During the evening of 6th March 1943 this 1658 Heavy Conversion Unit aircraft was flown on a cross country training flight that lasted just short of four hours. On approach to land at Riccall at 23.00hrs the aircraft was not correctly lined up with the flarepath, while the aircraft landed somewhat well the pilot did not slow the aircraft correctly. With a long clear run ahead he swung the aircraft off the runway leading to the undercarriage collapsing.
Pilot - Sgt Ronald Stanley Patrick Barratt RAFVR (1374126).
Halifax BB190 was built to contract B.124357/40 by the London Passenger Transport Board Ltd. at Leavesden and was awaiting collection in January 1942. It was one of the first to come out of the factory there but appears to have been held by Handley Page after completion because of production and quality issues that the LPTB had with their early aircraft. The aircraft's AM Form 78 states that it was received by 8 MU at Little Rissington on 14th March 1942. On 18th October 1942 it was taken on charge by 1658 Heavy Conversion Unit at Riccall. There is a mention of the aircraft in their ORB being collected from Riccall by an instuctor from 1658 H.C.U. on 9th December 1942 and flown to Melbourne to join D-Flight that was stationed there. As a result of minor damage sustained at Riccall on 6th March 1943 Cat.Ac/FA damage resulted and it was repaired on site. It returned to 1658 HCU use on 10th May 1943. On 16th July 1943 it was deemed in need of a repair on site during an inspection. This was carried out on site by a team from Handley Page and it was returned to 1658 HCU on 1st August 1943. On 19th August 1943 the aircraft suffered the tail wheel collapsing on landing at Riccall. A Cat.Ac/FA damage assessment resulted and it was returned to 1658 HCU on 15th September 1943 after a repair on site. It then crashed on landing again on 26th September 1943 but this time the damage was more severe and the aircraft was not repaired. Cat.E/FA damage was the assessment and it was written off.
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