Prior to this flight a problem with the port generator of this No.228 Operational Conversion Unit aircraft was reported and members of ground staff investigated the issue. On 4th January 1950 it was then due to be flown on a training flight, the engines were started and the pilot taxied to the runway at Leeming. During this time the pilots noticed a warning light against the port generator was showing when the engines were on high power but when throttled back the warning light went out. Because the flight was only planned to be short the aircraft was passed as servicable so, at 18.13hrs, it took off from Leeming with an flying instructor and a pupil pilot on board. As the aircraft left the ground the instructor, who was piloting the aircraft, noticed the smell of burning behind him. The pupil turned around to find that smoke and flames were present on the port side inside the fuselage. It became apparent that the fire was increasing, the instructor gave the order to abandon the aircraft. The instructor was still at the controls and putting the aircraft into a climb when the pupil left the aircraft. A short time later the instructor left and both landed safety by parachute. The aircraft went on to fly for a short time and became inverted by the time it crashed just south of Catterick airfield, near Killerby Hall, creating a deep crater in which an intense fire destroyed the wreckage. The pupil landed near the Great North Road and a passing motorist gave him a lift back to Leeming airfield. The instructor landed near Kirby Fleetham and went to a farm where he telephoned Leeming to request a lift back. It was thought that because of the smell detected by the crew, the fire was almost certainly caused by a wiring short circuit between the engine starter motor circuit and the engine feathering circuit because these were the only cables that had insulation that smelt as it did when burnt.
Pilot (Instructor) - F/Lt Eric Alfred Lampkin RAF (183032).
Pilot (Pupil) - F/O James McLean Pearson RAF (500719).