Date:	Monday 18 June 1951
Time:	day
Type:	Gloster Meteor F Mk 4
Owner/operator:	600 (City of London) Sqn RAF
Registration:	VT275
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Other fatalities:	2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	near RAF Biggin Hill, Biggin Hill, Bromley, Kent, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Approach
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Biggin Hill, Bromley, Kent
Destination airport:	RAF Biggin Hill, Bromley, Kent
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Gloster Meteor F.Mk.4 VT275, 600 (City of London) Squadron, RAF: delivered 4/10/1948. Written off 18/6/1951, when destroyed in a mid-air collision with VT281, another Gloster Meteor F.Mk.4 of 600 (City of London) Squadron, RAF, near RAF Biggin Hill, Biggin Hill, Bromley, Kent.

Both aircraft were returning to base (RAF Biggin Hill) when they collided on the run in to final approach, and both crashed near the airfield. The pilot of Meteor VT281 failed to watch the formation leader (in Meteor VT275) make a turn to port, and may also have been distracted by Meteor F.Mk.8 WB110 (which see) which had just crashed at Biggin Hill shortly before the above incident, and from which a plume of smoke was rising from Biggin Hill. The crews of all three aircraft (Meteor F.Mk.4s VT275 and VT281, and Meteor F.Mk.8 WB110) were all killed - three aircraft losses and three crew fatalties in the space of a few minutes.

Crew of Meteor VT275:
Flight Lieutenant (131911) Peter Victor Glas Sandeman (pilot) RAF - killed

The book by Bob Ogley "Ghosts of Biggin Hill" (ISBN 1-872337-41-4) contains the following description of this incident:

"On 18 June 1951, three Gloster Meteors crashed and their pilots were killed in accidents, all three crashing in an area of about 100 yd (91 m). The first, a Meteor VIII piloted by Flight Lieutenant Gordon McDonald of 41 Squadron, crashed shortly after take-off, corkscrewing as pieces of structure fell from the aircraft. The aircraft hit a bungalow, killing the pilot. The jet wash of his flight leader was named as a possible cause. Within seconds of this accident two Mark IV Meteors of 600 Squadron, piloted by Sergeant Kenneth Clarkson and Squadron Leader Phillip Sandeman, both circling over the wreckage and preparing to land, collided at 2,000 ft (610 m) above the scene. Although Sandeman managed to bail out, he was killed when his parachute failed to open. Clarkson was killed in his aircraft. A week after this incident, another Meteor overshot the runway, narrowly missing passing cars. After these incidents, several residents stated they would be "selling up" and there were calls for traffic lights to be installed on the Bromley road for use during take-offs and landings"

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.115 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Royal Air Force Aircraft SA100-VZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1983)
3. Last Take Off; A Catalogue of RAF Aircraft Losses 1950 to 1953 by Colin Cummings p.147
4. Sevenoaks Chronicle and Kentish Advertiser - Friday 27 July 1951
5. 600 (City of London) Squadron, RAF ORB (Operations Record Book)(Air Ministry Form AM/F.540) for the period 1/6/1950 to 30/4/1955: National Archvies (PRO Kew) File AIR 27/2503 at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C2505141
6. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=VT
7. https://www.rauxaf.net/page157.html
8. http://600squadronassociation.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/The-Right-of-The-Line-Dec-2018-141218.pdf
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Biggin_Hill_Airport#Accidents

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
30-Jan-2021 00:10	Dr. John Smith	Added
30-Jan-2021 00:15	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
30-Jan-2021 00:16	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
30-Jan-2021 00:30	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]
30-Jan-2021 09:47	Quenten74	Updated [Operator, Location, Narrative, Operator]