Date:	Monday 28 July 1952
Time:	10:55 LT
Type:	Gloster Meteor F Mk 8
Owner/operator:	54 Sqn RAF
Registration:	WK647
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Main London-Bournemouth railway line, near Hook, Hampshire -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Odiham, Basingstoke, Hampshire (ODH/EGVO)
Destination airport:	RAF Odiham, Basingstoke, Hampshire (ODH/EGVO)
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Gloster Meteor F.8 WK647 ["Y"] 54 Squadron, RAF: Written off (destroyed) 28 July 1952 when crashed near Hook. Hampshire. Pilot killed. While returning to RAF Odiham from an air-to-air gunnery sortie, the pilot commenced an attempt to perform a barrel roll to starboard at an altitude of about 2,000 feet. While inverted, the pilot took off bank pulled through and dived into the ground near the Main London-Bournemouth railway line, near Hook, Hampshire. According to a contemporary newspaper report ("Portsmouth Evening News" - Monday 28 July 1952):

"JET CRASHES ON RAILWAY
A METEOR EIGHT - a single seat, jet fighter, from R.A.F. Station, Odiham, crashed beside the main London-Bournemouth railway line at Hook just before 11 a.m. The pilot was killed. The railway track was not blocked. Fire brigades were called out. Eye-witnesses said that the plane burst into flames in the air. A Southern Region official said that the aircraft flew low over the railway line near Hook Station, before crashing about 50 yards from the main line."

Crew of Meteor WK647
Pilot Officer Michael Gavin Duke, RAF (Pilot, aged 20) - killed in flying accident 28/7/52

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.132 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Royal Air Force Aircraft WA100-WZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1983 p 69)
3. Last Take Off: A Record of RAF Aircraft Losses 1950 to 1953 by Colin Cumings p 273
4. Portsmouth Evening News - Monday 28 July 1952
5. http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/attachment.php?attachmentid=85904&d=1118411557
6. http://www.hampshireairfields.co.uk/hancrash.html
7. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=WK

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
18-Jun-2008 19:35	JINX	Added
12-May-2015 08:38	Xindel	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Narrative]
13-Feb-2020 15:33	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
13-Feb-2020 15:37	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
18-Feb-2020 19:40	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source]
18-Feb-2020 19:41	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source]