Date:	Monday 9 February 1953
Time:	10:53
Type:	Gloster Meteor T Mk 7
Owner/operator:	209 AFS RAF
Registration:	WL455
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Liscombe Farm, 4 miles north west of Dulverton, Somerset, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	RAF Weston Zoyland, Bridgwater, Somerset
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Gloster Meteor T.Mk.7, WL455, 209 AFS (Advanced Flying School) RAF: Delivered 15/9/1952. Written off 9/2/1953 in a flying accident near Liscombe Farm, four miles north west of Dulverton, Somerset

The pupil pilot under instruction was approximately half-way through his flying training course. On the day of the accident, he had been instructed to carry out instrument flying practice under the supervision of a QFI (Qualified Flying Instructor). The planned sortie was to take off from RAF Weston Zoyland, Bridgwater, Sedgemoor, Somerset, and head to Exmoor in Devon to conduct the flying training. The weather forccast was predicted to be low clouds over the Exmoor area.

The aircraft was seen to climb steeply out of a valley, and to enter low cloud over high ground. The Meteor was heard to be circling. Shortly afterwards, the aircraft emerged from the cloulds, and then dived into the ground approximately four miles north west of Dulverton, Somerset, between Liscombe Farm and Tarr Steps. Both crew were killed

Crew of Meteor WL433:
Sergeant (4029506) Frederick James Samuel STOCKLEY (QFI Instructor pilot) RAF- killed in service 9/2/1953, buried at Weston Zoyland Cemetery, Bridgwater, Somerset
Pilot Officer (3134036) Raymond Kenneth WOODS (pupil pilot under instruction) RAF - killed in service 9/2/1953, buried at Weston Zoyland Cemetery, Bridgwater, Somerset

Both crew were interred in adjacent graves. The body of Pilot Officer Woods was found close to Knaplock Farm, approximately half-a-mile from where the Meteor crashed. His wristwatch had stopped at 10:53am, and his parachute was unopened in its pack, which was still atached to his body.

The body of Sergeant Stockley was found in Westwater Wood one mile from the Meteor crash site. His parachute cords were still attached to his parachute harness, but the parachute itself was missing. It was presumed by the RAF Board of Inqury that the parachute had "snagged" on the cockpit canopy of the Meteor, and was torn away

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft WA100-WZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain)
2. Halley, James (1999). Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents. Tunbridge Wells, Kent, United Kingdom: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. ISBN 0-85130-290-4. p 141)
3. Last Take Off; A Catalogue of RAF Aircraft Losses 1950 to 1953 by Colin Cummings p.333
4. Wings Over Somerset: Aircraft Crashes since the End of World War II By Peter Forrester
5. 209 AFS ORB (Operational Record Book)(Air Ministry Form AM/F.540) for the period 1/7/1952 to 31/5/1954: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 29/2148/1 at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C7162862
6. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=WL
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Weston_Zoyland#Subsequent_RAF_use
8. https://www.bridgwatermercury.co.uk/news/10449612.in-pictures-new-archive-documents-raf-westonzoyland-airfield/
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dulverton

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
12-Apr-2021 21:09	Dr. John Smith	Added
13-Apr-2021 03:53	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
13-Apr-2021 15:36	Pink	Updated [Operator, Location, Narrative, Operator]
14-Apr-2021 22:12	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
16-Apr-2021 00:13	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source]