Date:	Friday 11 January 1946
Time:	09:45
Type:	Airspeed Oxford Mk II
Owner/operator:	21 (P) AFU RAF
Registration:	LX673
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Shutlingsloe, NW of Wildboarclough, near Macclesfield, Cheshire -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	RAF Wheaton Aston, Staffordshire
Destination airport:

Narrative:
Airspeed Oxford LX673 of 21 (Pilots) Advanced Flying Unit (21 (P) AFU), RAF Wheaton Aston, Staffordshire: Written off (destroyed) 11 January 1946 due to a CFIT (Controlled Flight into Terrain) when crashed at Shutlingsloe, North West of Wildboarclough, near Macclesfield, Cheshire, while on a Beam Approach training flight from RAF Wheaton Aston, Staffordshire

The pupil pilot was receiving training in the use of Standard Beam Approach equipment and had been airborne from Wheaton Aston for some 37 minutes when, at 09:45 the aircraft struck high ground towards the northern end of Wildboarclough. It was determined that the pilot was descending along the back beam but had descended too low.

The accident was described in the Manchester Guardian on the 12th January 1946: “A Flying Officer and a Sergeant observer from Wheaton Aston RAF station in an Oxford training plane were killed when the aircraft crashed in thick mist on a hill at Wildboarclough near Macclesfield yesterday morning. It is believed that the plane struck the top of a small hill, smashed a wing and then fell backwards about 100 feet into a deep gully. The two killed were 162316 Flying Officer Oliver and 162582 Flight Sergeant Bulcock.”

In the Manchester Evening News on the 11th January 1946 there was a photograph showing one of the aircraft’s engines that had rolled down the hill after the crash.

Crew of Oxford LX673
F/O (162316) David Fairless Oliver (Instructor) RAFVR- killed in active service 11/1/46, buried at St. James Churchyard, Stivichall, Coventry, Warwickshire
F/Sgt (1625826) Eric Bulcock (Pilot u/t) RAFVR- killed on active service 11/1/46, buried at Burnley Cemetery, Burnley, Lancashire

The reported crash location of Wildboarclough (pronounced Will'berclough) is a village in east Cheshire, England, in the civil parish of Macclesfield Forest and Wildboarclough within the Peak District National Park. Shutlingsloe (Elevation 506 metres (1,660 ft)), is a hill north-west of the village of Wildboarclough, in the east of the county of Cheshire. It stands to the south of Macclesfield Forest, on the edge of the Peak District and within the Peak District National Park.

1. Halley, James (1999). Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents. Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.23. ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. The Oxford Consul & Envoy File (John F Hamlin, Air Britain, 2001 p 190)
3. Final Landings: A Summary of RAF Aircraft and Combat Losses 1946 to 1949 by Colin Cummings p.32
4. Manchester Evening News 11th January 1946
5. Manchester Guardian 12th January 1946
6. 21 PAFU RAF ORB for the period 1-7-1943 to 31-7-1947: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR29/549/4: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C7160833
7. https://www.peakdistrictaircrashes.co.uk/crash_sites/peak-district/airspeed-oxford-lx673-wildboarclough/
8. http://peakwreckhunters.blogspot.co.uk/2008/01/airspeed-oxford-mki-lx673.html
9. https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-airspeed-as10-oxford-t1-wildboarclough-2-killed
10. http://www.planetrace.co.uk/1940-1949_28.html
11. "RAF Write-offs 1946": Air Britain Aeromilitaria 1979 p.94: https://air-britain.com/pdfs/aeromilitaria/Aeromilitaria_1979.pdf
12. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2714858/oliver,-david-fairless/
13. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2698097/bulcock,-eric/
14. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/143482345/david-fairless-oliver
15. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/32499129/eric-bulcock
16. http://rafcommands.com/database/wardead/details.php?qnum=34150
17. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wildboarclough
18. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shutlingsloe

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
27-Sep-2008 01:00	ASN archive	Added
28-Jul-2017 19:05	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Source, Damage, Narrative]
12-Jan-2018 07:24	XindelX	Updated [Operator]
03-Nov-2019 03:25	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]
03-Nov-2019 03:31	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source]
31-May-2021 18:44	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Location, Source, Narrative]
15-Jul-2023 10:39	Nepa	Updated [[Location, Source, Narrative]]
27-Jul-2023 20:59	Dr. John Smith	Updated [[[Location, Source, Narrative]]]
29-Jul-2023 20:14	Dr. John Smith	Updated [[[[Location, Source, Narrative]]]]