Date:	Monday 29 September 1952
Time:	day
Type:	Gloster Meteor F Mk 8
Owner/operator:	263 (Fellowship of the Bellows) Sqn RAF
Registration:	WH472
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	near Potto Hill Farm, Swainby, Hambleton, North Yorkshire -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Initial climb
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Middleton St. George, near Darlington, County Durham
Destination airport:	RAF Wattisham, Suffolk (EGUW)
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Gloster Meteor F.Mk.8 WH472 was built to contract 6/ACFT/5621 by the Gloster Aircraft Co. Ltd. and was delivered to the RAF in February 1952. After acceptance it was issued to 263 Squadron at Wattisham on an unknown date (probably during early March 1952). The aircraft was destroyed following a flying accident at Swainby on 29th September 1952. Cat.5(s)/FA damage being recorded after assessment.

On the 29th September 1952 this 263 Squadron aircraft had just taken off from Middleton St.George to return to the home airfield of Wattisham. Soon after take-off, the aircraft struck pylons and crashed near Swainby, just two minutes into the flight, and nine miles south of RAF Middleton St. George. Wreckage was spread over a wide area, close to what was Mr Bill Cowley's house near Potto Hill Farm, Swainby. The pilot was sadly killed. The resulting explosion made a large crater in the field which was later back filled

Crew:
Pilot Officer Alan Edward Aggett RAF (579702), aged 24, of Ipplepen, Newton Abbott, Devon. Buried St Andrews Churchyard, Newton Abbott, Devon.

Pilot Officer Alan Edward Aggett was born on 2nd November 1927, he was granted a short service commission in the RAF on 14th November 1951 as a Pilot Officer and put on the active service list for eight years and four years on the reserve.

The reported crash location of Swainby is a village in the Hambleton District of North Yorkshire, England. It is situated on the A172 road, 8 miles (13 km) north-east from Northallerton and 5 miles (8 km) south-east from the small market town of Stokesley.

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.136 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Royal Air Force Aircraft WA100-WZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1985)
3. Last Take Off; A Catalogue of RAF Aircraft Losses 1950 to 1953 by Colin Cummings p.298
4. 263 Squadron ORB (Operations Record Book)(Air Ministry Form AM/F.540) for September 1952: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 27/2671/6 at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8426892
5. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=WH
6. http://www.yorkshire-aircraft.co.uk/aircraft/planes/46-50/wh472.html
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swainby

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
12-Jun-2008 13:13	JINX	Added
30-May-2013 13:48	Nepa	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Narrative]
25-Mar-2021 17:27	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]