Date:	Monday 17 March 1947
Time:	day
Type:	Gloster Meteor F Mk III
Owner/operator:	222 (Natal) Sqn RAF
Registration:	EE422
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	East Dean, 4 miles N of RAF Tangmere, Chichester, West Sussex, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Approach
Nature:	Passenger - Scheduled
Departure airport:	RAF Tangmere, West Sussex
Destination airport:	RAF Tangmere, West Sussex
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Gloster Meteor EE422: Delivered to 222 Sqn 16.11.45 coded 'ZD-R'.

Written off (destroyed) 17 March 1947 when spun out of control and crashed near East Dean, four miles north of RAF Tangmere, near Chichester, West Sussex. The pilot was making a controlled descent to RAF Tangmere through cloud, with a cloud base of 400 feet. The pilot began a turn to port but then he is believed to have tightened the turn. The Meteor then flicked out of control, and dived into the ground. Pilot killed. According to a contemporary newspaper report ("Western Daily Press" - Tuesday 18 March 1947):

"JET PILOT KILLED.
A Pilot-Officer was killed when a Meteor jet experimental 'plane crashed yesterday in a wood near the Chichester-Halnaker Road, three miles from Chichester, and one-and-a-half miles from the R.A.F. Station at Tangmere, from where the 'plane took off. The pilot was Flt. Lieut. Alan Claude Edwards, aged 24, single, of Winchester."

Crew of Meteor EE422:
Flight Lieutenant Alan Claude Edwards RAF (pilot, Service Number 179786, aged 24) - killed in flying accident 17/3/47, buried at Winchester (Magdalen Hill) Cemetery, Winchester, Hampshire

East Dean is a village and civil parish in the District of Chichester in West Sussex, England. The village is in a valley in the South Downs, 5+1⁄2 miles (9 km) north-northeast of Chichester on a narrow road between Singleton on the A286 and Upwaltham on the A285 road.

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p. 60 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Final Landings: Summary of RAF Aircraft and Combat Losses 1946-1949: by Colin Cummings p 279
3. Chichester Observer - Saturday 22 March 1947
4. Western Daily Press - Tuesday 18 March 1947
5. 222 Sqn RAF ORB for the period 1-1-1946 to 31-12-1950: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR27/2745: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C2505113
6. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2350953/edwards,-alan-claude/
7. http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?23966-470317-Unaccounted-Airmen-17-03-1947&p=139256#post139256
8. Air Britain Aeromilitaria, Summer 2009 p.75-76: https://air-britain.com/pdfs/aeromilitaria/Aeromilitaria_2009.pdf
9. http://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=3895.0
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Dean,_West_Sussex

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
11-Feb-2020 21:34	Dr. John Smith	Added
11-Feb-2020 22:13	Iwosh	Updated [Operator, Operator]
17-Feb-2020 23:23	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Registration, Source, Narrative]
17-Feb-2020 23:23	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
17-Feb-2020 23:25	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source]
08-May-2023 15:53	Dr. John Smith	Updated [[Source]]
20-May-2023 13:26	Dr. John Smith	Updated [[[Source]]]
21-May-2023 20:02	Nepa	Updated [[[[Source]]]]