Date:	Thursday 14 July 1949
Time:	day
Type:	Supermarine Spitfire FR Mk XVIII
Owner/operator:	208 Sqn RAF
Registration:	TP292
MSN:	6S 676384
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Great Bitter Lake near Abu Sultan, Fayid Ismailia Governate -   Egypt
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Fayid, Suez Canal Zone, Egypt
Destination airport:	Deversoir Air Base (LG-209) Ismailia, Egypt
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
TP292; Spitfire FR XVIII, MSN 6S 676384. Built by Vickers Armstrongs (Supermarine) at Aldermaston with Griffon G65 engine. To 6MU RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire 16-7-45. Allocated to MAAF (Mediterranean Allied Air Force Middle East) 24-8-46. To 109MU RAF Fayid, Egypt 6-5-48. To 208 Squadron RAF Fayid, Suez Canal Zone, Egypt 9-12-48

Written off (destroyed) 14-7-49 in mid-air collision with Spitfire TP450 (also of 208 Squadron); Spitfire TP292 crashed into the north west corner of the Great Bitter Lake, near Abu Sultan (Abou Sultan أبو سلطان) Fayid Ismailia Governorate Egypt. The two aircraft collided when Spitfire TP292 was making a mock "reverse quarter" attack on Spitfire TP450, and the pilot of Spitfire TP292 failed to break away from the mock attack in time to prevent a collision. The pilots of both aircraft were killed.

Pilot of Spitfire TP292
F/O Frederick William Jelley (pilot) RAF- killed on active service 14-7-49

The Great Bitter Lake (Arabic: البحيرة المرة الكبرى; transliterated: al-Buḥayrah al-Murra al-Kubrā) is a large saltwater lake in Egypt that is part of the Suez Canal. Before the canal was built in 1869, the Great Bitter Lake was a dry salt valley or basin. References are made to the Great Bitter Lake in the ancient Pyramid Texts.

The Suez Canal connects the Great Bitter Lake to the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. The canal also connects it to the Small Bitter Lake (Arabic: البحيرة المرة الصغرى; transliterated: al-Buhayrah al-Murra as-Sughra).

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.514
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft SA100-VZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain 1985)
4. 208 Sqn RAF ORB for the period 1-1-1946 to 31-12-1949: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR27/2465: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C2505103
5. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/spitfire/p113.html
6. https://allspitfirepilots.org/aircraft/TP292
7. https://www.avialogs.com/spitfire-and-seafire-registry/item/80331-tp292
8. https://www.rafcommands.com/database/serials/details.php?uniq=TP292
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._208_Squadron_RAF#After_World_War_II
10. Oral History of 208 Sqn in 1948-49: https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80032975
11. 208 Squadron Association Newsletter: http://www.naval8-208-association.com/History1945-50Page09.html
12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Bitter_Lake

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
06-Aug-2023 19:03	Dr. John Smith	Added
06-Aug-2023 20:08	Nepa	Updated