Date:	Wednesday 31 March 1954
Time:	15:15 LT
Type:	Gloster Meteor F Mk 8
Owner/operator:	Empire Test Pilots School (ETPS)
Registration:	WH312
MSN:	AWA.5076
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Mytchett Farm, Mytchett, Frimley Green, Surrey, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Approach
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	Farnborough Airfield, Hampshire (EGLF)
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Meteor WH312 (Empire Test Pilots School) took off from Farnborough at 14:30 hrs on 31/03/1954.
At the controls was Group Captain George N. Hancock, who was making a familiarisation flight (continuation flying practice). This was carried out at 35,000 feet and was uneventful until the circuit was rejoined, when the pilot reported trouble with one engine. At 15:12 hrs, Hancock, callsign 'Wicker 98', reported "Downwind on one" and when asked by Control if it was a practice, confirmed that it wasn't. Crash rescue vehicles were immediately alerted.

WH312 dived steeply on approach to Runway 25 and dipped its port wing, which struck the roof of a cowshed at Mytchett Farm, Frimley Green in Surrey. It cartwheeled and disintegrated in a ball of flame as it hit the ground and wrecked several buildings and civilian vehicles. Group Captain Hancock, aged 40, died instantly. The pilot, holder of the CBE, was attached to the Ministry of Supply, the aircraft hit several vehicles before being destroyed

According to a contemporary newspaper report ("The Belfast News-Letter" - Thursday 01 April 1954)

"METEOR CRASHES ON GARAGE
Pilot killed: Two men have narrow escape

The pilot of Ministry Supply single-seater Meteor jet fighter on a routine training flight from Farnborough was killed yesterday when the aircraft crashed through a cowshed and part of garage at Frimley Green, Surrey.

Mr. F. H. Potter, of Mychett Farm, said he had been talking to a soldier in his garage. "We had just moved about three or four feet across the garage when we felt a colossal pressure of air, and then the root was struck and the aircraft tore through. It hit the ground just where we had been standing a few seconds before. Neither of us was hurt. The crash wrote off two cars, a new van, a trailer, caravan, a motor body, and all my garage equipment."
Crew:
G/C George Norman Hancock, CBE, MIEE (pilot) RAF /ETPS - killed.

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.157 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Royal Air Force Aircraft WA100-WZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1983 p.49)
3. Category Five; A Catalogue of RAF Aircraft Losses 1954 to 2009 by Colin Cummings p.48
4. National Archives (PRO Kew) File BT233/140: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C424261
5. https://www.thunder-and-lightnings.co.uk/memorial/entry.php?id=233
6. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=WH
7. http://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=5834.0
8. https://johnknifton.com/tag/gloster-meteor/
9. Photo of crash site: https://johnknifton.files.wordpress.com/2018/05/another.jpg

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
10-Jun-2008 19:00	JINX	Added
24-Mar-2019 08:32	stehlik49	Updated [Operator, Narrative]
08-Jan-2020 20:47	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
21-Feb-2020 14:11	Iwosh	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Departure airport, Operator]
07-Apr-2020 17:28	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Cn, Source, Narrative]
27-Jun-2022 11:49	Nepa	Updated [Location, Narrative, Operator]