Date:	Wednesday 21 January 1953
Time:	day
Type:	Gloster Meteor NF Mk 11
Owner/operator:	264 (Madras Presidency) Sqn RAF
Registration:	WD654
MSN:	AWA.
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	New Parks Estate 1/2 mile SW of Huby, Easingwold, North Yorkshire. -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Linton-on-Ouse, North Yorkshire
Destination airport:	RAF Linton-on-Ouse
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Meteor WD654: Written off (destroyed) 21 January 1953.
On 21st January 1953 the crew of this aircraft were forced to eject after their aircraft ran out of fuel on returning to base of Linton on Ouse. having been prevented from landing there because of poor weather.

They baled out over the Huby area but the pilot struck part of the plane with his right knee on doing so and severely injured himself. Both airmen landed in trees. The pilot became trapped seventy feet up a larch tree in an area of woodland on the New Parks estate, south west of Huby, where he remained for two hours until he was rescued by fireman Mr A. Robinson from York with the use of a turntable ladder.

Prior to being rescued, three forestry workers had tried to help the severely injured airman; sixteen year old Ian Spencer of York, George Bielby of Wheldrake and Charles Whitehead of Robin Lane, Huby had alerted the emergency services after firstly trying a rescue attempt with a ladder brought from a nearby farm.

The navigator also had some trouble when he ejected, he also landed in a tree near Easingwold but was able to free himself and was only slightly injured.

The aircraft crashed in a field half a mile from the pilot, it created a nine feet deep crater and disintergated on impact. The injured pilot was taken to York City General Hospital suffering from severe injuries, he remained there for some time, with a condition described as "very ill" but it is thought that he recovered.
Crew:
F/O (4050759) Tony WHITAKER (Pilot) RAF - Survived, suffered severe injuries to his foot which resulted in it being amputated.
P/O Peter John WRIGHT (Navigator/Radio Operator) RAF - slight injuries - cut wrist pulling rip-cord

Tony Whitaker was appointed to a commission in the RAF as Pilot Officer on 2nd January 1952 with his period of service to count from 30th October 1950. He rose to the rank of Flying Officer on 2nd January 1953 (the first anniversary of his service), but relinquished his commission on the grounds of ill-health on 13th November 1953 almost certainly due to his injuries sustained in this accident at Huby.

The reported crash site was on the New Parks Estate, half-a-mile south west of Huby, a village and civil parish in the Hambleton District of North Yorkshire, England, about nine and a half miles north of York and five miles south-east of Easingwold at approximate co ordinates 54.082°N 1.135°W

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.141 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Royal Air Force Aircraft WA100-WZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain)
3. Last Take Off; A Catalogue of RAF Aircraft Losses 1950 to 1953 by Colin Cummings p.333
4. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=WD
5. 264 Squadron ORB (Operational Record Book)(Air Mininstry Form AM/f.540) for the period 1/12/1951 to 31/15/1955: National Archives (PRO Kew) file AIR 27/2672/2 at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8426905
6. http://www.yorkshire-aircraft.co.uk/aircraft/yorkshire/yorksother/wd654.html
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huby,_Hambleton

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
03-Jun-2008 01:48	JINX	Added
01-Feb-2013 13:06	Nepa	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Total occupants]
05-May-2013 13:56	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Total fatalities, Other fatalities, Location, Phase, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
11-Nov-2014 13:05	H.Shaft	Updated [Aircraft type, Location, Destination airport]
16-Apr-2020 16:07	Allach	Updated [Aircraft type, Location, Source, Narrative, Operator]
10-Apr-2021 17:39	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Cn, Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
08-Aug-2022 05:40	Nepa	Updated [Location, Destination airport, Narrative, Operator]