Date:	Wednesday 20 August 1952
Time:	day
Type:	Gloster Meteor F Mk 4
Owner/operator:	205 AFS RAF
Registration:	RA429
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Great Stainton, 7 miles N of RAF Middleton St. George, County Durham -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.)
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	RAF Middleton St. George, Co. Durham
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Gloster Meteor F.Mk.4 RA429, 205 AFS, RAF: Written off (destroyed) 20/8/1952. The aircraft took off from RAF Middleton St. George, near Darlington, County Durham, to carry out aerobatics in an area of clear sky to the west of the airfield. During the flight, a call was made to ATC (Air Traffic Control) at RAF Middleton St. George by the pilot. The call was followed by an unintelligible call, with sounds of heavy breathing, due to the 'transmission' button being pressed. Because the aircraft was transmitting continuously, ATC could not send a reply.

The Meteor was then seen to dive into the ground out of cloud at Great Stainton, County Durham, approximately seven miles north of RAF Middleton St. George. The pilot was killed
Crew of Meteor RA429:
Pilot Officer Thomas James BURROWS (pilot) RAF - killed in service 20/8/1952

The RAF Board of inquiry could not establish a definite reason for the crash. However, the actions of the pilot (the heavy breathing, and continuous transmitting), and his lack of reaction to pulling the aircraft out of a terminal dive, indicated a possible 'passing out' due to either anoxia (oxygen starvation) and/or carbon monoxide poisioning.

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p. 131 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Last Take-off: A Record of RAF Aircraft Losses 1950 to 1953 by Colin Cummings p 262
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft PA100-RZ999 (James J. Halley, Air Britain)
4. 205 AFS ORB (Operations Record Book)(Air Ministry Form AM/F.540) for the period 1/1/1951 to 31/5/1954: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 29/2145/2 at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C7162859
5. https://www.nelsam.org.uk/NEAR/Losses/Losses-PostWWII.htm
6. http://www.dtvmovements.co.uk/Info/History/Accidents.htm
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Stainton

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
20-Mar-2021 16:08	Dr. John Smith	Added
20-Mar-2021 21:15	Charlie Harper	Updated [Operator, Location, Departure airport, Narrative, Operator]
20-Mar-2021 23:39	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
16-Jul-2023 18:39	Nepa	Updated [[Narrative]]