Date:	Tuesday 16 August 1949
Time:	day
Type:	Gloster Meteor F Mk III
Owner/operator:	6 MU RAF
Registration:	EE357
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RAF Brize Norton, Carterton, Oxfordshire, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Take off
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Brize Norton, Carterton, Oxfordshire (BZZ/EGVN)
Destination airport:

Narrative:
Gloster Meteor F.III EE357: Delivered to 1335 CU (Conversion Unit) 28.8.45, RAF Bentwaters, Suffolk, coded 'XL-B'; unit became 226 OCU 15.8.46 and aircraft re-coded 'HFO-N'. To 245 Squadron, RAF Colerne, Chippenham, Wiltshire 28.8.46. To Eastern Sector 31.10.46 coded 'HBW'. Returned to 245 Squadron 29.1.48. To 56 Squadron, RAF Duxford, Cambridgeshire 18.3.48. To 39 MU, RAF Colerne 1.9.48. To 6 MU RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire 9.9.48.

Written off when wing dropped on take-off from RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire, 16.9.49; the aileron controls had been incorrectly re-assembled during maintenance. The error was not noticed during inspection. The Meteor took off from Brize Norton, and became airborne at an approximate airspeed of 100 knots. Immediately after lift-off, the port wing dropped. Full rudder applied, but it had no effect, and the port wing continued to drop. The pilot then closed the throttle, and made a straight-ahead landing.

Not repaired; Struck off charge as Cat.5(s) 29.3.50 and sold as scrap to S Collins & Co

1. Halley, James (1999). Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents. Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Final Landings: A Summary of RAF Aircraft and Combat Losses 1946 to 1949 by Colin Cummings p.522
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft EA100-EZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain)
4. https://air-britain.com/pdfs/aeromilitaria/Aeromilitaria_2009.pdf p.73
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._226_Operational_Conversion_Unit_RAF#Operational_history
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._245_Squadron_RAF#Postwar
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Brize_Norton#Royal_Air_Force

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
23-Sep-2023 20:25	Nepa	Updated