Date:	Tuesday 20 November 1951
Time:	day
Type:	Gloster Meteor T Mk 7
Owner/operator:	205 AFS RAF
Registration:	WA720
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	near Barnard Castle, County Durham, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	RAF Middleton St. George, near Darlington, County Durham
Destination airport:	RAF Middleton St. George, Co.Durham
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Gloster Meteor T.Mk.7 WA720, 205 AFS (Advanced Flying School) RAF: delivered 26/10/1950. Written off (destroyed) 20/11/1951. Abandoned in spin during aerobatic practice near Barnard Castle, County Durham. The Student pilot was the PIC (Pilot In Command) when executing a loop during an aerobatic training sortie. The PIC attemopted to roll off the top of the loop, but had insufficient airspeed, and the Meteor stalled and entered into an inverted spin. The QFI Instructor pilot took command, but was unable to recover the aircraft from the inverted spin. Both crew therefore abandoned the aircraft, and bailed out, parachuting safely to earth.

Crew of Meteor WA720:
Flying Officer H Williams, RAF (QFI Instructor Pilot) - bailed out, survived
Pilot Officer Peter J Poppe, RAF (Student Pilot Under Instruction) - bailed out, survived

PIlot Officer Peter J Poppe was the same pilot who was killed in the crash of Gloster Javelin FAW.9 XH959 ("U" of 64 Squadron) on approach to Changi, Singapore on 8/11/1965 (which see)

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.122 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Royal Air Force Aircraft WA100-WZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1983)
3. Last Take Off; A Catalogue of RAF Aircraft Losses 1950 to 1953 by Colin Cummings p.197
4. 205 AFS ORB (Operations Record Book)(Air Ministry Form AM/F.540) for the period 1/1/1951 to 31/5/1954: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 29/2145/2 at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C7162859
5. http://www.dtvmovements.co.uk/Info/History/Accidents.htm
6. https://www.nelsam.org.uk/NEAR/Losses/Losses-PostWWII.htm
7. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=WA

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
31-May-2008 11:40	JINX	Added
07-Jun-2008 02:04	JINX	Updated
11-May-2015 19:50	DB	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator]
24-Oct-2017 21:34	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Phase, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
11-Aug-2020 05:40	Anon.	Updated [Narrative]
15-Feb-2021 00:32	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Operator, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
15-Feb-2021 10:07	Slizack	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Nature, Destination airport, Operator]
15-Feb-2021 21:28	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Operator, Narrative]
16-Feb-2021 10:19	Slizack	Updated [Operator, Operator]
10-Apr-2021 16:58	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source]