Date:	Thursday 5 August 1948
Time:
Type:	Gloster Meteor F Mk 4
Owner/operator:	257 Sqn RAF
Registration:	RA447
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RAF Horsham St. Faith, Norwich, Norfolk, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Take off
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Horsham St Faith, Norfolk
Destination airport:	RAF Church Fenton, North Yorkshire

Narrative:
Gloster Meteor RA447: Delivered to 39 MU, RAF Colerene, Chippenham, Wiltshire 1.9.47, To 257 Squadron RAF Church Fenton, North Yorkshire 8.4.48.

Written off (destroyed) 5.8.48: The aircraft was taking off from RAF Horsham St. Faith, Norfolk for an asymmetric (single engine) training sortie, but, as the IAS (Indicated Air Speed) passed 110 knots, the starboard tyre burst, and the Meteor swung off the runway at high speed. The ventral tank of the Meteor was punctured when the aircraft struck some sodium flares at the runway edge, and a small fire started in the area of the starboard undercarriage. The fire spread, and the aircraft was destroyed by fire. Aircraft declared Cat E and struck off charge; pilot Squadron Leader Ottewill survived OK.

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 p.417
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft RA100-RZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain)
4. https://air-britain.com/pdfs/aeromilitaria/Aeromilitaria_2009.pdf p.129
5. 257 Sqn RAF ORB for the period 1-7-1947 to 31-12-1950: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR27/2487/19: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8422541
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._257_Squadron_RAF#Post_War
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Horsham_St_Faith#Postwar_Royal_Air_Force_use

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
18-Apr-2023 00:36	Dr. John Smith	Added