Date:	Monday 18 September 1950
Time:	day
Type:	Avro Lincoln B Mk 2
Owner/operator:	Empire Test Pilots School (ETPS)
Registration:	RF534
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Salters Farm, Sallins Lane 2 miles NW of Winchester, Hampshire England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Approach
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	RAF Farnborough, Hampshire (EGLF)
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
RF534 Avro Lincoln B.2 (Empire Test Pilot School) from ETPS (Empire Test Pilots School) Farnborough broke up in the air near Winchester during a training exercise on 18th September 1950. The pilot and flight engineer, the only occupants, were killed. At the time of the accident the aircraft was engaged on asymmetric power flying with the port outer propeller feathered and the port inner propeller windmilling. RF534 was seen to enter a turn to starboard which became very steep, and the aircraft then appeared to go out of control. It was during this manoeuvre, or during the attempted recovery, that the port wing was seen to become detached. The height at which this occurred was reported to have been between 1,000 ft and 3,000 ft.

The wreckage of the stricken Lincoln was spread over a large area at Salters Farm, Sallins Lane, Sparsholt, 2 miles North West of Winchester, Hampshire

According to a contemporary newspaper report ("Portsmouth Evening News" - Tuesday 19 September 1950):

"ESCAPES AS PLANE CRASHES.
Farm workers ran for their lives when a Lincoln bomber crashed and blew up in a field at Sparsholt, near Winchester, yesterday afternoon. The bomber was on a training flight from the Empire Test Pilot School at Farnborough. Eyewitnesses said "parts started to drop off it" before the crash.

The occupants, Flight-Lieut. R F Smail and Lieut W N. Plews, a Canadian serving with the Royal Navy, who was a student at the school, were killed. Hampshire Fire Service turned out from Winchester and Sutton Scotney. There was little they could do except "damp down," and for a while there was danger from burning phosphorous.

Tail in Copse.
Some of the first on the scene were the County Director and Officers of the Hampshire Red Cross, who had been in conference at Weeke Manor about half a mile from the scene. The farm workers ran for cover as parts of the plane were thrown over their heads and scattered over a wide area. The rear turret and tall were flung into a near-by copse, and other parts of the plane were found a mile away. A full, leaking petrol tank and part of a wing finished up in an adjoining field.

Mr. Douglas Carpenter, of 7, Greenhill Road, Winchester who was working in the field said; "We saw the plane which seemed to be coming down to land. Suddenly its nose dipped and parts started to drop off it. We took cover and there was a loud explosion as it crashed and burst into flames. We got as near as we could, but we could not get too close because of the heat."

Mr. P. J. Kerley, of 4, Lambourne Close, Sparsholt, another worker, said; "As were running away a part of a wing came right over our heads. We did not know which way to go."

Within an hour a Royal Air Force squadron leader and a Royal Artillery major flew in bv helicopter to the scene from R.A.F. Middle Wallop on an official visit. Lieut.-Cmdr. C. H. Holman, C.O. of H.M.S. Kestrel, Worthy Down, Winchester, was also at the scene."

Crew:
Pilot: Flight Lieutenant R.F. Smail
Flight Engineer: William N. Plews RN, a Canadian serving with the Royal Navy. (Officially attached to HMS Daedalus, RNAS Lee-on-Solent)(both killed)

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p 106 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Last Take-off: A Record of RAF Aircraft Losses 1950 to 1953 by Colin Cummings p 84
3. http://www.thunder-and-lightnings.co.uk/memorial/entry.php?id=204
4. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AVIA 5/31/S2506: http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C6578352
5. National Archives (PRO Kew) File BT 233/31: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C424152
6. https://www.pprune.org/aviation-history-nostalgia/325715-avro-lincoln-crash-1950-winchester.html
7. https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-avro-694-lincoln-b2-winchester-2-killed
8. http://www.hampshireairfields.co.uk/hancrash.html
9. http://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=5814.0
10. http://www.hampshireairfields.co.uk/hancrash.html
11. https://www.naval-history.net/xDKCas1950.htm
12. http://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=10107.0

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
27-Sep-2008 01:00	ASN archive	Added
28-Jan-2009 11:55	R J Maule	Updated
30-Apr-2013 21:03	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Location, Phase, Departure airport, Source, Narrative, ]
30-Apr-2013 21:04	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Phase, ]
08-Jun-2013 07:50	wardymate	Updated [Date, Source, Narrative, ]
17-Jun-2013 13:40	Nepa	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Departure airport, Narrative, ]
30-Dec-2019 18:00	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Source, Narrative, ]
30-Dec-2019 18:04	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Location, Departure airport, Narrative, ]
30-Dec-2019 20:35	stehlik49	Updated [Operator, Operator, ]
06-Feb-2020 22:43	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Operator, Source, Narrative, ]
07-Feb-2020 09:29	Iwosh	Updated [Operator, Operator, ]
21-Feb-2020 14:28	Iwosh	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Operator, ]
09-Jan-2021 18:04	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Departure airport, Source, Narrative, ]
26-Jun-2022 00:11	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative, Category, ]
11-May-2024 10:40	Nepa	Updated [Location, Operator, ]