Halifax LW679 at Snaith airfield.
On the evening of 22nd March 1944 this 51 Squadron aircraft was flown on an night cross country training exercise. On the approach to land at Snaith at 22.23hrs a break in a hydraulic pipe saw the flaps not work when the lever was moved in the cockpit. The flaps were used on landing to slow the aircraft. Unfortunately a similar fault with a brake pipe compounded the crew's problem. On landing at Snaith the aircraft could not stop on the available runway, it ran off the end and even though the pilot tried to deliberately swing the aircraft to avoid running through the boundary this did not work. The aircraft ran over the end of the overshoot area which saw the port wheel drop into a ditch beyond and the aircraft came rest badly damaged.
Pilot - F/Sgt John Cecil Davies RCAF (R/162627).