Date:	Thursday 7 February 1946
Time:	day
Type:	Short Stirling Mk V
Owner/operator:	46 (Uganda) Sqn RAF
Registration:	PK158
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 4
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RAF Stoney Cross, 4 miles northwest of Lyndhurst, Hampshire -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Landing
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Lyneham, Wiltshire
Destination airport:	RAF Stoney Cross, Lyndhurst, Hampshire

Narrative:
Short Stirling Mk. V PK158 ("LP-W") 46 (Uganda) Squadron, RAF: Written off (damaged beyond repair) 7 February 1946 when Undershot landing at RAF Stoney Cross, 4 miles (6.4 km) northwest of Lyndhurst, Hampshire.

The aircraft was making a three-engine approach to RAF Stoney Cross, with the port outer engine feathered. The aircraft undershot the landing, and struck a depression near the end of the runway. This caused the undercarriage to collapse, and the aircraft slid along the runway on its belly. By February 1946, the Short Stirling was considered to be an obsolescent type, and it was decided not to repair Stirling PK158. Instead, it was re-cat FACE (Flying Accident Cat. E) and Struck Off Charge

46 squadron arrived at RAF Stoney Cross at the beginning of January 1945 and began operation under Transport Command. Equipped with the Short Stirling, they manned services to the Far East between Stoney Cross and RAF Arkonam via Poona and between Stoney Cross and Dum Dum via Palam. With the end of the war in August 1945, flights were first confined to India and the Middle East and then, with Dakotas replacing the Stirlings at the beginning of 1946, passengers and freight were carried mostly to Rome, Berlin, Warsaw, and Vienna.

Royal Air Force Stoney Cross or more simply RAF Stoney Cross is a former Royal Air Force station in the New Forest, Hampshire, England. The airfield is located approximately 4 miles (6.4 km) northwest of Lyndhurst and 12 miles (19 km) west of Southampton.

Opened in 1942, it served both the Royal Air Force and United States Army Air Forces. During the war it functioned primarily as a combat bomber and fighter airfield. It closed in January 1948.

1. Halley, James (1999). Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents. Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.29. ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Royal Air Force Aircraft PA100-RZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain)
3. The Stirling File (Bryce Gomershall, Air Britain, 1979 p 91)
4. Final Landings: A Summary of RAF Aircraft and Combat Losses 1946 to 1949 by Colin Cummings p.61
5. 46 Sqn RAF ORB for the period 1-1-1946 to 30-11-1946: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 27/2417: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C2505055
6. "RAF Write-offs 1946": Air Britain Aeromilitaria 1979 p.95: https://air-britain.com/pdfs/aeromilitaria/Aeromilitaria_1979.pdf
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._46_Squadron_RAF#End_of_the_war
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Stoney_Cross

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
06-Sep-2013 19:13	JINX	Added
06-Jun-2015 16:33	Angel dick one	Updated [Operator]
04-Nov-2019 04:42	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
11-Jun-2021 00:40	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Location, Source, Narrative]
17-Jul-2023 16:50	Dr. John Smith	Updated [[Location, Source, Narrative]]