Date:	Saturday 31 January 1948
Time:
Type:	de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito FB Mk VI
Owner/operator:	204 AFS RAF
Registration:	HR494
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	mile N of Great Ponton, near RAF stn Spitalgate, Lincolnshire, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Approach
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Cottesmore, Rutland
Destination airport:	RAF Spitalgate, Lincolnshire

Narrative:
Mosquito HR494 : Took off for Night training flight /navex exercise. 31/01/1948
The pilot who had only four hours in total of instrument flying experience on the Mosquito, was flying through conditions of cumulonimbus cloud. The aircraft flew into ground at night, one mile north of Great Ponton, near Spitalgate, Lincolnshire. The Mosquito was seen to dive into the ground in an almost vertical attitude.
Crew:
F/O (58992) Henry Bennetts CHAPPLE (pilot) RAF: killed
Nav. II (3001713) Laurence George PEARSON (nav.) RAF: killed

The subsequent Board of Inquiry deemed that it was probable that the pilot had lost control of the Mosquito while flying on instruments in cumulonimbus cloud. The pilot's relative lack of experience in night flying on instruments may also have been a factor

Great Ponton is an English village and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, 3 miles (5 km) south of Grantham on the A1 trunk road, which bisects the village.

1. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/_DH98%20prodn%20list.txtt
2. Final Landings: A Summary of RAF Aircraft and Combat Losses 1946 to 1949
3. ORB 204 AFS RAF: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR29/1989:
4. https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C4101699
5. https://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?17023-Crew-Mosquito-HR494-crash-31-1-1948
6. https://www.bcar.org.uk/1945-49-incident-logs
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Ponton

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
31-Jan-2012 02:27	Nepa	Added
07-Jun-2014 12:49	Nepa	Updated [Aircraft type, Total fatalities, Location, Phase, Destination airport, Narrative, ]
07-Jun-2014 14:25	Nepa	Updated [Departure airport, Source, Narrative, ]
21-Sep-2014 19:05	Juan P.Paco	Updated [Location, Narrative, ]
31-Jul-2015 10:35	Nepa	Updated [Aircraft type, ]
09-Aug-2016 08:45	Nepa	Updated [Date, ]
18-Sep-2019 18:32	Nepa	Updated [Other fatalities, Narrative, Operator, ]
03-Aug-2020 14:12	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Operator, ]
17-Dec-2020 22:46	Anon.	Updated [Narrative, Operator, ]
10-Jun-2021 21:20	Anon.	Updated [Aircraft type, Location, Operator, ]
14-Jul-2021 17:42	Anon.	Updated [Location, Operator, ]
14-Jul-2021 17:43	Anon.	Updated [Location, Operator, ]
20-Aug-2021 22:20	Anon.	Updated [Location, Source, Narrative, Operator, ]
20-Aug-2021 22:21	Anon.	Updated [Location, Operator, ]
31-Aug-2022 09:18	Nepa	Updated [Source, Narrative, Operator, ]
30-Apr-2023 09:21	Nepa	Updated