Date:	Tuesday 5 May 1953
Time:	day
Type:	Gloster Meteor F Mk 8
Owner/operator:	74 (Tiger) Sqn RAF
Registration:	VZ446
MSN:	G5/361620
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RAF Horham, Horham, 4 miles SE of Eye, Suffolk, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.)
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Horsham St. Faith, Norwich, Norfolk
Destination airport:	RAF Horsham St. Faith, Norwich, Norfolk
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Gloster Meteor F8 VZ547, 74 (Tiger) Squadron RAF: delivered 4/10/1950. Written off 5/5/1953 when crashed at Horham, Suffolk. The aircraft was carrying out a practice ground-strafing attack on the control tower of the disused airfield at RAF Horham, 4 miles SE of Eye, Suffolk, as one of a pair.

The pilot of Meteor VZ446 had, during this sortie, allowed his aircraft to get below the altitude of the other, leading, Meteor, and VZ446 struck the ground in a flat attitude, hitting the ground with its ventral tank first. On impact, the Meteor then 'bounced' back into the air to an altitude of 60 feet, at which point it broke apart in flight, scattering wreckage over an area of 650 yards from the point of impact. The pilot was killed

Crew of Meteor VZ446:
Sergeant Ronald Conway MARGETTS (pilot) RAF- killed in service 5/5/1953

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.365
4. 74 Squadron ORB (Operations Record Book)(Air Ministry Form AM/F.540) for the period 1/1/1951 to 31/12/1954: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 27/2629/2 at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8424990
5. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=VZ
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horham#Wartime

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
26-Apr-2021 22:51	Dr. John Smith	Added
27-Apr-2021 09:17	Emil	Updated [Operator, Location, Narrative, Operator]