Date:	Thursday 12 March 1953
Time:	day
Type:	Gloster Meteor F Mk 8
Owner/operator:	63 Sqn RAF
Registration:	WK658
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RAF Acklington, Northumberland -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Waterbeach, Cambridgeshire
Destination airport:	RAF Acklington, Northumberland
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Gloster Meteor F.Mk.8 WK658, 63 Squadron RAF: delivered 21/3/1952. Written off 12/3/1953: The aircrft, based at RAF Waterbeach, Cambridgeshire, was at 2,500 feet and 450 knots when the canopy disintegrated, flew off and damaged the aircraft's fin. The pilot - Pilot Officer W P Shepherd - did not eject or bail out, but stayed with his aircraft, and made an emergency landing at RAF Acklington, Northumberland

However, the aircraft was deemed "damaged beyond economic repair" and Struck off Charge as Cat.5(c). The pilot was only slightly injured.

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.142 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Last Take-off: A Record of RAF Aircraft Losses 1950 to 1953 by Colin Cummings p 347
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft WA100-WZ999 (James J. Halley, Air Britain, 1983)
4. 63 Squadron ORB (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 27/2626/1 at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8424984
5. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=WK
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._63_Squadron_RAF#Post-war:_enter_the_jets

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
18-Jun-2008 19:45	JINX	Added
25-Dec-2012 17:50	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Location, Country, Source]
12-May-2015 12:55	Charlie Harper	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location]
17-Apr-2021 17:05	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]