Date:	Sunday 21 October 1956
Time:	day
Type:	Auster AOP.6
Owner/operator:	663 Sqn RAF
Registration:	VF554
MSN:	2512
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Aber Falls, Afon Goch, Carneddu, 4m S of Llanfairfechan, Denbighshire -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Landing
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Llandow, Glamorgan
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Auster AOP.6 Auster AOP.6 VF554/G of 663 (AOP) Squadron, Royal Auxiliary Air Force, who were based at RAF Hooton Park until March 1957. VF554/G was only briefly on charge with the unit from 29/8/55 until an accident 21/10/56 ended its service.

Written off (destroyed) 21/10/1956: Caught by a down-draught, force-landed and cartwheeled down a hillside at Afon Goch, Carneddu, four miles south of Llanfairfechan, Denbighshire.

The aircraft was assigned to an RAuxAF Squadron but on the flight that ended in this crash was being flown by an Army pilot. He had taken off to look for two Army Cadets who had been on a navigation exercise in the Carneddau. He had spotted the pair and was attempting to turn within the confines of the valley above Aber Falls when he encountered a strong downdraught. The aircraft crashed into a fairly level area beside the river and overturned, injuring the pilot (Captain Huw Morris) who had to make his way off the hills with the Cadets he had gone in search of.

As an aside, Blackburn Botha L6202 that crashed on Llwydmor on 28/08/43 not far from Heinkel He-111 f4801/IT+EL which also crashed within sight of where this Auster came down!

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.182 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Royal Air Force Aircraft SA100-VZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1983 p 63)
3. Category Five; A Catalogue of RAF Aircraft Losses 1954 to 2009 by Colin Cummings p.217
4. Aircraft Wrecks: The Walker's Guide: Historic Crash sites on the Moors By Alan Clark, Nick Wotherspoon, Mark Sheldon
5. http://www.peakdistrictaircrashes.co.uk/crash_sites/wales/auster-vf554-aber-falls
6. http://www.ukserials.com/losses-1956.htm
7. http://wrecksiteuk.blogspot.com/2008/07/botha-l6202.html
8. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=VF
9. http://austerhg.org/prod_list/pages.php?page=2409
10. http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?9944-Royall-Air-Force-Tilstock-(-Whitchurch)
11. https://derbosoft.proboards.com/post/62579

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
17-May-2008 11:10	ASN archive	Added
21-Feb-2012 23:26	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Source, Damage, Narrative]
15-Aug-2012 08:46	Nepa	Updated [Operator]
13-Jul-2020 22:45	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]