Date:	Monday 14 February 1949
Time:	day
Type:	Gloster Meteor F Mk 4
Owner/operator:	56 (Punjab) Sqn RAF
Registration:	VT193
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	near Lower Hardres, 4 miles south of Canterbury, Kent, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Wattisham, Suffolk
Destination airport:

Narrative:
Gloster Meteor F.4 VT193: Delivered to 56 Squadron RAF 24.6.48 coded 'L'.

Written off (destroyed) 14.2.49 when ran out of fuel while lost and abandoned near Lower Hardres, 4 miles South of Canterbury, Kent. The pilot took off in Meteor VT193 without discovering that the radio on the particular aircraft was unserviceable. The aircraft should not have been released to the pilot before rectification of the radio problems, followed by an air test to make sure that the radio worked properly. However, the aircraft was passed "fit for service" despite this.

While in flight, during a cine-gun sortie, the pilot became lost. With the radio u/s he was unable to call ATC to request a heading for return to base. The pilot then simply flew around, looking for a place to land until the fuel ran out. When the engines failed due to a lack of fuel, the pilot bailed out, and the Meteor dived into the ground at Lower Hardres, four miles south of Canterbury.

Crew:
F/Lt C.G Lewis (pilot) RAF bailed out safely, slightly injured in 'hard' parachute landing

Lower Hardres is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Lower Hardres and Nackington, in the City of Canterbury District of Kent, England.

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.475
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft SA100-VZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain)
4. 56 Squadron ORB for the period 1-4-1946 to 31-12-1950: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR27/2423/1: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8420014
5. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=VT
6. https://air-britain.com/pdfs/military/Crashes_in_the_South_East.pdf
7. https://air-britain.com/pdfs/aeromilitaria/Aeromilitaria_2009.pdf p 174
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._56_Squadron_RAF#Early_Cold_War_(1946%E2%80%931960)
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lower_Hardres

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
03-Apr-2023 14:04	Dr. John Smith	Added