Date:	Tuesday 9 September 1952
Time:	day
Type:	Gloster Meteor F Mk III
Owner/operator:	206 AFS RAF
Registration:	EE401
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Station Road, Over, near Swavesey, Cambridgeshire, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.)
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	RAF Oakington, Cambridgeshire
Destination airport:	RAF Oakington, Cambridgeshire
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Gloster Meteor F.Mk.4, EE401, 206 AFS, RAF Oakington, Cambridgeshire: Written off (destroyed) 9/9/52 in a mid-air collision with another Meteor (F.Mk.4 VZ405) over Swavsey, three miles south east of St Ives, Cambridgeshire. During a formation change, from 'line astern' to 'echelon starboard', Meteor EE401 collided with Meteor VZ405. Meteor EE401 came off worst, losing its tail. Both pilots bailed out safely. According to a contemporary newspaper report ("Ely Standard" 10 September 1952):

"Two Meteor jet aircraft collided in mid-air over Swavesey. One of the pilots landed near the church & the other near the Pike and Eel public house. The landlady observed: “We often have pilots calling here - but not by parachute!”. The electricity supply was cut when one of the planes struck an electric cable in Mow Fen, Swavesey.

The other fell in a meadow behind Station Road, Over. Firemen put out magnesium flames which broke out in one of the engines after its impact on hitting the ground. The two aircraft were on a training flight from R.A.F. Station, Oakington"

The reported crash location of Over is a large village near the River Great Ouse in the English county of Cambridgeshire, just east of the Prime Meridian. The parish covers an area of approximately 2,535 acres (1,026 ha). It is ten miles (16 km) east of the town of Huntingdon and is also ten miles (16 km) northwest from the city of Cambridge.

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. Last Take-off: A Record of RAF Aircraft Losses 1950 to 1953 by Colin Cummings p 260
3. 206 AFS ORB (Operational Record Book)(Air Ministry File AM/F,540) for the period 1/10/1951 to 31/5/1954: National Archives (PRO Kew) file AIR 29/2146/1 at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C7162860
4. "Ely Standard" 10 September 1952
5. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=VZ
6. http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?9765-Meteor-losses-at-206-AFS-RAF-Oakington-1951-to-January-1953
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swavesey
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Over,_Cambridgeshire
9. https://archive.org/stream/CambridgeshireAviationScrapbook1897To1990.doc/Cambridgeshire%20Aviation%20Scrapbook%201897%20to%201990.doc_djvu.txt

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
22-Mar-2021 19:49	Dr. John Smith	Added
23-Mar-2021 12:27	Vicktor	Updated [Operator, Location, Nature, Operator]
23-Mar-2021 18:12	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source]
19-Apr-2021 22:33	Dr.John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]