Date:	Friday 20 August 1954
Time:	day
Type:	de Havilland DH.115 Vampire T Mk 11
Owner/operator:	9 FTS RAF
Registration:	XD530
MSN:	15278
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Lower Burrow Farm, 4.5 miles east of Merryfield, Somerset -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Initial climb
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	RAF Merryfield, Ilton, Somerset
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
De Havilland Vampire T.11 XD530: Delivered 24/5/54. RAF Service (just four months) was with 10 FTS and 9 FTS, RAF

Written off (destroyed) 20/8/54: The aircraft had at first attempted to make a landing at RNAS Yeovilton, but overshot the runway on approach. It then crashed into rising ground at Lower Burrow Farm, four and a half miles east of Merryfield, Ilton, near Ilchester, Somerset, while on final approach and in conditions of poor visibility. The cause of the crash was never established.

The aircraft first came to earth in a Farmer's field owned by Mr. W.J. Aplin of Lower Burrow Farm, and created a small crater due to the force of its impact into the ground. The Vampire then skidded along the ground for a further 100 yards, before bursting through a hedge and finally coming to rest in an orchard.

Witnesses at the inquest, held at RAF Merryfield, said that the aircraft appeared to be on fire when it crashed, and then exploded. Evidence given to the Coroner at the Inquest by Flight Lieutenant Taylor said that the pilot had 250 hours' flying experience in total, of which 43 of them were in jet aircraft. Although it was the pilot's first solo flight in a Vampire T.11, it was believed that the pilot was competent to undertake such a flight.

The Coroner (Mr. D J Cooper) recorded a verdict of "accidental dearth", and added "that it was not clear from the evidence presented when happened to the 'plane, and it was difficult to know why it lost height and crashed, apparently out of control"

Crew of DH Vampire XD530:
Pilot Officer George Moreton Carthew, RAF (Pilot, Service Number 4113239, aged 21) - killed on active service 20/8/54, buried at Ilton, near Ilchester, Somerset

1. Chard & Ilminster News - 21 August 1954
2. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.162 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft XA100-WZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 2001 p.16)
4. Category Five; A Catalogue of RAF Aircraft Losses 1954 to 2009 by Colin Cummings p.83
5. Wings Over Somerset: Aircraft Crashes since the End of World War II By Peter Forrester
6. National Archives (PRO Kew) File BT233/227: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C424348
7. http://www.planetrace.co.uk/1950-1959_26.html
8. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=XD
9. https://www.ab-ix.co.uk/pdfs/dh115.pdf
10. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/_DH115%20prodn%20list.txt
11. http://www.ukserials.com/losses-1954.htm
12. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/39888/supplement/3343/data.pdf .

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
28-Feb-2013 20:47	Dr. John Smith	Added
06-Mar-2013 11:22	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Aircraft type]
25-Dec-2018 20:56	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Nature, Operator]
09-Jan-2020 18:47	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
09-Jan-2020 21:00	stehlik49	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Operator]
18-Apr-2020 22:57	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Operator, Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
19-Apr-2020 08:22	Investig	Updated [Operator, Location, Operator]
19-Apr-2020 23:17	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Operator, Source, Narrative]
19-Apr-2020 23:22	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]
20-Apr-2020 08:29	Investig	Updated [Operator, Operator]