Date:	Monday 2 February 1953
Time:	day
Type:	Gloster Meteor F Mk 4
Owner/operator:	203 AFS RAF
Registration:	VW282
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	North Sea, off Flamborough Head, North Yorkshire, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.)
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	RAF Driffeld, East Yorkshire
Destination airport:	RAF Driffeld, East Yorkshire
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Gloster Meteor T.Mk.7 VW282, 203 AFS (Advanced Flying School), RAF: Delivered 3/2/1949. Written off 2/2/1953 when crashed into the North Sea, off Flamborough Head, North Yorkshire.

The pilot had taken off from RAF Driffield for an aerobatics practice sortie, followed by controlled descents, and practice asymmetric (single engine) flying. He checked in with the ATC (Air Traffic Control) at RAF Driffeld shortly after take off. Nothing further was heard from the pilot of Meteor VW282.

The presumption that the aircraft had crashed into the North Sea, off Flamborough Head, North Yorkshire comes from a trawler skipper, who heard aircraft "jet engine noise" while he was fishing off Flamborough Head, and then he reported seeing a splash into the sea on the horizon. The pilot was klled; however, as the aircraft was never found, the pilot's body was never recovered, and the cause of the accident was never discovered.

Crew of Meteor VW282
Pilot Officer Brian Francis COOMBS (pilot) RAF - killed in service 2/2/1953, body not found, not recovered.

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p. 141 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Last Take-off: A Record of RAF Aircraft Losses 1950 to 1953 by Colin Cummings p 337
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft SA100-VZ999 (James J. Halley, Air Britain, 1985 p.94)
4. 203 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 29/2145/1 at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C7162858
5. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=VW
CWGC

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
11-Apr-2021 16:21	Dr. John Smith	Added
11-Apr-2021 16:23	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]
12-Apr-2021 18:30	Jouda42	Updated [Operator, Location, Narrative, Operator]
12-Apr-2021 18:30	Jouda42	Updated [Source, Operator]