Date:	Monday 20 October 1958
Time:	day
Type:	Gloster Meteor NF Mk 11
Owner/operator:	Empire Test Pilots School (ETPS)
Registration:	WD765
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Malshangar, Oakley, 4.5 miles west of Basingstoke, Hampshire, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Boscombe Down, Wiltshire [EGDM]
Destination airport:	RAF Farnborough, Hampshire (EGLF)
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Meteor WD765 (Empire Test Pilots School): Written off (destroyed) when crashed 20/10/1958.
Spun vertically into the ground at Malshanger, Oakley, 4.5 miles south-east of Basingstoke, Hampshire, after the rear fuselage detached following loss of control during a handling assessment sortie at high indicated mach speeds and at 40,000 feet. The pilot [Lt. William.R. Shackleton, RN, flying solo] was unable to release the canopy and was killed.

According to a brief contemporary newspaper report ("Birmingham Daily Post" - Tuesday 21 October 1958):

"THE PILOT WAS KILLED when a Meteor jet night fighter from Farnborough crashed yesterday into a wood near Malshanger, Basingstoke, home of Sir Jeremiah Colman, a director of the mustard firm."

According to official Naval records (see link #5) the pilot was attached to HMS President, which is a "stone frigate", or shore establishment of the Royal Naval Reserve, based on the northern bank of the River Thames near Tower Bridge in Wapping, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.197 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Royal Air Force Aircraft WA100-WZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1983 p 30)
3. http://www.ukserials.com/losses-1958.htm
4. https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/view/1072993/
5. http://www.thunder-and-lightnings.co.uk/memorial/entry.php?id=259
6. http://www.naval-history.net/xDKCas1956-59.htm
7. https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=411416542317191&id=223794071079440
8. National Archives (PRO Kew) File Reference: AVIA 5/38/S2928: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C6578708
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malshanger
10. http://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=14817.0
11. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=WD
12. http://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=14816.0

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
03-Jun-2008 05:42	JINX	Added
09-Jun-2008 20:19	JINX	Updated
27-Oct-2013 03:17	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Phase, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative]
20-Nov-2014 06:58	timchase	Updated [Location]
04-Dec-2018 10:10	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Departure airport, Destination airport, Operator]
13-Feb-2020 23:23	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Source, Embed code, Narrative]
13-Feb-2020 23:29	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
15-Feb-2020 00:14	stehlik49	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Operator]
21-Feb-2020 14:26	Iwosh	Updated [Operator, Operator]
27-Jun-2022 12:04	Nepa	Updated [Location, Narrative, Operator]