
26-Jun-2023 00:51	Dr. John Smith	Updated
16-Sep-2023 09:47	Dr. John Smith	Updated