Date:	Wednesday 13 March 1946
Time:	day
Type:	Supermarine Spitfire F Mk XIV
Owner/operator:	4 CMU RIAF
Registration:	RM982
MSN:	6S 381716
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RAF Dum Dum, Calcutta, West Bengal, Brit.India -   India
Phase:	Approach
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:
Destination airport:	RAF Dum Dum, Calcutta, West Bengal, India
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
RM982: Spitfire XIV, MSN 6S 381716. Built by Vickers Armstrongs (Supermarine) at Chattis Hill with Griffon G65 engine. To 6MU RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire 5-1-45. To 82MU RAF Lichfield, Fradley, Staffordshire 10-1-45 for packing and crating for overseas shipment. To 1PATP, and then shipped on the SS 'Empire Paragon' 12-2-45, arriving India 11-4-45. To 10FU (Ferry Unit) RIAF: caught fire on startup 39SP Hakimpet, Secunderabad, Telangana, India 9-6-45. Cat. C (Repairable) damage. Pilot, Warrant Officer Wood, safe. To 4 CMU (Civilian Maintenance Unit), RIAF later in 1945 after repairs

Written off (destroyed)13-3-46 when spun into the ground from low altitude on approach to Dum Dum Airport, Calcutta (Kolkata), West Bengal (then in British India). At 1,000 feet agl (above ground level) the engine failed due to fuel starvation, caused by a defective fuel pump. The pilot allowed the aircraft's airspeed to decline until it reached the point that the aircraft stalled and dived into the ground. Pilot killed

As reported in a contemporary newspaper cutting:

"RICE - On March 13, 1946, as the result of a flying accident at Calcutta, F/Lt William Terence (Terry) Rice, R.A.F.V.R., Test Pilot, only son of the late Commander W. V. Rice, D.S.O., D.S.C., R.N., and of Mrs Tindall, Little Frankham, Mark Cross, Tunbridge Wells, and brother of Pam, aged 22 years."

Crew of Spitfire RM982:
F/Lt (153103) William Terrance (Terry) Rice (Pilot) RAFVR - killed on active service 13-3-46; Buried at Calcutta (Bhowanipore) Cemetery, Calcutta (Kolkata), India

Not repaired; damage assessed as Cat. E(FA). Struck Off Charge 11-4-46

1. Halley, James (1999). Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents. Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.34. ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Final Landings: A Summary of RAF Aircraft and Combat Losses 1946 to 1949 by Colin Cummings p.98
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft PA100-RZ999 (James J. Halley, Air Britain, 2003 page 77)
4. "RAF Write-offs 1946": Air Britain Aeromilitaria 1979 p.96: https://air-britain.com/pdfs/aeromilitaria/Aeromilitaria_1979.pdf
5. https://allspitfirepilots.org/aircraft/RM982
6. https://www.rafcommands.com/database/serials/details.php?uniq=RM982
7. https://allspitfirepilots.org/aircraft/RM982
8. https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2192079/william-terence-rice/
9. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/18854312/william-terence-rice
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netaji_Subhas_Chandra_Bose_International_Airport#Early_history

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
09-Jul-2023 19:49	Dr. John Smith	Added
10-Jul-2023 20:05	Nepa	Updated
18-Jul-2023 08:29	Nepa	Updated
17-Sep-2023 15:45	Dr. John Smith	Updated