Date:	Thursday 13 May 1954
Time:	day
Type:	Supermarine Swift F Mk I
Owner/operator:	56 (Punjab) Sqn RAF
Registration:	WK208
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Stretham Fen, 2.5 miles NE of RAF Waterbeach, Cambridgeshire -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Initial climb
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Waterbeach, Cambridgeshire
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Supermarine Swift F.Mk.1 WK208, 56 (Punjab) Squadron, RAF: Crashed and destroyed 13/05/1954: Shortly after take-off, control lost at around 600 feet, dived into ground at Stretham Fen, two and a half miles North East of RAF Waterbeach, Cambridgeshire. Flying Officer Neil Hamilton THORNTON (pilot, service number 2532311) killed; Canopy jettisoned but no ejection sequence initiated. Cause of the accident attributed to "aileron reversion"

According to some sources, it was the pilot's second-ever flight in a Swift. As a result of this accident, the RAF's entire fleet of Swifts was grounded, while modifications were made to the aileron controls. There was a contemporary report into the incident in the local newspaper ("Cambridge News" 14 May 1954):

"The pilot of an R.A.F. Swift jet aircraft from Waterbeach airfield was killed when it crashed within 200 yards of a group of houses in Stretham fen. Had the blast from the aircraft, which exploded, gone in the direction of the houses then wreckage would most certainly have struck them. As it was pieces of the aircraft were strewn in a half circle for about 200 yards. Eye-witness Mr Leslie Pinion said:

“the plane dived straight down in the field and exploded”. It left a crater about 15 feet deep. Waterbeach was the first unit to be equipped with Swift jet fighters and the lightning-fast silver machines with their distinctive swept-back wings have become a familiar sight."

A later press report added:

"Swift Powered-Control Fault?
FOLLOWING the recent grounding of Supermarine Swifts, Air Ministry investigations are stated to have indicated a failure in an electrical circuit connected with the powered-control system. The Swifts, which went into R.A.F. service in February, were grounded last month after the inquiry into a fatal accident, which occurred to one machine when flying from Waterbeach.

The pilot was F/O. N. H. Thornton.

A modification to correct the fault is now being incorporated in the machines by the manufacturers, and will be flight-tested soon. The Air Ministry states that release of the Swifts from grounding will depend on the proving of this new installation."

21/05/1954: Wreck scrapped by 58 Maintenance Unit, at RAF Honington.

1. Cambridge News - 14 May 1954
2. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.158 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft WA100-WZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1983 p 65)
4. Category Five; A Catalogue of RAF Aircraft Losses 1954 to 2009 by Colin Cummings p.55
5. National Archives (PRO Kew) File BT233/209: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C424330
6. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=WK
7. http://web.archive.org/web/20170624000012/http://www.millionmonkeytheater.com:80/Swift.html
8. http://web.archive.org/web/20171123224900/http://www.ejection-history.org.uk:80/aircraft_by_type/swift/swift.htm
9. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/39674/supplement/5521/data.pdf

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
17-Jun-2008 21:09	JINX	Added
15-Jan-2012 15:11	Nepa	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Phase, Source]
13-Apr-2013 23:54	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Phase, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
14-Apr-2013 00:19	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]
08-Jan-2020 20:26	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Source, Narrative]
08-Jan-2020 20:28	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source]
08-Apr-2020 22:55	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Location, Source, Narrative]
08-Apr-2020 22:59	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
08-Apr-2020 23:04	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Location]