Date:	Wednesday 10 October 1951
Time:	10:50
Type:	Gloster Meteor F Mk 8
Owner/operator:	263 (Fellowship of the Bellows) Sqn RAF
Registration:	WA787
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Westerfield,1½ miles north of Ipswich, Suffolk -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Initial climb
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Wattisham, Suffolk
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Gloster Meteor F.Mk.8 WA787, 263 (Fellowship of the Bellows) Sqn RAF: Written off (destroyed) 10/10/51 when dived into ground after take-off. Pilot killed.

Shortly after take off from RAF Wattisham, Suffolk, the aircraft was seen to enter a shallow dive from approximately 5,000 feet. When the Meteor had descended to around 50 feet, it stalled, banked to the right and struck the ground at Westerfield,1½ miles north of Ipswich, Suffolk. The cause of the accident was never fully explained, but pilot incapacitation due to anxoia (oxygen starvation) was suspected, which would explain the pilots lack of any reaction to the situation that he and his aircraft were in

Pilot of Meteor WA787
Flight Sergeant Robert Mornington Colley, RAF (pilot,aged 24) - killed in active service 10/10/51

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.120 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Last Take-off: A Record of RAF Aircraft Losses 1950 to 1953 by Colin Cummings p 186-187
3. National Archives (PRO Kew) File BT233/70: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C424191
4. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AVIA 5/31/S2546: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C6578392
5. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=WA
6. https://www.pprune.org/military-aviation/588874-meteor-research.html
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westerfield

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
31-May-2008 13:05	JINX	Added
07-Jun-2008 11:55	JINX	Updated
30-May-2013 13:44	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Departure airport]
26-Jun-2013 10:49	Nepa	Updated [Aircraft type]
02-Nov-2019 07:20	Harko	Updated [Time, Aircraft type]
28-Dec-2019 20:35	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]