Date:	Thursday 3 November 1955
Time:	day
Type:	de Havilland DH.115 Vampire T Mk 11
Owner/operator:	Odiham SF RAF
Registration:	XD539
MSN:	15284
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Frensham Common, 1 mile South of Frensham, Surrey -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Survey
Departure airport:	RAF Odiham, Basingstoke, Hampshire (ODH/EGVO)
Destination airport:	Farnborough, Hampshire (EGLF)
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
de Havilland DH.115 Vampire T.Mk 11 XD539: Delivered 20/7/54. RAF service career was with 54 Squadron, RAF Odiham, and the RAF Odiham Station Flight

Written off (Crashed and destroyed) 3/11/1955: The aircraft had been taking photographs of a Hawker Hunter display team. All the aircraft arrived back at Odiham at the same time and congested the approach frequency. The ATC at Odiham diverted the Vampire to Farnborough but failed to inform the ATC there. Due to low fuel the pilot and passenger were forced to bale out when the engine cut.

XD539 crashed one mile south of Frensham, Surrey, on Frensham Common, between the King's Ridge and the Little Pond (an area now called 'Vampire Flats'*). Both crew ejected safely, but only one (the pilot) has been identified as Pilot Officer Patrick Arthur de Courcy SWOFFER (Service Number 583744). XD539's second crewman was an as-yet unknown US Air Force Cameraman, who was taking the pictures.

*However, several sources also quote that the name refers to the crash of Vampire F.3 VT873 at this location on 21/12/48 (which see)

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.175 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Royal Air Force Aircraft XA100-XZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 2001 p 16)
3. Category Five; A Catalogue of RAF Aircraft Losses 1954 to 2009 by Colin Cummings p.164
4. http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?25349-Vampire-T11-Ejection-Seats
5. http://www.ukserials.com/losses-1955.htm
6. https://ab-ix.co.uk/pdfs/dh115.pdf
7. https://www.pprune.org/aviation-history-nostalgia/321792-6-hunters-ran-out-fuel-1956-a-2.html#post8989488
8. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=XD

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
05-Mar-2013 19:59	Dr. John Smith	Added
05-Mar-2013 20:03	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Destination airport]
06-May-2013 18:41	Nepa	Updated [Operator]
27-Nov-2019 14:24	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Operator]
09-Jan-2020 22:38	stehlik49	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator]
01-Jun-2020 22:50	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]