CRASH OF A SPITFIRE
AT LIVINGSTONE AIRFIELD, NT
ON 14 JUNE 1943

At 1440 hours local time, on Monday 14 June 1943, Flying Officer Brian Francis Hegarty (411909) of 457 Squadron RAAF was taking off in Spitfire ER760 A58-164 from Livingstone Airfield in the Northern Territory for some Squadron Formation Flying.

He was the sixth aircraft to take off and was not taking off in formation. Approximately 600 yards from where he opened his throttle, marks were later found on the runway indicating that his propeller was hitting the runway until his Spitfire skidded on its belly and came to rest on the starboard side of the runway. Both mainplanes, the propeller, undercarriage and under surfaces of the fuselage were damaged.

F/O Hegarty was uninjured. The cause of the accident appeared to be retraction of the undercarriage too early. The undercarriage selector lever was found in the Up position.

Can anyone help me with more information on this crash?

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This page first produced 18 October 2016

This page last updated 02 February 2020