Date:	Thursday 15 January 1948
Time:
Type:	Gloster Meteor F Mk III
Owner/operator:	222 (Natal) Sqn RAF
Registration:	EE394
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RAF Tangmere, Chichester, West Sussex, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Landing
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Tangmere, West Sussex
Destination airport:	RAF Tangmere, West Sussex

Narrative:
Gloster Meteor F.III EE394: Delivered to 124 Squadron, RAF Molesworth 21.9.45. To CRD (Controller Research & Development) at Gloster Aircraft, Hucclecote, Gloucestershire by 3.46. To A&AEE Boscombe Down, Wiltshire by 10.46. To 222 (Natal) Squadron 1.4.47 coded 'ZD-B'.

Written off (damaged beyond repair) 15-1-48 when overshot landing, swung off runway and undercarriage collapsed, RAF Tangmere, Chichester, West Sussex; the aircraft was engaged in a cine-camera gun and GCA (Ground Controlled Approach) training sortie, and had been airborne for approximately 55 minutes. The aircraft was landing back at base (RAF Tangmere) at a higher-than-normal airspeed, due to an increased all up weight, and the brakes were unable to stop the aircraft during the landing run. The pilot then swung the aircraft off the runway and onto the perimeter track, but the aircraft then skidded sideways, and the undercarriage collapsed.

Pilot Squadron Leader S H Troughton-Smith survived the incident OK

Wreckage recovered to 32 MU RAF St Athan, South Glamorgan 28.1.48. Nor repaired, re-cat E 5.8.49 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 1946-1949 p.363 by Colin Cummings
3. 222 Sqn ORB for the period 1-6-1946 to 31-12-1950: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR27/2475: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C2505113
4. Royal Air Force Aircraft EA100-EZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain)
5. Air Britain Aeromilitaria Summer 2009: https://air-britain.com/pdfs/aeromilitaria/Aeromilitaria_2009.pdf p.74
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._222_Squadron_RAF
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Tangmere#Postwar

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
02-May-2023 20:52	Dr. John Smith	Added
02-May-2023 20:53	Dr. John Smith	Updated
03-May-2023 09:22	Nepa	Updated