Date:	Wednesday 25 September 1946
Time:	day
Type:	Supermarine Spitfire Mk IX
Owner/operator:	225 Sqn RAF
Registration:	PL340
MSN:	CBAF.
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Campoformido, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Udine -   Italy
Phase:	Landing
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	Campoformido, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Udine, Italy
Destination airport:	Campoformido, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Udine, Italy

Narrative:
PL340: Spitfire LF. IX. Built by CBAF (Castle Bromwich Aircraft Factory) with Merlin M66 engine. To 33MU RAF Lyneham, Wiltshire 22-4-44. To 47MU RAF Sealand, Flintshire 30-7-44. Repaired on site, then packed and crated for overseas shipment12-8-44. Shipped on the SS 'Queens Park' 13-9-44, arriving Casablanca, Morocco 23-9-44. To 241 Squadron, which operated various reconnaissance and ground attack duties in Italy until the end of the war. The squadron was disbanded on 14-8-45. To 225 Squadron, Italy 14-8-45.

Written off (damaged beyond repair) 25-9-46 engine failed on approach Campoformido, Udine, Italy; Engine failed during aerobatics, undershot runway & bellylanded. The pilot had been carrying out aerobatics at an altitude of 4,500 feet, which was well below the authorised minimum altitude for aerobatics (6,000 feet)

During the aerobatics, the engine cut out due to an airlock in the fuel system, and the pilot was unable to restart the engine. The pilot then attempted a force landing back at his home base airfield, despite two other airfields being better suited to handling the emergency situation. The Spitfire was also badly positioned for the final approach, and a wheels-up landing was made short of the airfield

Not repaired; Struck Off Charge 28-11-46 as Cat. E(FA)

Campoformido (Friulian: Cjampfuarmit) is a town and commune in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, north-eastern Italy,

1. Halley, James (1999). Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents. Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.25. ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Final Landings: A Summary of RAF Aircraft and Combat Losses 1946 to 1949 by Colin Cummings p.226
3. Air-Britain Royal Air Force Aircraft PA100-RZ999
4. "RAF Write-offs 1946": Air Britain Aero militaria 1979 p.103: https://air-britain.com/pdfs/aeromilitaria/Aeromilitaria_1979.pdf
5. 225 Sqn RAF ORB for the period 1-6-1946 to 31-1-1947: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR27/1405B: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C2504047
6. https://www.avialogs.com/spitfire-and-seafire-registry/item/87057-pl340
7. https://allspitfirepilots.org/aircraft/PL340
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._241_Squadron_RAF
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._225_Squadron_RAF
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campoformido

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
13-Sep-2013 02:17	JINX	Added
27-Mar-2015 18:41	Jixon	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator]
31-May-2023 20:35	Dr. John Smith	Updated [[Aircraft type, Operator]]
13-Sep-2023 13:04	Dr. John Smith	Updated [[[Aircraft type, Operator]]]