Date:	Saturday 27 April 1946
Time:	day
Type:	Supermarine Spitfire Mk XIX
Owner/operator:	1401 Met Flt RAF
Registration:	PL894
MSN:	ALD.
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RAF Celle, Lower Saxony, West Germany -   Germany
Phase:	Initial climb
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Celle, Lower Saxony, West Germany
Destination airport:

Narrative:
PL894; Spitfire PR. XI, built by Vickers Armstrong (Supermarine) at Aldermaston with Merlin M70 engine. To 6MU RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire 20-7-44. To RAF Benson, Oxfordshire 4-10-44. To 4 (IV) Squadron, RAF Celle, Lower Saxony, West Germany Cat C (Repairable) accident 6-11-44. 4 (IV) Squadron retained its Spitfires at VE Day (8-5-45), moving to Celle in Germany to carry out survey operations in support of the British Army of Occupation until it was disbanded on 31-8-45. Next issued to 1401 Flight 26-11-45, still based at RAF Celle

Written off (damaged beyond repair) 27-4-46 when crashed on takeoff from RAF Celle, Lower Saxony, West Germany. During the takeoff run, the pilot held the aircraft at a low altitude for the entire length of the runway at RAF Celle, and the aircraft was then climbed steeply to 500 feet agl (above ground level). The port wing was then seen to dip, and the nose of the aircraft dropped. The Spitfire then rolled onto its back, dived into the ground and exploded. The pilot was killed

Crew:
W/O (1523045) Norman Frederick DIXON (Pilot, aged 22) RAFVR: Killed on active service 27-4-46, buried at Celle War Cemetery, Niedersachsen, Lower Saxony, Germany

The subsequent Board of Inquiry concluded that the pilot was trying to either put the Spitfire into a slow roll or a steep turn, but at 500 feet, the aircraft had not sufficient altitude to recover, when control was lost.

Aircraft damage assessed as "destroyed" and struck off charge 31-8-46

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.39 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Final Landings: A Summary of RAF Aircraft and Combat Losses 1946 to 1949 by Colin Cummings p.128
3. Air-Britain Royal Air Force Aircraft PA100-RZ999
4. 1401 Meteorological Flight RAF ORB for the period 1-2-1942 to 30-6-1946: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR29/866/1: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C7161883
5. "RAF Write-offs 1946": Air Britain Aeromilitaria 1979 p.98: https://air-britain.com/pdfs/aeromilitaria/Aeromilitaria_1979.pdf
6. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/spitfire/p.88.html
7. https://www.rafcommands.com/database/wardead/details.php?qnum=12054
8. https://www.avialogs.com/spitfire-and-seafire-registry/item/90616-tb862
9. https://allspitfirepilots.org/aircraft/PL894
10. CWGC: https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2101484/norman-frederick-dixon/
11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._4_Squadron_RAF#Second_World_War
12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celle_Air_Base#Allied_occupation_1945_until_1957

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
19-Sep-2013 02:16	JINX	Added
27-Mar-2015 18:49	JEPA	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator]
24-May-2015 20:09	Iwosh	Updated [Operator]
21-Jun-2023 16:51	Nepa	Updated [[Operator]]
29-Jun-2023 21:30	Dr. John Smith	Updated [[[Operator]]]
30-Jun-2023 20:14	Dr. John Smith	Updated [[[[Operator]]]]
02-Jul-2023 17:59	Dr. John Smith	Updated [[[[[Operator]]]]]
16-Sep-2023 12:27	Dr. John Smith	Updated [[[[[[Operator]]]]]]