Date:	Thursday 13 February 1947
Time:	day
Type:	Supermarine Spitfire FR Mk XIV
Owner/operator:	AFS RIAF
Registration:	MV371
MSN:	6S 585093
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	near Nizampur, Panipat, 8 miles WNW of RIAF Ambala, Haryana -   India
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RIAF Ambala, Ambala Cantt, Haryana, India
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
MV371: Spitfire FR XIV, MSN 6S 585093. Built by Vickers Armstrong (Supermarine) at Kevil, Trowbridge, Wiltshire with Griffon G65 engine. To 39MU RAF Colerne, Chippenham, Wiltshire 5-2-45. To 82MU RAF Lichfield, Fradley, Staffordshire 19-6-45 for packing and crating for shipment overseas. Shipped on the ss 'Empire Gambia' 5-8-45, arriving India 30-8-45. To AFS (Advanced Flying School), RIAF at RIAF Ambala, Ambala Cantt, Haryana, India

Written off (damaged beyond repair) 13-2-47: Engine cut and aircraft belly-landed near Nizampur, Panipat, 8 miles WNW of RIAF Ambala, Ambala Cantt, Haryana. The forced belly landing severely damaged the fuselage of Spitfire MV371 due to the aircraft sliding along rough ground at high speed before coming to a halt.

Crew of Spitfire MV371
Flying Officer (IND/3001) Masroor Hosain, RIAF (pilot, then aged 24) - survived OK. At the time he was the senior flying instructor at the AFS at RIAF Ambala. After the partition of British India in October 1947, he opted to join the newly instigated Pakistan Air Force

The pilot was born on 29-12-1922, was commissioned on 4-9-44, and rose through the ranks to become an Air Commodore. Air Commodore Masroor Hosain was the Base Commander of PAF Mauripur in Pakistan. He was killed on 23-5-1967 by a large bird (reportedly a Vulture) which hit his B-57 jet bomber at low level over Maripur, Karachi, Pakistan. PAF Maripur was renamed Masroor Air base in his memory (see separate entry)

Damage assessed as Cat E 13-2-47; Struck Off Charge 27-3-47

Nizampur is a village in Panipat district of Haryana, India. It is located six kilometers north of district headquarter Panipat and 169 kilometers from state capital Chandigarh. It is surrounded by Chandoli Village from East, by HUDA sector 40 from west, by Eldeco estate from North and Ansal and HUDA Sector 18 from south

NOTE: One published source (see link #1) asserts that Spitfire MV371 was wrecked in a taxying accident at RIAF Ambala in a ground collision with a parked up and stationery NA Harvard T.2b.

1. Final Landings: A Summary of RAF Aircraft and Combat Losses 1946 to 1949 by Colin Cummings p.269
2. Royal Air Force Aircraft MA100-NZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain)
3. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/spitfire/p076.html
4. https://www.rafcommands.com/database/serials/details.php?uniq=MV371
5. https://www.avialogs.com/spitfire-and-seafire-registry/item
6. https://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/Database/Aircraft/MV371
7. https://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/Database/3001
8. https://allspitfirepilots.org/aircraft/MV371
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambala_Air_Force_Station#History
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nizampur,_Panipat

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
07-Sep-2023 00:15	Dr. John Smith	Added
07-Sep-2023 08:08	Nepa	Updated