Date:	Tuesday 4 May 1948
Time:	day
Type:	Gloster Meteor F Mk 4
Owner/operator:	245 (Northern Rhodesia) Sqn RAF
Registration:	VT126
MSN:	MR-C
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Wood Farm, Oulton Broad, near Blicking, Norfolk, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Horsham St. Faith, Norwich, Norfolk
Destination airport:

Narrative:
Gloster Meteor VT126 ("MR-C"): This aircraft had a very short service life. It was delivered to the RAF on 8 April 1948, to 245 (Northern Rhodesia) Sqn at RAF, Horsham St. Faith, Norwich, Norfolk, and was written off on 4 May 1948 (less than one month later). VT126 was destroyed when it flew into the ground in low cloud at Wood Farm, Oulton, near Blicking, Norfolk.

The Meteor was being flown at 300 feet agl (above ground level), as the pilot attempted to stay below the adverse weather conditions, including low clouds. The aircraft was seen to dive into the ground from 300 feet agl at an angle of 25 degrees nose-down. The pilot was killed

Crew of Meteor VT126:
Pilot I, Charles Anthony Heywood, RAF (Pilot, aged 25) - killed on active service 4-5-48.

The subsequent Board of Inquiry concluded that the pilot may not have realised that the aircraft was rapidly descending, as he was preoccupied with lowering the aircraft's dive brakes.

Blickling is a village and civil parish in the Broadland district of Norfolk, England, about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north-west of Aylsham

1. Halley, James (1999). Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents. Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Final Landings: A Summary of RAF Aircraft and Combat Losses 1946 to 1949 by Colin Cummings
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft SA100-VZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain)
4. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AVIA 5/29/W2417: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C6578263
5. 245 Sqn RAF ORB for the period 1-1-1946 to 31-12-1950: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR27/
6. https://air-britain.com/pdfs/aeromilitaria/Aeromilitaria_2009.pdf p.171
7. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=VT
8. https://www.ancestry.com/genealogy/records/charles-anthony-heywood-24-gb1t07
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._245_Squadron_RAF#Postwar
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blickling

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
29-Nov-2019 21:56	Dr. John Smith	Added
29-Nov-2019 22:07	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
29-Nov-2019 22:17	Nepa	Updated [Cn, Operator, Location, Narrative, Operator]
23-Jan-2021 12:36	Anon.	Updated [Narrative]