Date:	Tuesday 10 May 1955
Time:
Type:	Gloster Meteor F Mk 8
Owner/operator:	63 Sqn RAF
Registration:	WA819
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	1 mile North of Coggeshall, near Braintree, Essex, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Waterbeach, Cambridgeshire
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Gloster Meteor F.Mk.8 WA819: Delivered 14/6/50. RAF service career was with 257 Squadron and 63 Squadron, RAF

Written off (destroyed) 10/5/55 when abandoned after control lost in cloud, during practice interception, one miles North of Coggeshall, near Braintree, Essex. At 30,000 feet and at high speed, the pilot commenced a curved pursuit to port: the aircraft flicked to port and then lost height. The pilot reported that he was "having trouble", and attempted to eject.

However, the canopy would not release, and the pilot instead ejected through the canopy, shattering the glass. Immediately after ejecting, he was blown backwards by the slipstream, collided with the tail fin with considerable force and was killed.

Crew of Meteor WA819:
Flight Sergeant Ernest John Parker RAF (pilot, Service Number 1190971, aged 29)

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.171 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.134
4. National Archives (PRO Kew) File BT233/272: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C424393
5. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AVIA 5/34/S2753: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C6578533
6. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=WA
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coggeshall

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
31-May-2008 14:14	JINX	Added
10-Jun-2008 02:01	JINX	Updated
13-May-2015 08:26	Boile A.	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator]
14-Jan-2020 16:44	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
14-Jan-2020 19:38	stehlik49	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Operator]
20-May-2020 17:43	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]
23-Jul-2021 20:57	Anon.	Updated [Time, Location, Operator]