‘Damn Yankee’ belly landed

On 30 September 2023 well known Dutch warbird ‘Damn Yankee’, North American P-51D Mustang PH-PSI, made a controlled forced belly landing in the grass near the runway at Oostwold Airfield (EHOW), the Netherlands. The accident occurred after the main landing gear failed to deploy due to a hydraulic failure. The pilot and passenger were not injured and the aircraft received minor (obviously repairable) damage.

‘Damn Yankee’ is a P-51D, serial 44-74425 (c/n 122-40965). It is flown in the colours of the Mustang  which was flown during the war by Capt. Bobby Childers of USAAF 359th FS, 356th FG USAAF. Later identities of the Mustang were RCAF 9591, N6522D and N11T. In 1994 the plane was acquired by its owner Tom Karst van der Meulen. He was the first to introduce an airworthy P-51 warbird in the Netherlands. In 2005 ‘Damn Yankee’ was registered in the Netherlands as PH-PSI.

Photo: still from a Youtube footage by Meternieuws