Date:	Wednesday 12 May 1948
Time:	day
Type:	Supermarine Spitfire FR. XVIII
Owner/operator:	208 Sqn RAF
Registration:	TP334
MSN:	ALD.
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RAF Ramat David, 4 km south of Ramat Yishay, Palestine -   Israel
Phase:	Landing
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Ramat David, Palestine
Destination airport:	RAF Ramat David, Palestine
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
TP334: Spitfire FR. XVIII. Built by Vickers Armstrong (Supermarine) at Aldermaston with Griffon G67 engine. To 39MU RAF Colerne, Chippenham, Wiltshire 18-9-45. To RAF St. Mawgan, Cornwall 10-9-46. To Mediterranean Air Command (Middle East) 31-10-46. To 208 Squadron at Gebel Hauz, Palestine 12-7-47

Written off (damaged beyond repair) 12-5-48 in a wheels-up landing at RAF Ramat David, 4 km south of Ramat Yishay, Palestine. The cause was pilot error; the pilot forgot to lower the undercarriage while on final approach to RAF Ramat David. To compound the error, the Duty Air Traffic Controller either did not notice - or did not alert - the pilot of Spitfire TP334 to the fact that the undercarriage was not "down and locked". The Spitfire landed on the runway at RAF Ramat David with the wheels up, and slid along the runway for some distance, causing severe damage to the underside of the airframe, before finally coming to a halt.

Not repaired; Struck Off Charge 24-6-48 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.393
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft SA100-VZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain 1985)
4. ORB 208 Sqn RAF 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. "RAF Write offs 1948": Air Britain Aeromilitaria No.1 1979: https://air-britain.com/pdfs/aeromilitaria/Aeromilitaria_1979.pdf
6. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/spitfire/p113.html
7. https://allspitfirepilots.org/aircraft/TP334
8. https://www.avialogs.com/spitfire-and-seafire-registry/item/80359-tp334
9. https://www.rafcommands.com/database/serials/details.php?uniq=TP334
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._208_Squadron_RAF#After_World_War_II
11. Oral History of 208 Sqn in 1948-49: https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80032975
12. 208 Squadron Association Newsletter: http://www.naval8-208-association.com/History1945-50Page09.html
13. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramat_David_Airbase#RAF_Ramat_David

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
24-Aug-2023 07:48	Nepa	Updated