Date:	Tuesday 12 March 1946
Time:	day
Type:	Hawker Tempest Mk V
Owner/operator:	287 Sqn RAF
Registration:	JN766
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RAF West Malling, Maidstone, Kent, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Take off
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF West Malling, Maidstone, Kent
Destination airport:

Narrative:
Hawker Tempest Mk. V JN766, 287 Squadron, RAF: Written off (damaged beyond repair) 12 March 1946 in a take-off accident (EFATO - Engine Failure at Take Off) at RAF West Malling, Maidstone, Kent.

During the take-off run from RAF West Malling, and before the aircraft had become airborne, the engine failed. The pilot could not prevent the aircraft from over running the end of the runway, and the Tempest continued straight on from the end of the runway, through the perimeter fence, and into a wooded area beyond that.

Although the aircraft was deemed "damaged beyond economic repair" and Struck Off Charge as FACE (Flying Accident Cat. E) the pilot appears to have survived uninjured.

Hawker Tempest V JN766 was "SA-N" of No. 486 Squadron RNZAF, Castle Camps, Cambridgeshire in April 1944, and was photographed at the time (see below). No. 486 Squadron remained in Denmark until July 1945 when it went back to Germany, stationed at Lübeck as part of No. 124 Wing, an element of the British Occupation Forces. It returned to the United Kingdom in September and its service ended on 12 October 1945 with the disbandment of the squadron at RAF Dunsfold, Surrey. JN766 transferred to 287 Squadron on or after 10 September 1945 at RAF West Malling.

In April 2021, plastic aircraft model kit manufacturer AIRFIX announced that they were releasing a 1/72nd scale model of the Hawker Tempest - and one of the options was to finish the kit as JN766 as per the photographs below (see link #7)

1. Halley, James (1999). Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents. Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.33 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Final Landings: A Summary of RAF Aircraft and Combat Losses 1946 to 1949 by Colin Cummings p.93
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft JA100-JZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain)
4. "RAF Write-offs 1946": Air Britain Aeromilitaria 1979 p.96: https://air-britain.com/pdfs/aeromilitaria/Aeromilitaria_1979.pdf
5. 287 Squadron ORB (Operations Record Book) for the period 1-5-1941 to 30-6-1946: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 27/1622 at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C2504264
6.JN766 SA-N of No. 486 Squadron RNZAF, Castle Camps 1944: https://www.worldwarphotos.info/gallery/uk/raf/tempest/tempest-v-jn766-sa-n/
7. http://www.asisbiz.com/il2/Tempest/Tempest/pages/Hawker-Tempest-JN766-01.html
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._486_Squadron_RNZAF#Service_with_the_Second_Tactical_Air_Force
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._287_Squadron_RAF#History
10. https://www.hawkertempest.se/index.php/action/worldwar2
11. https://aerodynamicmedia.com/airfix-tempest-mk-v-announced/
12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_West_Malling#Doodlebugs,_1944

Hawker Tempest V JN766 SA-N of No. 486 Squadron RNZAF, Castle Camps, Cambridgeshire in April 1944. The pilot may have been Flt Lt. William Miller of Invercargill. THE ROYAL NEW ZEALAND AIR FORCE IN BRITAIN, 1944 © IWM (CH 13977)

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
21-Jun-2021 21:48	Dr. John Smith	Added
21-Jun-2021 21:49	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Date, Source, Narrative]
22-Jun-2021 12:11	Lelek	Updated [Operator, Location, Operator]
05-Jul-2021 20:57	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Category]
05-Jul-2021 20:58	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source]
09-Jul-2023 20:14	Dr. John Smith	Updated [[Source]]