Date:	Wednesday 22 October 1952
Time:	day
Type:	Gloster Meteor F Mk 4
Owner/operator:	215 AFS RAF
Registration:	VT224
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	near RAF Finningley, Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Approach
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	RAF Finningley, South Yorkshire
Destination airport:	RAF Finningley, South Yorkshire
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Gloster Meteor F.Mk.4 VT224, 215 AFS, RAF: Written off (destroyed) 22/10/52 when crashed near RAF Finningley, Doncaster, South Yorkshire.

The aircraft was on final approach to RAF Finningley but overshot the approach line due to crosswinds. To try and regain the approach line, the pilot increased the rate of turn, but the Meteor rapidly lost altitude, either due to sideslip or a stall. The aircraft then began to straighten up, but the port wing hit the ground, the aircraft cartwheeled, and broke up in flight. The pilot was killed.

Pilot of Meteor VT224
Pilot Officer Ray William TAIT (pilot) RAF - killed on active service 22/10/52

Note that one of the official files into the incident at The National Archives at Kew (File AVIA 5/32/S2599 - see link #5) states that the aircraft involved was Meteor F.4 VT244. However, Meteor F.4 VT244 had already crashed on 13/9/1951 at RAF Driffield, North Yorkshire - over one year earlier.

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p. 136 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Last Take-off: A Record of RAF Aircraft Losses 1950 to 1953 by Colin Cummings p 303
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft SA100-VZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1985 p 84)
4. 215 AFS ORB (Operations Record Book)(Air Ministry Form AM/F.540) for the period 1/2/1952 to 30/6/1954: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 29/2143/3 at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C7162857
5. National Archives (PRO Kew) File BT233/119: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C424240
6. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AVIA 5/32/S2599: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C6578445
7. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=VT

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
31-Dec-2019 20:34	Dr. John Smith	Added
01-Jan-2020 09:00	stehlik49	Updated [Operator, Nature, Operator]
07-Dec-2020 23:20	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Operator, Source, Narrative]
08-Dec-2020 17:50	stehlik49	Updated [Operator, Location, Operator]
26-Mar-2021 21:25	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Operator, Source, Narrative]
27-Mar-2021 10:07	MiG17	Updated [Operator, Narrative, Operator]