Date:	Monday 10 August 1953
Time:	day
Type:	Gloster Meteor T Mk 7
Owner/operator:	141 Sqn RAF
Registration:	WA724
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RAF Horsham St. Faith, Norwich, Norfolk, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Approach
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Horsham St. Faith, Norwich, Norfolk
Destination airport:	RAF Horsham St. Faith, Norwich, Norfolk
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Gloster Meteor T.Mk.7 WA724, 141 Squadron, RAF: Delivered 23/11/1950. Written off (destroyed) 10/8/1953: After a normal GCA (Ground Controlled Approach) to RAF Horsham St, Faith, Norwich, Norfolk to approximately half a mile range, the aircraft was 40 feet below the glide path, and the pilot was instructed to look ahead and overshoot his approach.

Almost immediately, radar contact was lost, and the aircraft was found to have struck the ground and disintegrated 200 yards short of the runway. It seems possible the that safety pilot may have been alarmed at the low altitude and had advanced the throttles too quickly, causing the port engine to flame out, and the aircraft to lose control at a critical stage of the overshoot. Both crew were killed

Crew of Meteor T.7 WA724:
Pilot Officer George Beaton RAF (pilot, Service Number 2515947, aged 20) - killed in service 10/8/1953
Pilot Officer Derek Cecil Gowen RAF (co-pilot) - killed in service 10/8/1953

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Royal Air Force Aircraft WA100-WZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain)
3. Last Take Off: A Record of RAF Aircraft Losses 1950 to 1953 by Colin Cummings p.399
4. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=WA
5. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AVIA 5/32/S2645: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C6578491
6. National Archives (PRO Kew) File BT233/164: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C424285
7. 141 Squadron ORB (Operations Record Book)(Air Ministry Form AM/F.540) for the period 18/1/1951 to 31/12/1955: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 27/2647 at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C2505285

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
31-May-2008 11:42	JINX	Added
09-Jun-2008 11:43	JINX	Updated
17-Jun-2013 13:34	Nepa	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Destination airport]
17-Jun-2015 09:04	ABBA	Updated [Aircraft type, Location]
04-Oct-2018 13:17	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Operator]
07-Dec-2020 19:02	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Location, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
07-May-2021 16:33	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
12-Sep-2021 17:34	KarenG	Updated [Narrative]