Date:	Thursday 10 October 1946
Time:	day
Type:	Supermarine Spitfire LF Mk XVI
Owner/operator:	63 Sqn RAF
Registration:	TE446
MSN:	CBAF IX.4580
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	near Neustadt, Rhineland-Palatinate, BZG, West Germany -   Germany
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
TE446; Spitfire LF XVI, MSN CBAF IX.4580. Built by CBAF (Castle Bromwich Aircraft Factory) with Merlin M266 engine. To 6MU RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire 22-6-45. To MacLarens at HAL (Heston Aircraft Ltd), Heston, Middlesex 7-3-46. To 65 Squadron coded 'YT-B' 4-4-46. To 164 Squadron 29-8-46. After the surrender of Germany in 1945, the 164 Squadron returned to the United Kingdom and was renumbered 63 Squadron RAF on 31-8-46.

Written off (damaged beyond repair) 10-10-46 when crashed near Neustadt, Rhineland-Palatinate, BZG, West Germany, due to engine failure. Several bearings in the Spitfire's Merlin engine failed in flight simultaneously, causing the engine to stop. The pilot - Flight Lieutenant K P Evans - manged to force land Spitfire TE446 in open country near Neustadt, without injury to himself.

Damage assessed as Cat E. Not repaired, Struck Off Charge 10-10-46

Neustadt, now known as Neustadt an der Weinstraße, formerly known as Neustadt an der Haardt) is a town in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The town was given the function of a normal Palatine seat of administration on 8-9-45. In 1946 it became the seat of the Rhineland-Palatinate province (Regierungsbezirk) of the Palatinate.

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.398
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft PA100-RZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain)
4. ORB 63 Sqdn RAF for the period 1-9-1946 to 31-1-1947: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR27/2427/19: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8420234
5. "RAF Write offs 1946": Air Britain Aeromilitaria 1979 p.104: https://air-britain.com/pdfs/aeromilitaria/Aeromilitaria_1979.pdf
6. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/spitfire/p112.html
7. https://allspitfirepilots.org/aircraft/TE446
8. https://www.avialogs.com/spitfire-and-seafire-registry/item/90896-te446
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._65_Squadron_RAF#Post_war
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._164_Squadron_RAF#Background
11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._63_Squadron_RAF#Post-war:_enter_the_jets
12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neustadt_an_der_Weinstra%C3%9Fe#20th_century

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
13-Sep-2023 12:00	Dr. John Smith	Added
13-Sep-2023 17:35	Nepa	Updated