Date:	Monday 14 July 1952
Time:	day
Type:	de Havilland DH.100 Vampire F Mk 1
Owner/operator:	208 AFS RAF
Registration:	TG297
MSN:	EEP/42...
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Pont-cana Farm, Llandaff, Glamorgan, Wales -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	RAF Merryfield, Ilton, Ilchester, Somerset (EGDI)
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
The service life of this Vampire includes assignments to 247, 54, 595 Squadrons and 208 AFS. On 14th July 1952, it was in collision with DH Vampire VF265 at 30,000 feet over Cardiff. The aircraft was the No.3 in a three-aircraft formation, and the pilot of No.2 in the formation (Vampire VF265) realised that he was closing in on the lead aircraft. He attempted to avoid this by easing back on the throttle, and dropping back. However, in doing so, he slowed to the point that he collided with the No.3 aircraft (Vampire TG297). Both aircraft became unstable and uncontrollable as a result of the collision,

Pilot Officer B.F. Shaw successfully parachuted to safety and landed in the Bristol Channel, whereupon he was rescued by a Swedish vessel and taken to Barry, Glamorgan. The aircraft crashed at Pont-Cana Farm, Llandaff, Glamorgan

NOTE: As the pilot came down at sea in the Bristol Channel, but the aircraft came down a considerable distance away (on dry land) published sources tend to give the "Bristol Channel" as the crash location.

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.130 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Last Take-off: A Record of RAF Aircraft Losses 1950 to 1953 by Colin Cummings p 267
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft SA100 to VZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1985, p 38)
4. The Sydney Morning Herald Tuesday 15 Jul 1952 Page 3: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/18273207
5. The Times (London) 15th July 1952
6. Wings Over Somerset: Aircraft Crashes since the End of World War II By Peter Forrester
7. 208 AFS ORB (Operations Record Book)(Air Ministry Form AM/F.540) for the period 1/11/1951 to 31/5/1954: National Archives (PRO Kew) flie AIR 29/2147 at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C4101857
8. http://www.dehavilland.ukf.net/_DH100%20prodn%20list.txt
9. https://coflein.gov.uk/en/site/515419?term=VAMPIRE%20TG297
10. http://www.ggat.org.uk/timeline/pdf/Military%20Aircraft%20Crash%20Sites%20in%20Southeast
11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontcanna

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
02-Mar-2013 12:14	Dr. John Smith	Added
04-Dec-2018 20:12	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Nature, Operator]
19-May-2019 00:05	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Location, Source, Narrative]
09-Jan-2020 15:23	stehlik49	Updated [Aircraft type, Source, Operator]
15-Mar-2021 21:13	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Operator, Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
16-Mar-2021 08:48	werich	Updated [Operator, Location, Operator]
17-Mar-2021 20:21	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source]
17-Mar-2021 20:26	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]