Date:	Wednesday 11 March 1953
Time:	23:00 LT
Type:	Gloster Meteor F Mk 4
Owner/operator:	209 AFS RAF
Registration:	VT308
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Bristol Channel, north of Minehead, Somerset, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	RAF Weston Zoyland, Bridgwater, Somerset
Destination airport:	RAF Weston Zoyland, Bridgwater, Somerset
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Gloster Meteor F.Mk.4, VT308, 209 AFS (Advanced Flying School) RAF: Delivered 25/10/1948. Written off 11/3/1953 in a flying accident when flew into the Bristol Channel, north of Minehead, Somerset.

The aircraft took off from RAF Weston Zoyland, Bridgwater, Somerset on a night navigation training exercise. Approximately 20 minutes after take off R/T (Radio Telephony) contact between the aircraft and ATC (Air Traffic Control) at Weston Zoyland was lost. The Meteor was last seen over the sea off Weston-super-Mare at 23:00 hours

Also, at about this time, witnesses at the RAF Watchet Bombing Range in Somerset head a distant dull "thud", and saw an unusual flash of light out to sea. It seems probable that Meteor VT304 flew into the Bristol Channel, north of Minehead, Somerset. However, the aircraft wreckage was not recovered, so the actual cause of the accident was never discovered. The pilot was killed, but his body was not found and not recovered

Crew of Meteor VT304:
Pilot Officer (2531284) John Nuttall SHAW (pilot) RAF - killed in service 11/2/1953, body not found and not recoverd. He was born in Leeds, West Yorkshire on 22/5/1933

The subsequent RAF Board of Inquiry into the incident was hampered by the lack of wreckage, and the absence of the pilot's body. However, from what little evidence that could be gleaned from eyewitnesses, and the R/T messages to and from ATC, it seems that anoxia (Oxygen Stavation) was suspected as the likely cause of the accident. It was presumed that the pilot passed out due to anoxia, and did not recover in time to save himself and his aircraft.

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft SA100-VZ999 (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.346
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=VT

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
16-Apr-2021 00:19	Dr. John Smith	Added
16-Apr-2021 08:39	harro	Updated [Operator, Location, Narrative, Operator]
19-May-2021 17:11	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source]
19-May-2021 17:11	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source]