Date:	Thursday 26 May 1955
Time:	23:22 LT
Type:	Gloster Meteor F Mk 8
Owner/operator:	211 FTS RAF
Registration:	WE916
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Silkstone Crescent, Frecheville, 4 miles SE of Sheffield, Yorkshire -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Approach
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	RAF Worksop, Nottinghamshire
Destination airport:	RAF Worksop, Nottinghamshire
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
WE916: First issued to 65 Sqn 8.6.51 coded B. Tyre burst on take-off,belly landed at RAF Linton-on-Ouse, 19.7.51 (Pilot Squadron Leader 0.A.Taylor OK). Damage assessed as Cat 4(R). To 32 MU RAF St. Athan 18.8.51 for repairs. Returned to the RAF at 38 MU RAF Llandow 20.5.52. Next issued for service to 211 AFS 7.8.53 at RAF Workshop; unit became 211 FTS with effect from 1.6.54.

On Thursday 26 May 1955 Gloster Meteor F8 (WE916) piloted by 21-year-old John Alexander Cohen from Cardiff on a night flight training exercise from RAF Worksop crashed in Frecheville, four miles South East of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, when he apparently lost control whilst undertaking a controlled descent through cloud. The plane came in low over Stradbroke Road and the pilot was killed instantly as the plane dived steeply into the ground and exploded on impact in the field at the bottom of Silkstone Crescent at 11.22 pm.

There was speculation at the time that he had deliberately stayed with the plane to steer away from the houses and into an open area. A memorial stone was placed in the garden at the top of the footpath down to the housing estate but it has since been removed

Crew of Meteor WE916:
Pilot Officer John Alexander Cohen RAF (pilot, Service Number 2710962, aged 21)

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.171 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Royal Air Force Aircraft WA100-WZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1983 p 36)
3. Category Five; A Catalogue of RAF Aircraft Losses 1954 to 2009 by Colin Cummings p.136
4. National Archives (PRO Kew) File BT233/278: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C424399
5. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AVIA 5/34/S2759: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C6578539
6. https://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/topic/10305-military-jet-crash-at-frechville-in-the-50s/
7. http://priorieshistoricalsociety.btck.co.uk/WorksopLife/RAFWorksop
8. http://rafworksop.btck.co.uk/ThosewhoservedanddiedfortheRAF
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birley#1955_RAF_Crash
10. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=WE

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
05-Jun-2008 16:27	JINX	Added
05-Jun-2008 16:34	JINX	Updated
05-Oct-2011 16:59	angels one five	Updated [Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
13-May-2015 08:31	Boile A.	Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Operator, Departure airport, Destination airport, Narrative]
27-May-2017 19:50	Dr.John Smith	Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
24-Oct-2017 17:11	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Location, Narrative]
25-Dec-2018 21:00	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Operator]
15-Jan-2020 17:53	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Operator, Source, Narrative]
15-Jan-2020 22:30	stehlik49	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Operator]
20-May-2020 21:32	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]