Date:	Friday 30 November 1945
Time:	day
Type:	Boulton Paul Defiant TT Mk II
Owner/operator:	22 AACU (India) RAF
Registration:	AA404
MSN:	742
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Vizagapatam, Andhra Pradesh, Bay of Bengal -   India
Phase:	Landing
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Ambala, Ambala, Haryana, India
Destination airport:	Vizagapatam, Andhra Pradesh, India

Narrative:
Boulton Paul Defiant T.T Mk.I AA404, 22 AACU (India) RAF: Written off (Damaged Beyond Repair) 30 November 1945 in belly landing at Vizagapatam, Andhra Pradesh after undercarriage failure. No reported casualties among the two crew. Formally Struck off Charge as FACE (Flying Accident Cat.E) 27 December 1945. According to one source (see link #2) this incident was the last flying accident to involve a Boulton Paul Defiant in RAF service - all surviving Defiants were Struck off Charge as obsolete, the last officially on 1 January 1947. (There were later flying accidents - but those involved Defiants on FAA RN charge).

Defiant AA404 was previously with 125 Squadron RAF as "VA-P" at RAF Colerne, Chippenham, Wiltshire in 1942.

The second unit to fly the Defiant Target Tugs was No.22 AACU located at Drigh Road, and later at Ambala. It was involved in training the various Anti-Aircraft Batteries around the subcontinent.

No.22 AACU had operated Lysanders and Wapitis in its earlier days, and also had Hurricanes and Vultee Vengeances at one point of time. It was a very large unit and consisted of many flights that were spread out around the Indian Sub-Continent. Throughout 1942 and most part of 1943, the majority of the pilots with No.22 AACU were Indian. Posted in fresh from the SFTS or from the OTU, the pilots gained valuable experience flying a myraid of types. Starting with Wapitis, they moved onto advanced aircraft including the Fairey Battle and the Brewster Buffalo.

Towards the end of 1943, with many IAF Squadrons becoming operational and heading for the Burma front, No.22 AACU started posting out its Indian pilots out, replacing them with RAF aircrew – including many Sergeant Pilots. While the Unit still had a few Indian pilots on strength, the bulk of the pilots were now British. The ground crew and the winch operators, however were predominently Indian.

No.22 AACU had received as many as 55 Defiant TT.IIs in late 1943. A few Indian pilots on strength of No.22 AACU flew the Defiant during this time. The Unit was commanded by Wing Commander H J Fish RAF at that time.

The crash location of Visakhapatnam is a port city and industrial center in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, on the Bay of Bengal.

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft AA100-AZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain (2nd Edition) 2000 p.6)
2. The Defiant File – Alex Brew, Air-Britain Historians, London, 1996.
3. Profile Publications No.117 Boulton-Paul Defiant – Michael JF Bowyer, Profile Publications Ltd, London, 1966.
4. Warpaint #42 Boulton-Paul Defiant – Alan W Hall, http://www.warpaint-books.com/
5. Boulton Paul Defiant – Mushroom Model Publications Yellow Series – 6117 – Mark Ansell, Artur Juszczak. MMP2006.
6. History of the Indian Air Force 1933-1945 – Ed by SC Gupta, Combined Historical Section, India and Pakistan
7. The Eagle Strikes – Royal Indian Air Force 1933-1950 – Sqn Ldr R T S Chhina, Center for Armed Forces History, USI
8. Aeroplane Monthly, October 2008 issue – Boulton Paul Defiant – Database
9. 22 AACU ORB for the period 1.6.1942 to 31.3.1947: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 29/49/2: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C7159135
10. https://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/aircraft/past/defiant/
11. https://imodeler.com/2016/11/airfix-148-boulton-paul-defiant/
12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visakhapatnam

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
07-Feb-2008 14:19	JINX	Added
25-Apr-2015 07:26	Yety	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Source]