Date:	Tuesday 2 December 1952
Time:	day
Type:	Avro Lancaster PR Mk I
Owner/operator:	82 (United Provinces) Sqn RAF
Registration:	RA803
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 4 / Occupants: 4
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	One mile from RAF Benson, Oxfordshire, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Approach
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Benson, Oxfordshrie
Destination airport:	RAF Benson, Oxfordshire
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Avro Lancaster PR.Mk.1 RA803, 82 (United Provinces) Sqn RAF: Written off (destroyed) 2-12-1952: The crew was performing a local training sortie at RAF Benson. During the final approach completed in marginal weather conditions, using GEE (radar approach) equipment, the crew did not realize that their altitude was too low, when the airplane hit the ground, and crashed few hundred yards short of runway threshold. The aircraft was destroyed and all four crew members were killed.

According to a contemporary local newspaper report ("Portsmouth Evening News" - Tuesday 2 December 1952):

"FOUR AIRMEN FEARED DEAD
Four R.A.F. men are believed to have been killed when a Lancaster bomber crashed near the married quarters at Benson Aerodrome (Oxon) to-day. It was foggy at the time. The plane burst into flames. The Lancaster was on a local test flight from Benson, and crashed a mile from the airfield."

Crew of Lancaster RA803:
Flying Officer (4016237) James Serge GOW, RAF (pilot, New Zealand national) - killed in service 2/12/1952, buried at Benson Cemetery Extension, Benson, Oxfordshire.
Flying Officer (4030986) Matthew Spencer DOWNES, RAF (Navigator) - killed in service 2/12/1952, buried at Roman Catholic Cemetery, Durham Road, Houghton-Le-Spring, County Durham.
Sergeant (3507506) Thomas Malcolm READ, RAF (Navigator) - killed in service 2/12/1952, buried at Landican Cemetery, Wirral, Merseyside.
Sergeant (579496) Thomas George Albert SETTTERFIELD, RAF (Flight Engineer) - killed in service 2/12/1952, buried at Ramsgate Cemetery. Ramsgate, Kent

Causes: The accident was the result of negligence on the part of the flying crew who neglected published procedures and continued the approach below the minimum safe altitude. The pilot also neglected to maintain the stipulated minimum altitude for a GEE approach.

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents, Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.138 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Last Take-off: A Record of RAF Aircraft Losses 1950 to 1953 Colin Cummings p 315
3. The Lancaster File (J J Halley, Air BrItian, 1985)
4. Royal Air Force Aircraft PA100-RZ999 (James J. Halley, Air Britain)
5. Portsmouth Evening News - Tuesday 2 December 1952
6. https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-avro-683-lancaster-gr1-raf-benson-4-killed
7. Photos of funeral of Flying Officer James Gow: https://www.rafweb.org/Squadrons/Sqn081-85.htm
8. http://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?action=printpage;topic=15779.0

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
27-Sep-2008 01:00	ASN archive	Added
21-May-2010 11:34	TB	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Other fatalities]
21-May-2010 13:25	TB	Updated [Aircraft type, Nature]
29-Sep-2012 12:07	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Location, Source]
13-May-2015 05:36	nerus	Updated [Registration, Phase]
20-Mar-2017 01:12	Dr.John Smith	Updated [Operator, Location, Phase, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
13-Nov-2018 07:07	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Destination airport, Operator]
17-Sep-2019 15:51	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Operator]
30-Mar-2021 23:57	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
31-Mar-2021 00:30	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Source]
31-Mar-2021 00:44	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Registration, Source, Narrative]
31-Mar-2021 00:46	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
31-Mar-2021 00:49	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source]
01-Apr-2021 00:34	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
01-Apr-2021 02:32	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Location]
04-Sep-2022 13:04	Spitfire	Updated [[Location]]
17-Jul-2023 07:45	Nepa	Updated [[[Location]]]