Date:	Sunday 24 June 1951
Time:	day
Type:	Gloster Meteor F Mk 8
Owner/operator:	56 (Punjab) Sqn RAF
Registration:	WA771
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RAF Waterbeach, Cambridgeshire, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Approach
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:
Destination airport:	RAF Waterbeach, Cambridgeshire
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Gloster Meteor F8, WA771, 56 (Punjab) Squadron, RAF: delivered 20/11/1950. Written off 24/4/1951 when crashed at RAF Waterbeach, Cambridgeshire. The aircraft was landing at RAF Waterbeach as the number two aircraft as part of formation landing of two, when it stalled on final approach and landed heavily in the undershoot area. The formation leader failed to appreciate that Meteor WA771 was more heavily laden that his own aircraft, and this had a higher stalling speed, for which he should have made allowance in setting his own approach speed.

The pilot of Meteor WA771 should likewise have made allowances for this problem, diagnosed the situation and taken recover action earlier than he did. Although Meteor WA771 was written off, the pilot survived uninjured.

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.115 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Last Take-off: A Record of RAF Aircraft Losses 1950 to 1953 Colin Cummings p 150
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft WA100-WZ999 (James J. Halley, Air Britain, 1983)
4. 56 Squadron ORB (Operations Record Book)(Air Ministry Form AM/F.540) for the period 1/1/1951 to 31/12/1955: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 27/2620/1 at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8424700
5. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=WA

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
31-May-2008 12:30	JINX	Added
07-Jun-2008 02:35	JINX	Updated
15-Jan-2012 14:59	Nepa	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Destination airport, Source]
04-Aug-2013 21:25	JINX	Updated [Operator, Location, Source]
12-May-2015 07:19	Cliford	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Destination airport]
28-Nov-2019 20:47	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Operator]
31-Jan-2021 17:54	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Source, Narrative]
31-Jan-2021 17:55	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
01-Feb-2021 03:14	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]