Date:	Sunday 15 March 1953
Time:	day
Type:	Gloster Meteor F Mk 4
Owner/operator:	215 AFS RAF
Registration:	RA448
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RAF Finningley, South Yorkshire. England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.)
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	RAF Finningley, South Yorkshire
Destination airport:	RAF Finningley, South Yorkshire
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Gloster Meteor F.Mk.4 RA448, 205 AFS, RAF: Written off (destroyed) 15 March 1953 in a mid-air collision with Gloster Meteor F.Mk.4 VW262 over RAF Finningley, South Yorkshire. Both crew survived uninjured.

Meteor RA448 was engaged in aerobatics practice over RAF Finningley; during this, the pilot of Meteor RA448 saw another Meteor (VW262) about 200 feet below him. He immediately abandoned the aerobatics practice, and positioned his aircraft to fly straight and level, in order to try and get clear of the other aircraft. In doing this manouevre, he lost sight of the other aircraft.

Very shortly afterwards, Meteor RA448 was struck from below by Meteor VW262. The pilot of Meteor RA448 regained control of his aircraft, but the port engine had failed (possibly due to impact damage), so the pilot of Meteor RA448 made an attempt to land immediately at RAF Finningley.

At an altitude of approximately 5,000 feet and four miles from RAF Finningley, the other still-operating (starboard) engine also failed. The pilot then made an engineless "straight in" approach and flapless landing at RAF Fiiningley, with the undercarriage retracted. The pilot escaped without injury.

Pilot of Meteor RA448
Pilot Officer (4078064) P E G Freddi, RAF (pilot) - survived uninjured

The incident did no harm to the career of the pilot - he was promoted to the rank of Flight Lieutenant on 8 June 1959 (see link #5)

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.142 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Last Take-off: A Record of RAF Aircraft Losses 1950 to 1953 by Colin Cummings p 349
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft PA100-RZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1985 p 84)
4. 215 AFS ORB (Operations Record Book)(Air Ministry Form AM/F.540) for the period 1/2/1952 to 30/6/1954: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 29/2143/3 at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C7162857
5. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/41763/supplement/4463/data.pdf

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
17-Apr-2021 18:47	Dr. John Smith	Added
18-Apr-2021 16:28	Komes	Updated [Operator, Location, Operator]