Date:	Friday 11 October 1957
Time:	day
Type:	Gloster Meteor F Mk 8
Owner/operator:	5 CAACU RAF
Registration:	WA794
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Gwaith Mawr, Eifl Granite Quarry, near Trefor, Anglesey, Wales -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	RAF Llanbedr, Llanbedr, Gwynedd
Destination airport:	RAF Valley, Anglesey, Wales (VLY/EGOV)
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Gloster Meteor WA794: Delivered 19/2/1951. Operational Service career was with 43 Squadron, RAF Leuchars (coded "X"), 72 Squadron, RAF Church Fenton from 13/4/1955 and 5 CAACU (Civilian Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Unit) RAF Valley, Anglesey.

Written off (destroyed) 11/10/1957: Crashed into the rock face of the Eifl Granite Quarry at Trefor, Anglesey, North Wales killing the pilot. The pilot took off from RAF Llanbedr, Llanbedr, Gwyneddto carry out low-level trials, but the weather was marginal, and the pilot did not climb the aircraft to a minimum safety height. Instead he attempted to fly visually (using VFR Visual Flight Rules) through the mountain ranges of North Wales. The lead to a tragic end for the pilot, when he flew into the rock face of a quarry at Gwaith Mawr at approximate coordinates 52:59.0397 N 4:26.4591 W

Crew of Meteor WA794:
Sergeant Robert B Barnes, RAFVR (pilot, aged 41) - killed on active service 11/10/1957

There appears to be some doubt as to the status of the pilot: some sources list him as an RAF Sergeant Pilot, and others as a Civilian Pilot. His name does not appear on the Roll of Honour at the RAF Church of St. Clement Danes in London, and it is therefore presumed (but not confirmed) that he was not a serving member of the RAF Volunteer Reserves at the time of his death. On the other hand there is as yet not evidence that he was flying Meteor WA794 as a civilian pilot operating under contract

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.193 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Royal Air Force Aircraft WA100-WZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1983 p 15)
3. Category Five; A Catalogue of RAF Aircraft Losses 1954 to 2009 by Colin Cummings p.267
4. The Fighting Cocks: 43 (Fighter) Squadron p.325 By Jimmy Beedle
5. http://www.ukserials.com/losses-1957.htm
6. https://peakwreckhunters.blogspot.com/2009/02/meteor.html
7. https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/701491
8. https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/20144
9. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=WA .

The upper gallery of Gwaith Mawr (the Eifl Granite Quarry) Work ended on this the upper terrace of the quarry in October 1957 following the death of the pilot of the Gloster Meteor WA794 from RAE Llanbedr which flew into the rockface in low cloud. The terrace has since been invaded by heather.

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
31-May-2008 13:26	JINX	Added
12-May-2015 07:51	Yety	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator]
11-Aug-2020 14:17	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative]
11-Aug-2020 14:18	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Departure airport, Destination airport, Narrative]
11-Aug-2020 14:18	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source]
11-Aug-2020 15:32	Yety	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Nature, Operator]