Date:	Friday 1 July 1949
Time:	day
Type:	Supermarine Spitfire PR Mk XIX
Owner/operator:	237 OCU RAF
Registration:	PS925
MSN:	6S 585131
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	near RAF Leuchars, Fife, Scotland -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Approach
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	RAF Leuchars, Fife
Destination airport:	RAF Leuchars, Fife
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Spitfire PR XIX PS925, MSN 6S 585131: Built by Vickers Armstrong (Supermarine) at Eastleigh with Griffon G66 engine. Retained by manufacturers for prototype fuel gauge installation 5-10-44. Delivered to the RAF 6MU Brize Norton, Oxfordshire 10-5-45. To RAE Farnborough, Hampshire 7-45 for further test flying with prototype fuel gauge. To PRDU (Photographic Reconnaissance Development Unit) as '6C-X' on 25-3-48. To 237 OCU, RAF Leuchars, Fife 27-1-49

Written off (destroyed) when spun in on approach to RAF Leuchars 1-7-49. Engine lost power 10 minutes after take-off from Leuchars, spun into ground from 800 feet on final approach. The subsequent Board of Inquiry established that the pilot had requested landing instructions 10 minutes after take-off, but then failed to acknowledge the reply from Leuchars ATC. The reason for the call to Leuchars ATC was the pilot had encountered engine problems, but the pilot failed to mention them as the reason for the need for an immediate landing. Pilot killed
Crew:
Pilot I (792124) Waclaw FRACZEK (pilot) RAF - killed in a flying accident 1-7-49

237 Operational Conversion Unit was based at Chalgrove, moved to Leuchars in April 1948 then moved to Benson in October 1950.

1. Halley, James (1999). Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents. Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Final Landings: A Summary of RAF Aircraft and Combat Losses 1946 to 1949 by Colin Cummings p.509
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft PA100-RZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain)
4. 237 OCU RAF ORB for the period 1-8-1947 to 31-12-1951: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 29-1643: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C4101353
5. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/spitfire/p091.html
6. https://www.avialogs.com/spitfire-and-seafire-registry/item/91999-ps925
7. https://aircrewremembered.com/fraczek-waclaw.html
8. https://listakrzystka.pl/en/fraczek-waclaw/
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._237_Operational_Conversion_Unit_RAF#Operational_history
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Leuchars#Cold_War

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
26-Sep-2013 20:57	JINX	Added
10-Jul-2014 05:42	angels one five	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Total fatalities, Other fatalities, Location, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Narrative]
05-Apr-2015 08:48	Jixon	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
05-Jul-2022 10:34	Nepa	Updated [Location, Narrative, Operator]
06-Aug-2023 20:38	Dr. John Smith	Updated [[Location, Narrative, Operator]]