The very day after the Pockley Moor crash on the North Yorkshire Moors which saw 54 OTU see two of their numbers being killed this training unit lost two more airmen in an accident in North Yorkshire. On 9th November 1946 all aircraft from this training unit were briefed to fly above 200 feet from the ground on this day. The crew of this aircraft were undertaking a "local sector recce" when the Mosquito dived into the ground at a ninety degree angle after the pilot lost control in thick cloud cover whilst returning to base from the navigation training. Prior to the crash the aircraft was seen circling over the Hood Hill area at 700 feet, it then rose into cloud before reappearing and dived steeply into the ground at 10.50hrs. No reason was ever found as to why the pilot lost control, although icing conditions were suspected nothing was proven. Wreckage was spread over a wide area with the bodied of the two airmen being thrown into an adjacent field.

Pilot - P/O Micheal J A Smith-Pearse RAF (58032), aged 20, of Andover, Hampshire. Buried Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery, Yorkshire.

Pupil Pilot (/Passenger in ORB) - P/O Phillip G Norton RAF (58145), aged 19, of West Hagley. Buried West Hagley, Worcestershire.

Michael Smith-Pearse's headstone at Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery. He was granted a short service commission on 24th May 1945 as P/O on probation. His name is spelt Smith-PearCe in the London Gazette detailing his commission. His father was Principal of Rajkumar College, Raipur, India from 1931 to 1944, this is one of the finest public schools in India.