ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 195723
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| Date: | Monday 5 May 1952 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  North American F-86A-5-NA Sabre |
| Owner/operator: | 92nd FSqn /81st FGp USAF |
| Registration: | 49-1311 |
| MSN: | 161-1/305 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Blackwell Farm, Wood Street, Guildford, Surrey -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.) |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Shepherds Grove, Suffolk |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
Written off 5.5.52 when collided at 25,000 feet with Gloster Metoer F.8 WE929 of 64 Squadron, RAF, based at RAF Duxfofd, Cambridgeshire, during exercises (reportedly a mock "three-quarter attack") and both pilots abandoned their respective aircraft. The Meteor came down in woodland near Piccards Rough, Sandy Lane, St Catherines, near Guildford, Surrey. The F-86 came down at Blackwell Farm, Wood Street, Guildford, Surrey. According to a contemporary (American) newspaper report:
"LONDON: Two surprised jet fighter pilots, one British and one American, bailed out of their planes at a six-mile altitude and drifted into London's southern suburbs with each wondering, "What hit me?" Their planes collided during joint exercises yesterday between the U.S. Air Force and Royal Air Force. After the pilots parachuted three miles apart. The British pilot floated down onto a suburban sidewalk and reported, "Someone chipped off my tail." The American flier, Capt. Milton G. Whitford of the 81st Fighter Wing, dodged chimney pots and landed an arm's length from a backyard hothouse. "I hope I Didn't hurt your rose tree," he told the startled householder. "
Pilot of the Meteor - Squadron Leader P. D. THOMPSON (pilot) RAF - ejected OK, and came down unhurt at Merrow, Surrey, beside the Epsom Road (near a road called Gateways). The pilot of the F-86, Lt Milton G. Whitford, USAF, landed in the garden of a house in Ripley High Street with cuts and shock.
Sources:
1. Air Britain RAF Aircraft WA100-WZ999
2. Newport Daily News from Newport, Rhode Island May 6 1952 · Page 5 at https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/57438375/
3. http://www.guildford-dragon.com/2012/02/28/witnesses-sough-to-aircraft-collision-over-guildford/
4. http://www.ejection-history.org.uk/PROJECT/YEAR_Pages/1952.htm#may]
5. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=WE
6. http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1949.html
7. http://www.guildford-dragon.com/2013/01/24/cold-war-fighter-jet-collision-over-guildford/
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 28-May-2017 21:09 | Dr.John Smith | Added |
| 28-May-2017 23:49 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Source] |
| 09-Apr-2020 18:50 | Reno Raines | Updated [Operator, Departure airport, Source, Operator] |
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