Date:	Wednesday 30 July 1947
Time:	day
Type:	Supermarine Spitfire F Mk XIV
Owner/operator:	AFS RIAF
Registration:	NH759
MSN:	6S 583897
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RIAF Ambala, Ambala Cantt, Haryana -   India
Phase:	Landing
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RIAF Ambala, Ambala Cantt, Haryana, India
Destination airport:	RIAF Ambala, Haryana, India
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
NH759; Spitfire FR XIV, MSN 6S 583897. Built by Vickers Armstrongs (Supermarine) at Aldermaston with Griffon G65 engine. To 6MU RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire 3-3-45. To 76MU RAF Wroughton, Wiltshire 14-9-45 for packing and crating for shipment overseas. Shipped on the SS 'Ocean Viceroy' 24-9-45, arriving India 30-10-45. To AFS (Advanced Flying School), RIAF Ambala, Ambala Cantt, Haryana, India in 1946.

Written off (damaged beyond repair) 30-7-47 when tyre burst on take-off. The Spitfire managed to take off normally, but the pilot was instructed by ATC to belly-land the Spitfire back at RIAF Ambala, Ambala Cantt, Haryana, India. The belly landing caused severe damage to the underside of the aircraft as it slid along the runway before coming to a halt. The pilot was apparently uninjured

Crew of Spitfire NH759
Pilot officer (IND/3314) Mohammad Zafar Masud RIAF (Pilot, then aged 20)

The incident seems to have done no harm to the pilot's career; after the partition of India in 1947, Zafar Masud opted for Pakistan and thus became (at 21 years of age) the youngest member of the newly formed Royal Pakistan Air Force. He rose through the ranks to become an Air Commodore, retired from the Pakistan Air Force on 8-9-71 and died on 7-10-2003 (at 76 Years age)

Damage assessed as Cat E 30-7-47. Struck Off Charge 28-8-47 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.325
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft MA100-MZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain)
4. https://www.avialogs.com/spitfire-and-seafire-registry/item/79985-nh759
5. https://www.rafcommands.com/database/serials/details.php?uniq=NH759
6. https://allspitfirepilots.org/aircraft/NH759
7. https://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/Database/Aircraft/NH759
8. https://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/Database/3314
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambala_Air_Force_Station#History

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
30-Aug-2023 01:47	Dr. John Smith	Added
30-Aug-2023 07:45	Nepa	Updated