Date:	Monday 2 November 1953
Time:	night
Type:	Gloster Meteor F Mk 4
Owner/operator:	209 AFS RAF
Registration:	VT305
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RAF Weston Zoyland, Bridgwater, Somerset, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Approach
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, VT305, 209 AFS (Advanced Flying School) RAF: Delivered 27/10/1948. Written off (damaged beyond repair) 2/11/1953 in a landing accident at RAF Weston Zoyland, Bridgwater, Somerset.

The Meteor crashed while attempting a landing at night at RAF Weston Zoyland, Bridgwater, Somerset. Both engines had been deliberately shut down in order to simulate an "engines out" emergency landing. However, the aircraft subsequently failed to respond to the re-opening of both throttles, and the aircraft then undershot the runway.

The aircraft skidded along the undershoot area, and the underside of the aircraft was sufficiently badly damaged to render the airframe as "damaged beyond economic repair". The wreckage was recovered by (and to) 49 MU RAF Colerne, Chippenham, Wiltshire, where it was Struck Off Charge as Cat.5(c) on 7/12/1953. The pilot, however, appears to have survived uninjured.

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 151)
3. Last Take Off; A Catalogue of RAF Aircraft Losses 1950 to 1953 by Colin Cummings p.423
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
20-May-2021 22:42	Dr. John Smith	Added
20-May-2021 22:45	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
21-May-2021 09:07	siczak	Updated [Operator, Location, Operator]
22-May-2021 16:22	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]