Date:	Wednesday 24 March 1954
Time:	20:45
Type:	Gloster Meteor NF Mk 11
Owner/operator:	228 OCU RAF
Registration:	WD778
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Dufton Fell, 7.5 miles NE of Appleby, County Durham -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Approach
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Leeming, North Yorkshire
Destination airport:	RAF Leeming, North Yorkshire
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
At 19.00hrs on the 24th of March 1954 the crew of this Meteor took off from Leeming to undertake a training flight over northern England, flying first to Acklington, then to Scampton and then returning to Leeming. Nearing the end of the exercise the crew headed back for Leeming, and five miles out they were instructed by ground control to switch to the Ground Controlled Approach (GCA) frequency, the pilot acknowledged this but nothing further was heard from the crew.

The crew probably suffered complete radio failure, the crew then aborted the landing and climbed and flew off but became lost. Some time later their fuel began to run low and instead of then baling out the pilot descended, probably thinking he was closer to Leeming than he actually was, they were thought to have descended to try and locate their position. The aircraft struck the brow of the high ground to the north of Appleby whilst flying at a shallow angle and broke up killing the two airmen instantly at 20:45 hrs. The aircraft was located five days later by a gamekeeper who contacted the authorities.

The direction the aircraft was heading can be seen today by a imprint of the Meteor in the hillside to the west of where the main wreckage is to be seen today. Ironically had the aircraft continued in that direction but higher they may well have flown over the Pennines and back towards base.

Crew:
Pilot - Pilot Officer John David Briggs RAF (Service Number 4085444), aged 21, of Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. Buried Leeming Churchyard, Yorkshire.
Navigator/Radar Operator - Flying Officer Derrick Walker RAF (Service Number 4081946), aged 21, of Carlisle, Cumberland. Buried Leeming Churchyard, Yorkshire.

A sad footnote to the visit is that some major items have recently been stolen from the site. There are pictures readily available on the internet that show a huge wing section and two whole fan blade hub complete with blades from the engine were there in June 2013 but by November of the same year had gone.

Due to very clear tracks it was clear that a large ATV had recently visited the site , perhaps this was the method of wreckage removal too.

The site is relatively easy to visit , the Pennine Way passes close by and a metalled road leading up to a radar installation is only just on the other side of the hill.

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.155 ISBN 0-85130-290-4
2. Royal Air Force Aircraft WA100-WZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1983 p 30)
3. Category Five; A Catalogue of RAF Aircraft Losses 1954 to 2009 by Colin Cummings p.46
4. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=WD
5. https://militaryaircraftcrashsites.blogspot.com/2013/12/meteor-wd778.html
6. https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/4681446
7. http://aircrashsites.co.uk/post-war-crash-sites/attachment/837/
8. https://www.peakdistrictaircrashes.co.uk/crash_sites/pennines/gloster-meteor-wd778-dufton-fell/
9. http://bluestoneimages.blogspot.com/2013/06/gloster-meteor-jet-wd-778-knock-fell.html
10. http://www.wtdwhd.co.uk/Great%20Dunn%20Fell.html
11. https://www.nelsam.org.uk/NEAR/Losses/Losses-PostWWII.htm
12. http://www.yorkshire-aircraft.co.uk/aircraft/planes/dales/wd778.html
13. http://www.planetrace.co.uk/1950-1959_26.html
14. Photo of wreckage in November 2013: https://www.flickr.com/photos/pasujoba44/11155587364/in/album-72157638254481136/
15. Photo of wreckage in November 2013: https://www.flickr.com/photos/pasujoba44/11155544525/in/album-72157638254481136/ .

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
03-Jun-2008 15:04	JINX	Added
05-Mar-2014 08:18	Nepa	Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Operator, Departure airport, Destination airport, Narrative]
06-Apr-2020 22:48	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Location, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
07-Apr-2020 16:10	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]