Date:	Monday 30 June 1952
Time:	day
Type:	Gloster Meteor F Mk 4
Owner/operator:	2 FU RAF
Registration:	RA483
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Shepton Beauchamp, 4 miles NE of Ilminster, Somerset -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Ferry/positioning
Departure airport:	RAF St. Eval, Cornwall
Destination airport:	RAF Merryfield, Ilton, Ilchester, Somerset (EGDI)
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Gloster Meteor F.Mk.4 RA483, 2 FU (Ferry Unit) RAF: Written off (destroyed) 30/6/1952. The aircraft was on a ferry flight, and diverted to RAF St. Eval, Cornwall when the pilot discovered that the ventral tank was not filling with fuel. On arrival at RAF St. Eval, he discovered that the area was covered with low stratus cloud. The pilot contacted ATC (Air Traffic Control) at St. Eval to request a GCA (Ground Controlled Approach). However ATC at St. Eval did not respond, and the pilot decided to divert to RAF Merryfield, Ilton, Ilchester, Somerset.

While on the diversion flight between St. Eval and Merryfield, the aircraft ran out of fuel, and the pilot bailed out from 6,000 feet. The Meteor came down to earth at the crossroads between Shepton Beauchamp and South Petherton, making a hole in the ground 15 feet deep on impact. On impact, the aircraft's fuel tanks ignited, and there was an explosion, destroying the Meteor.

Crew of Meteor RA483:
Sergeant Pilot Berosckiewicz, RAF (pilot, Polish National) - bailed out, survived

The pilot later told onlookers that he had tried to bale out of the stricken jet three times before he was finally successful. The reported crash location of Shepton Beauchamp is a village and civil parish, 1 mile from Barrington and 4 miles north east of Ilminster between the Blackdown Hills and the Somerset Levels in the South Somerset district of Somerset, England.

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.130 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Wings Over Somerset: Aircraft Crashes since the End of World War II By Peter Forrester
3. Last Take Off; A Catalogue of RAF Aircraft Losses 1950 to 1953 by Colin Cummings p.265
4. Western Gazette 4 July 1952
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shepton_Beauchamp

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
13-Mar-2021 20:44	Dr. John Smith	Added
15-Mar-2021 15:20	HB	Updated [Operator, Operator]