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Date: | Friday 4 November 1955 |
Time: | day |
Type: | Gloster Meteor T Mk 7 |
Owner/operator: | 231 OCU RAF |
Registration: | WG947 |
MSN: | |
Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
Location: | RAF Merryfield, Ilton, Ilchester, Somerset, England -
United Kingdom
|
Phase: | Take off |
Nature: | Training |
Departure airport: | RAF Merryfield, Ilchester, Somerset |
Destination airport: | |
Confidence Rating: | Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
Narrative:Gloster Meteor T.Mk.7 WG947: Delivered 29/8/51. RAF Service career was with 205 AFS (Advanced Flying School) and 231 OCU, RAF Merryfield
Written off 4/11/55: The pilot originally hailed from Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). He took off from RAF Merryfield, Ilton, Ilchester, Somerset, and the aircraft ascended to an altitude of 150 feet above the runway. At that point, the starboard wing dropped, and the Meteor overturned diving into the ground inverted.
An eyewitness at the inquest (reported in the Western Gazette on 11 November 1955) stated:
"As the aircraft became airborne with its wheels up, and at a height of about 50 feet, I noticed that the aircraft began to swing to starboard. Initially the swing was not great, but as the aircraft continued to climb, the swing became more apparent.
At a height of between 150 and 200 feet the starboard wing dropped, the aircraft tuned over onto its back, and crashed upside down"
The pilot was reported to have called on the radio "I've had it!", just before the aircraft hit the ground. He was killed by the impact
Crew of Meteor WG947:
Pilot Officer Michael Leonard Jonklass RAF (Pilot, Service Number 607498, aged 22) - killed on active service 4/11/55, buried at Ilton, Ilchester, Somerset
Sources:
1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.175 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Royal Air Force Aircraft WA100-WZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1983 p 47)
3. Category Five; A Catalogue of RAF Aircraft Losses 1954 to 2009 by Colin Cummings p.164
4. Wings Over Somerset: Aircraft Crashes since the End of World War II By Peter Forrester
5. Western Gazette - 11 November 1955
6.
http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=WG Revision history:
Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
09-Jun-2008 04:29 |
JINX |
Added |
13-May-2015 08:46 |
Boile A. |
Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Phase, Departure airport] |
01-Jun-2020 23:15 |
Dr. John Smith |
Updated [Time, Operator, Total occupants, Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative] |
02-Jun-2020 07:32 |
BlB |
Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Nature, Departure airport, Operator] |