Debris that had been sitting inside the carburettor of a Spitfire for decades was “very likely” the cause of a crash which killed a pilot, according to a Ministry of Defence report. Squadron Leader Mark Long died when the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight aircraft he was flying crashed in a field near RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire on 25 May 2024.
The report says the debris caused fuel starvation, “leading to a loss of thrust required to maintain powered flight”. Witnesses saw the plane turn sharply and plunge to the ground just 56 seconds after it took off. Long, who was flying a Spitfire Mk IX built in 1944, suffered head and neck injuries. The opening of the inquest heard a provisional cause of death.
Conflicting maintenance guidance
The inquiry found that the debris had been present for decades, and laid much of the blame at the feet of documentation rather than any single pilot error. It said: “The presence of multiple, contradictory publications created ambiguity over the correct procedures for carburettor maintenance.”
The panel assessed that this inconsistency likely produced differing understandings of how far a carburettor should be dismantled, inspected and cleaned, which it said was very likely to have reduced the chance of detecting any debris build-up. In other words, the report points to a documentation and training failure within a fleet of aircraft whose engines were designed before the Second World War ended.
Cockpit design ruled out as a fix
The report also examined the design of the cockpit and the pilot’s restraint arrangements, identifying both as aggravating factors. It acknowledged, however, that any structural change would probably require significant modifications to the aircraft, which are flying museum pieces with enormous heritage value.
Why it matters
The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight operates Spitfires and Hurricanes for commemorative flypasts and displays, and those sorties put pilots, crew and spectators in the air at events attended by large public audiences. A fatal accident does more than end a career: it can bring down an entire flying programme, as happened when BBMF aircraft were grounded after the crash. The inquiry’s emphasis on ambiguous maintenance literature rather than pilot error matters because the fixes it points to, clearer and more widely followed procedures, are achievable without rebuilding a Spitfire.
ADVERTISEMENT
What happens next
Expect the Ministry of Defence and the BBMF to respond to the recommendations on carburettor maintenance guidance, and to set out what longer-term changes to cockpit and restraint design might be possible. Families and veterans’ groups will be watching how quickly those commitments turn into published, unambiguous instructions for ground crews.
We do not allow links of any sort in comments. No SPAM whatsoever. On topic comments only.