During the afternoon of 22nd October 1952 this No.6 Air Navigation School aircraft was flown on a navigation training exercise and the crew took off from Lichfield, Staffordshire at 12.25hrs. During the flight the aircraft flew into bad weather and this caused a problem with visibility. Unfortunately at the time the navigator was required to plot co-ordinates prior to making a controlled let-down through cloud toward their home airfield he was suffering from air sickness. The wrong position was plotted, with the navigator believing that he was far closer to Lichfield then they actually were. The pilot was informed on where the navigator believed he was and begun to let down through cloud without this being checked. At the time, the aircraft was heading toward the southern end of the Peak District and at 14.50hrs it flew into the ground at Rod Hill, near Ughill, a few miles west of Sheffield. The pilot appears to have seen the ground at the last moment and managed to get the nose up but it still collided with a stone wall (and newspaper reports also stated iron railings). Both navigators sustained injuries in the crash. Help soon arrived and they were transported to Sheffield Royal Infirmary for treatment. It was later stated that the aircraft was fifty miles north from whether the navigator thought he was. Only by shear luck was no one seriously injured or killed. The navigator at fault was removed from flying duties.
Pilot - Sgt Reginald Alexander Keith RAF (1606011).
Trainee Navigator - P/O David Edward Ward RAF (2527615?). Injured.
Trainee Navigator - P/O John Brian Sunley Thirkell RAF (2529530).