Avro 683 Lancaster

Belly landed and damaged beyond repair. No casualties.

Following the failure of two engines, the aircraft belly landed at RAF Shepherds Grove and came to rest in flames. While all crew members of the 149th Squadron escaped unhurt, the aircraft was destroyed by fire.

The crew had taken off from RAF Lindholme near Doncaster during the night of the 20th December for a Night Familiarization exercise, this was to have been largely local flying. At just after midnight on the 21st the aircraft was heard flying east over Tintwistle in low cloud, followed by the sound of it crashing. The aircraft burst into flames and was more or less gutted by fire. One of the crewmen had survived the crash and was found alive by the first local residents to reach the crash site but he died shortly afterwards. The recorded details of the crash are very brief but they state that the aircraft was meant to remain in the area around Lindholme but had strayed too far towards the west without the pilot becoming aware. He had begun his let down procedure when the aircraft flew into the hill.
Crew (230th OCU):
F/Sgt Jack Sherwood Thompson, pilot,
F/Lt Peter Maurice Maskell, navigator,
F/Sgt Robert Smith, signaller,
F/Sgt Vincent Graham, flight engineer,
Sgt William Allen Love, signaller,
F/Lt Thomas Iowerth Johnson, instructor,
F/Sgt David William Henry Harris, instructor.
Source:
http://www.peakdistrictaircrashes.co.uk/pages/peakdistrict/peakdistrictpa411.htm

The tail wheel broke off on landing at Ikeja Airport, Lagos. There were no casualties among the 7 crew members of the 82nd Squadron but the aircraft was considered as damaged beyond repair.

Crashed on approach for unknown reason 5,5 miles from the airfield. There were no casualties.

The crew from the 49th Squadron was completing a local training sortie in RAF Upwood. For unknown reason, the aircraft landed hard, bounced and lost its undercarriage. It then slid for several yards before coming to rest. All four crew members were uninjured while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

While cruising at an altitude of 1,300 feet in marginal weather conditions, the aircraft hit the slope of a mountain located on the Island of Montecristo. All seven crew members were killed. They were performing a flight from Malta-Luqa to RAF Newquay-Saint Mawgain, Cornwall.

The crew was completing a training sortie in RAF Kinloss. The final approach was completed in heavy cross winds (up to 50 knots) and during the last segment, the captain decided to abandon the landing procedure and started a go around maneuver. During initial climb, while at a height of 250 feet, the four engine aircraft went out of control and crashed in a huge explosion. All eight crew members were killed.

The crew was performing a training sortie in RAF Lindholme. On final approach with one engine voluntarily inoperative, the pilot was unable to lower the undercarriage. The crew decided to go around when the aircraft stalled and hit the runway surface, crashing on its belly. There were no injuries but the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

The crew (236th OCU) was engaged in a night training sortie from RAF Kinloss. While flying in the vicinity of Tain, the aircraft went out of control and crashed in flames in a prairie. All five crew members were injured while the aircraft was destroyed.