Date:	Tuesday 16 March 1948
Time:	day
Type:	Gloster Meteor F Mk 4
Owner/operator:	38 MU RAF
Registration:	RA481
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RAF Llandow, Cowbridge, Vale of Glamorgan, South Wales -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Initial climb
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Llandow, Vale of Glamorgan
Destination airport:

Narrative:
Gloster Meteor RA481: Delivered to 38 MU RAF Llandow, Cowbridge, Vale of Glamorgan, South Wales 24.11.47.

Written off (destroyed) 16.3.48 when dived into ground in low cloud after take-off, RAF Llandow, Cowbridge, Vale of Glamorgan, South Wales. Shortly after take-off the Meteor flew into low cloud, and was then seen to dive towards the ground, failing to pull out before the aircraft impacted into the ground
Crew:
Pilot II (1803341) Douglas VASEY (pilot) RAF killed on active service 16.3.48: buried at Eastbrookend Cemetery Dagenham, London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, Greater London, England.

The subsequent Board of Inquiry concluded that the main cause of the accident was pilot error, in that the pilot made a wrong decision; having entered low cloud, he chose to dive out of the clouds, instead of attempting to climb through it

The pilot's death certificate states: "Born in South Shields on 21 Apr 1922 to William James Vasey and Ethel Reeks. Douglas Vasey passed away on 16 Mar 1948 in Bridgend, Wales".

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.380
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. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/79419199/douglas-vasey
6. https://www.ancestry.com/genealogy/records/douglas-vasey-24-1c54szg
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Llandow#History

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
26-Apr-2023 19:04	Dr. John Smith	Added
06-May-2023 09:27	Nepa	Updated