Date:	Tuesday 31 May 1955
Time:	day
Type:	de Havilland DH.100 Vampire FB Mk 5
Owner/operator:	3 CAACU RAF
Registration:	WA442
MSN:	EEP42287
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RAF Exeter, Devon, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Take off
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	RAF Exeter, Devon (EXT/EGTE)
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
De Havilland DH.100 Vampire FB.Mk.5 WA442: Delivered 19/7/51. RAF service career was with 185 Squadron at Habbaniya, Iraq (coded "K") and 3 CAACU (Civilian Anti-Aircraft Co-Operation Unit) at RAF Exeter, Devon.

Written off (Damaged beyond repair) 31/5/55: The aircraft was damaged by fire following a take off incident. According to some sources, the aircraft lost power on the take off run, sank back onto the runway at RAF Exeter, Devon, skidded off the runway, and caught fire. The pilot - Sergeant W N Somerville - was uninjured.

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.171 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Royal Air Force Aircraft WA100-WZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1983 p 9)
3. Category Five; A Catalogue of RAF Aircraft Losses 1954 to 2009 by Colin Cummings p.136
4. The History of the De Havilland Vampire By David Watkins
5. WA442 burnt out at Exeter 31/5/55: https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/view/1338294
6. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=WA

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
29-May-2008 05:19	JINX	Added
08-Jun-2008 15:14	JINX	Updated
18-May-2015 17:58	MiG21	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Departure airport]
10-Jan-2020 11:33	stehlik49	Updated [Aircraft type, Nature, Operator]
20-May-2020 22:32	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Cn, Operator, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
21-May-2020 07:49	MIG29	Updated [Operator, Operator]