Date:	Thursday 28 March 1946
Time:	day
Type:	Supermarine Spitfire LF Mk VIIIc
Owner/operator:	3 Sqn RIAF
Registration:	MV436
MSN:	SUP.
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RIAF Kohat, Kohat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, British India -   Pakistan
Phase:	Approach
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RIAF Kohat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, British India (Pakistan)
Destination airport:	RIAF Kohat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, British India (Pakistan)
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
MV436: Spitfire LF.VIII, built at Supermarine Aircraft Ltd at Woolston with Merlin M66 engine. To 9MU RAF Cosford, Shropshire 5-9-44. To 82MU RAF Lichfield, Fradley, Staffordshire 20-9-44 for packing and crating for shipment overseas. Shipped on the SS 'Martaban' and 'LS.2448' 30-10-44, arriving India 8-12-44. To 3 Squadron RIAF. 3 Squadron RIAF was earmarked for conversion to Spitfires in October 1945. Squadron Leader Shivadev Singh handed over command to Squadron Leader O P Mehra on 28-12-45. In the last week of January 1946, 3 Squadron RIAF flew its Spitfires to Yelahanka to complete its conversion. Following the conversion, the unit was moved to RAF Kohat.

Written off (damaged beyond repair) 28-3-46 in a wheels-up landing at RIAF Kohat, Kohat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, British India (Pakistan after the 1947 partition of India). The main cause of the incident was simply pilot error - in that the pilot forgot to lower the undercarriage on final approach, thus wrecking the aircraft in a 'wheels up' belly landing.

A number of RIAF Spitfires were wrecked in 1946-47 due to the pilot simply forgetting to lower the undercarriage on final approach. It is not clear if the reason was down to faulty cockpit drill procedures, a lapse of concentration by the pilot, poor flying training, or (possibly) a combination of all three of these factors.

Crew of Spitfire MV436:
P/O (IN/2123) Pundalik Basawant Rao Pawar (Pilot) RIAF - survived uninjured.

To compound the embarrassment of the pilot, Spitfire MV436 was not even 'his' aircraft. Due to serviceability issues, he had "borrowed" Spitfire MV436, which was the 'usual' aircraft of Squadron Leader O P Mehra, the Commanding Officer of 3 Squadron RIAF at the time.

Despite this setback, the pilot of Spitfire MV436 rose through the ranks to become an Air Commodore in January 1967, and retired at that rank on 1 July 1973.

Spitfire MV436 was not repaired; Struck Off Charge 11-4-46 as Cat. E(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.108
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft MA100-MZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain)
4. 3 Sqn RIAF ORB for the period 1-6-1945 to 31-7-47: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR27/45/41: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8436167
5. "RAF Write-offs 1946": Air Britain Aeromilitaria 1979 p.97: https://air-britain.com/pdfs/aeromilitaria/Aeromilitaria_1979.pdf
6. https://www.rafcommands.com/database/wardead/details.php?qnum=47898
7. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/spitfire/p076.html
8. https://allspitfirepilots.org/aircraft/MV436
9. https://www.avialogs.com/spitfire-and-seafire-registry/item/89960-mv436
10. https://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/Database/Aircraft/MV436
11. https://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/Database/2123
12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._3_Squadron_IAF#Burma_operations (1945-46)
13. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chhatrapati_Shivaji_Maharaj_International_Airport#History

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
06-Jul-2023 19:43	Dr. John Smith	Added
06-Jul-2023 19:48	Dr. John Smith	Updated
06-Jul-2023 21:15	Nepa	Updated
07-Jul-2023 14:13	Dr. John Smith	Updated
16-Sep-2023 14:47	Dr. John Smith	Updated