ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 345153
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| Date: | Friday 23 May 1947 |
| Time: | day |
| Type: |  Supermarine Spitfire LF Mk VIII |
| Owner/operator: | AFS RIAF |
| Registration: | MV459 |
| MSN: | SUP. |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Markanda River, Mullana, 10 miles from RIAF Ambala, Haryana -
 India
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RIAF Ambala, Ambala Cantt, Haryana |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
MV459: Spitfire LF VIII, built by Vickers Armstrongs (Supermarine) with Merlin M66 engine. To 9MU RAF Cosford, Shropshire 9-9-44. To 222MU RAF North Luffenham 29-9-44 for packing and crating for shipment overseas. Shipped on the ss 'Martaban' and the 'LS.2448' 30-10-44, arriving India 8-12-44. To 8RFU RIAF, then to AFS (Advanced Flying School), RIAF in 1945
Written off (damaged beyond repair) 26-6-47 when engine cut, and aircraft belly-landed in the dried-up bed of the Markanda River, Mullana, 10 miles from RIAF Ambala, Haryana. The camshaft on the starboard "V" of the engine sheared, and the engine failed. The pilot - Pilot Officer (IND/3296) Ulrich Anthony D'Cruz - then made an immediate 'engine out' forced landing into the dried-up river bed of the Markanda River. The pilot apparently survived uninjured. According to an eyewitness:
"Mr. Faqir Chand, who was 75 years old in 2003. He recollected that a Spitfire did crash in that area in the year 1947. The pilot having ‘bailed out’. Faqir Chand recollected that the aircraft did not catch fire or get burnt out and recollected seeing the wreck still half buried in the sand some three years later when he visited the site".
The damaged airframe was rediscovered on 5-2-2003, and was rebuilt to static display standards, See link #6 for the full story, but in short:
"Finding of a wreckage of an old aircraft was reported to the Ambala air base Air Officer Commanding (AOC) Air Commodore S K Sofat by the Ambala Superintendent of Police, Shri Hardeep Singh Doon, late in the evening of 05 Feb 2003. Sofat was AOC Ambala from 01 Oct 2002 to 30 Sep 2003. Immediately a team was sent to the site and pictures were taken. It was established that the wreckage was of a Spitfire aircraft. The AOC then decided to recover the entire wreckage and restore it closest to its original state. It was to be a long tedious process requiring both research and engineering.
=How the Spitfire was Discovered in the river bed=
When some local workers went to a field adjoining the Markanda River to dig the soil for planting watermelon saplings, who could have thought that they would, in their wildest dreams, stumble upon an aircraft. On February 5th, 2003, a group of workers were digging sand from the dry riverbed. After they had dug about four to five feet, they hit something metallic. As they dug further, they found that it was a metal part that could be of an aircraft. Seeing this, crowds started gathering, and soon the police were in the picture. The Superintendent of Police, soon cordoned the area and called up the airbase commander about what they had found. He asked the AOC if the aircraft belonged to the station. The AOC immediately asked for the exact location. He realised that the location was close to a satellite base of the station at Kalpi, and immediately spoke to the commanding officer (CO) of the satellite base, Wing Commander JJS Panwar, and directed him to visit the site. After the site visit, the CO informed that it was some old vintage aircraft. As it was getting dark, so it was decided to start the recovery next morning. AOC visited the site along with Wing Cdr Panwar and his team on February 6, 2003. It was now established that the aircraft could be a Spitfire.
=Project Excavation=
Personnel from the local Squadron based at Kalpi, were pressed into service to extricate the wreckage. The operation was led by Wing Cdr Panwar and coordinated by Flying Officer Shareni Satani. Care was taken not to damage any part. As the excavation progressed the full aircraft started becoming visible. Many parts had separated. The wings, cockpit, piston engine, fuselage and tail were pulled out. Soon, part by part, the entire aircraft could be pulled out.
Operations on February 7th ran into trouble because the team could not free the aircraft from the mud and silt. It was clear that more digging and more excavation was required before the aircraft could be lifted off. The initial plan to ‘lift’ the aircraft with ropes had to be abandoned as the ropes started cutting into the airframe and damaging it. The next plan was to dig a ramp from a distance so that the wreckage could be pushed onto the tractor trailers.
On February 8th, Panwar’s team made an artificial ramp with iron girders and wooden planks (in Punjabi Ballies) to pull out the wreckage. Two auto-movers and three tractors were also pressed into service. The team dismantled the wreckage and separated the cockpit, piston engine and the tail from the body. The wreckage was then successfully pushed into auto movers. The entire aircraft was finally moved to the trailer. It was a tough task, but the team from Kalpi did an excellent job. The entire crowd present at the site cheered once the job was completed. The entire wreckage, part by part, was moved to Air Force station Ambala for further examination.
=Decision to Rebuild=
The AOC called Wing Cdr Shrivatava, the CO of 41 R&SU (Repair and Salvage Unit) to his office. The unit was located at Ambala itself. The officer had already looked at all the wreckage brought to the station. He asked him about his analysis of the Spitfire parts that had been retrieved and whether they had the expertise to rebuild it. Shrivatava was quick to say that it was possible. The entire wreckage was then moved into the 41 R&SU Hangar".
Mullana is a town, near city of Ambala in Ambala district in the state of Haryana, India, located on the border with the state of Punjab and in proximity of the state capital Chandigarh.
Sources:
1. Final Landings: A Summary of RAF Aircraft and Combat Losses 1946 to 1949 by Colin Cummings p.305
2. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/spitfire/p077.html
3. https://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/Database/Aircraft/MV459
4. https://www.avialogs.com/spitfire-and-seafire-registry/item/89970-mv459
5. https://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/Database/Aircraft/MV459
6. https://airpowerasia.com/2020/07/15/resurrecting-the-super-marine-spitfire-mv-459-at-air-force-station-ambala-india/
7. https://www.warbirdsofindia.com/haryana/ambala/supermarine-spitfire-mv459/
8. https://www.key.aero/forum/historic-aviation/89172-spitfire-mv459-properly-restored
9. https://www.aviationmuseum.eu/Blogvorm/supermarine-spitfires/
10. https://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/Database/3296
11. https://allspitfirepilots.org/aircraft/MV459
12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambala_Air_Force_Station#History
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 02-Sep-2023 01:48 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
| 02-Sep-2023 09:07 | Nepa | Updated |
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