Date:	Tuesday 14 December 1954
Time:	day
Type:	Gloster Meteor T Mk 7
Owner/operator:	Duxford SF RAF
Registration:	VW450
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	1.5 miles west of RAF Bassingbourn, Cambridgeshire, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Approach
Nature:	Test
Departure airport:	RAF Duxford, Cambridgeshire
Destination airport:	RAF Bassingbourn, Cambridgeshire
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Gloster Meteor T.Mk.7 VW450: Delivered to the RAF 18/4/49. RAF Service was with the CFS (Central Flying School) RAF Little Rissington, 229 OCU and the Station Flight RAF Duxford.

Written off (destroyed) 14/12/54: The aircraft was being flown on a dual check flight by two crew. During a controlled let down for a controlled descent and approach ot RAF Bassingbourn, Cambridgeshire, the cockpit canopy became iced up and jammed shut.

The pilot's request for a "straight in" approach and landing was not heard by the Air Traffic Controller, and the pilot overshot on his first approach to RAF Bassingbourn. The deteriorating weather conditions meant that the pilot made two further attempts to approach and landing at RAF Bassingbourn; both were were "missed approaches". Both crew then bailed out from the Meteor, with some difficulty, due to the iced-up and jammed cockpit canopy

Crew of Meteor VW450
Flight Lieutenant Arthur Norman William JOHNSTONE, DFC, MiD, RAF (Service Number 42313, pilot) - bailed out, survived, parachuted to the ground
Flying Officer P. Tate (passenger) - bailed out, survived, parachuted to the ground

Flight Lieutenant Arthur N.W. Johnstone not only survived this incident, but rose through the ranks to become a Wing Commander, formally retiring from RAF on 4/1/66

The wreckage of Meteor T.Mk.7 VW450 was collected by (and to) 58 MU RAF Sutton Bridge, where it was struck off charge as Cat.5(scrap) on 29/12/54

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.167 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Royal Air Force Aircraft SA100-VZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1985 p.84)
3. Category Five; A Catalogue of RAF Aircraft Losses 1954 to 2009 by Colin Cummings p.108
4. The Gloster Meteor in British Service By Martin Derry
5. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=VW
6. http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?6872-42313-A-N-W-Johnstone&highlight=JOHNSTONE&p=39399#post39399

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
30-Apr-2020 23:54	Dr. John Smith	Added
01-May-2020 10:00	BlB	Updated [Operator, Location, Operator]
16-Jul-2023 21:25	Nepa	Updated [[Operator, Location, Operator]]