Date:	Monday 9 February 1948
Time:	day
Type:	Gloster Meteor F.III
Owner/operator:	266 Sqn RAF
Registration:	EE245
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RAF Tangmere, Chichester, West Sussex, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Standing
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Tangmere, Chichester, West Sussex
Destination airport:

Narrative:
Gloster Meteor F.III EE245; Delivered to 616 (South Yorkshire) Squadron 5.2.45, at ALG B58, Melsbroek, Belgium coded 'YQ-C', later 'YQ-H'. Squadron moved 28.2.45 RAF Andrews Field, Essex, to ALG B.77, Gilze-Rijen, Netherlands 1.4.45. To ALG B.91 Nijmegen, Netherlands 13.4.45. To ALG B.109, Quakenbrück, Germany, 20.4.45. To ALG B.152, Fassberg, Germany 26.4.45.

To 2 FP (Ferry Pool); lost hood on take-off, 3.5.45; Repaired on site and returned to 616 Squadron 30.8.45, at ALG B.158/Lübeck, Germany. 616 Squadron became 263 Squadron at RAF Acklington, Northumberland 29.8.45 and aircraft coded 'HE-C'. To 222 Squadron 6.12.45. To Gloster Aircraft, Hucclecote 22.2.46 for Major Inspection. To 234 Squadron, RAF Boxted, Essex 12.6.46. To 266 Squadron, RAF Boxted, Essex 10.3.47; Squadron moved to RAF Tangmere from 16.4.47

Written off (damaged beyond repair) 9.2.48 when a mechanic was sucked into the engine and the nacelle was damaged, at RAF Tangmere, Chichester, West Sussex; the starboard engine was being run up during ground tests, and an airman standing in front of the starboard engine was sucked into the engine nacelle. He received slight injuries, and the starboard engine nacelle was slightly buckled. Damage was initially believed as slight, and the airframe was re-cat B. Damaged aircraft was sent to 54 MU, RAF Newmarket, Suffolk 10.3.48 for repairs. Damage was presumably much worse than at first thought, as EE245 was re-cat E 13.10.48 and struck off charge

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.374
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft EA100-EZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain)
4. Air Britain Aeromilitaria Summer 2009: https://air-britain.com/pdfs/aeromilitaria/Aeromilitaria_2009.pdf p.77
5. 266 Sqn RAF ORB for the period 1-7-47 to 31-1-1949: File Air 27/2491/21: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8422588
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._616_Squadron_RAF#First_on_Meteors
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._234_Squadron_RAF#Post-war_era:_from_Spitfires_to_jets
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._266_Squadron_RAF#Into_the_jet_age
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Tangmere#Postwar

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
28-Apr-2023 19:15	Dr. John Smith	Added
29-Apr-2023 02:09	Dr. John Smith	Updated