Date:	Thursday 18 December 1952
Time:
Type:	Gloster Meteor F Mk 8
Owner/operator:	247 (China British) Sqn RAF
Registration:	WH442
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Alpheton Hall Farm, Alpheton, 6 miles N of Sudbury, Suffolk, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Odiham, Basingstoke, Hampshire
Destination airport:	RAF Odiham, Hampshire
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Gloster Meteor F.Mk.8 WH442: delivered 18/4/1952. Written off (damaged beyond repair) 18/12/1952. The aircraft was the number one of a three-aircraft formation, which collided with the number three aircraft (Meteor F.Mk.8 WH424, also of 247 Squadron) at 28,000 feet over Alpheton, Suffolk. Aircraft abandoned unsuccessfully, parts of the aircraft broke away, and the aircraft spun into ground at Alpheton Hall Farm, Alpheton, Babergh, 6 miles North of Sudbury, Suffolk.

Pilot ejected at 2,500 feet, but fractured his neck on the metal portion of the half-jettisoned canopy and was killed. WH442 was destroyed when it spun into the ground; WH424 made a successful emergency landing back at base (RAF Odiham, Basingstoke, Hampshire) but was not repaired and struck off charge on 6 April 1954 after repair attempts abandoned

Crew of Meteor WH442:
F/Lt John Selby GIBBINS, RAF (pilot) RAF - killed in service 18/12/1952

According to the following report from a contemporary newpaper ("The Suffolk Free Press" December 23rd 1952):

"Inquest at Alpheton on Friday evening on the pilot of a Meteor who was killed when his plane crashed on Thursday morning, Flt Lt John Gibbins aged 30 who died after a collision with another Meteor at 28,000 ft, it was reported he probably died from a broken neck when he used the ejector seat with the canopy closed.

James Mott of Rose Cottage, Bridge Street, Long Melford, was commended by the deputy Coroner, said he heard a roar of an aircraft spinning down over Alpheton Hall Farm, he rushed to the cockpit and found it empty, nearby he found the body of the pilot who was dead."

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings: Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents, Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.138 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Last Take-off: A Record of RAF Aircraft Losses 1950 to 1953 Colin Cummings p 321
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft WA100-WZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1983 p. 50)
4. 247 Squadron ROB (Operations Record Book)(Air Ministry Form AM/F.540) for the period 1/1/1951 to 31/12/1955: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 27/2670/4 at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8426885
5. Royal Air Force Aircraft WA100-WZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1983 p. 50)
6. The Suffolk Free Press December 23rd 1952
7. http://web.archive.org/web/20170421194544/http://www.ejection-history.org.uk:80/PROJECT/YEAR_Pages/1952.htm
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mid-air_collisions_and_incidents_in_the_United_Kingdom#1950s
9. http://www.wattisham.org.uk/wattisham_aviation_accidents.htm
10. http://www.foxearth.org.uk/1952-1953SuffolkFreePress.html
11. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=WH

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
12-Jun-2008 09:45	JINX	Added
12-May-2015 08:52	Xindel	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Departure airport, Destination airport, Narrative]
27-Feb-2017 00:17	Dr.John Smith	Updated [Location, Destination airport, Source, Damage, Narrative]
27-Feb-2017 00:23	Dr.John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]
27-Feb-2017 00:24	Dr.John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
05-Apr-2021 20:35	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Location, Source, Narrative]
05-Apr-2021 20:37	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Departure airport, Destination airport, Narrative]
07-Apr-2021 15:20	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Location]
16-Jul-2021 17:03	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
07-Aug-2021 21:28	BlB	Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Destination airport, Narrative, Operator]
10-Aug-2021 09:16	TB	Updated [Location, Operator]