Date:	Friday 17 April 1953
Time:	day
Type:	Gloster Meteor F Mk 8
Owner/operator:	72 Sqn RAF
Registration:	VZ501
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	North Sea, 2 miles east of Coquet Island, Amble, Northumberland, -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	RAF Acklington, Northumberland
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Gloster Meteor F8, VZ501, 72 Squadron, RAF: delivered 22/5/1950. Written of 17/4/1953, when crashed into the North Sea, 2 miles East of Coquet Island, Amble, Northumberland

The Meteor had taken off from RAF Acklington as the number two aircraft of a pair, for target firing practice against a towed banner target over the North Sea, off the coast of Northumberland. During the climb to rendezvous with the aircraft towing the banner target, the pilot of Meteor VZ501 lost contract with the leading aircraft of the formation in thick cloud at 7,000 feet. The pilot of Meteor VZ501 was then given several corrective courses to meet up with the lead aircraft, but he followed none of the course corrections given to him.

Later the pilot called ATC (Air Traffic Control) at RAF Acklington, on the R/T stating that he was still flying in cloud, but at an altitude of just 100 feet. There then followed a short but unintelligble R/T transmission, after which nothing further was hear from the pilot of Meteor VZ501

An oil slick on the waters of the North Sea was located at the approximate point where Meteor VZ501 was last seen on radar, and it is presumed that the aircraft flew into the sea at or about this point, 2 miles East of Coquet Island, Amble, Northumberland. The pilot was killed.

Crew of Meteor VZ501:
Pilot Officer Gordon Robert LIVINGSTON (pilot) RAF- killed in service 17/4/1953

The reported crash location was off Amble, a town on the North Sea coast of Northumberland, England, at the mouth of the River Coquet; Coquet Island is visible from its beaches and harbour. Coquet Island is a small island of about 6 hectares (15 acres), situated 1.2 kilometres (0.75 mi) off Amble on the Northumberland coast, northeast England.

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.144 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.361
4. 72 Squadron, RAF ORB (Operations Record Book)(Air Ministry Form AM/F.540) for the period 1/1/1952 to 31/12/1955: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 27/2628 at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C2505266
5. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=VZ
6. https://www.nelsam.org.uk/NEAR/Losses/Losses-PostWWII.htm
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amble
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coquet_Island

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
24-Apr-2021 18:27	Dr. John Smith	Added
24-Apr-2021 18:30	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
24-Apr-2021 21:24	Anon.	Updated [Operator, Location, Narrative, Operator]
13-Sep-2021 13:46	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Category]