Date:	Sunday 26 June 1949
Time:	day
Type:	Gloster Meteor F.4
Owner/operator:	263 Sqn RAF
Registration:	RA414
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RAF Finningley, Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Landing
Nature:	Test
Departure airport:	RAF Acklington, Amble, Northumberland
Destination airport:	RAF Finningley, South Yorkshire

Narrative:
Gloster Meteor F.4 RA414: Delivered to 39 MU RAF Colerne, Chippenham Wiltshire 22.8.47. To 245 Squadron, RAF Colerne, Chippenham, Wiltshire 21.10.48 coded 'MR-H'. Cat.3(R) damaged when wing dropped in slipstream on take-off and undercarriage raised to stop, RAF Horsham St Faith, Norwich, Norfolk 19.11.48. Repaired On Site.

Returned to service with 263 Squadron RAF Acklington, Amble, Northumberland 25.6.49 coded 'HE-J'

Written off (damaged beyond repair) when overshot landing and hit tree stumps; undercarriage torn off, RAF Finningley, Doncaster, South Yorkshire 26.6.49. The pilot had been carrying out an air test on the aircraft, and had been airborne for approximately 40 minutes. He made an approach to land at RAF Finningley, at too great an altitude and too high an airspeed. The aircraft touched down a considerable distance along the runway at RAF Finningley, ran off the end of the runway, into rough ground, and struck some tree roots ripping off part of the main undercarriage and buckling the nose wheel.
Crew:
F/Lt (55523) Leslie Ernest THOROGOOD (pilot) RAF: survived OK

Not repaired; Struck Off Charge 11.7.49 as Cat.5(scrap)

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.507
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft PA100-RZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain)
4. https://air-britain.com/pdfs/aeromilitaria/Aeromilitaria_2009.pdf p.127
5. 263 Squadron ORB 1-1-1946 to 31-12-1950: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 27/2488: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C2505126
6. Photo: https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205085767
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._245_Squadron_RAF#Postwar
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._263_Squadron_RAF#Post-war
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Finningley#Post_Second_World_War

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
26-Mar-2023 08:16	Dr. John Smith	Added