Date:	Tuesday 1 May 1951
Time:	day
Type:	Gloster Meteor T Mk 7
Owner/operator:	71 (Eagle) Sqn RAF
Registration:	WF786
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	near Melle, Osnabruck, 12 miles west of Bielefeld -   Germany
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Gütersloh, West Germany (GUT/ETUO)
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Gloster Meteor T.Mk.7 WF786, 71 Squadron, RAF: Written off (destroyed) 1/5/51 when the aircraft's cockpit canopy detached from the aircraft in flight during a high speed run and the tail detached. The pilot abandoned the aircraft and bailed out near Melle, Osnabruck, Lower Saxony, 12 miles West of Bielefeld

WF786 had a very short service life: it had only been delivered on 17/4/1951, just two weeks earlier.

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.113 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Last Take-off: A Record of RAF Aircraft Losses 1950 to 1953 Colin Cummings p 133
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft WA100-WZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1983)
4. National Archives (PRO Kew) File BT233/48: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C424169
5. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=WF
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melle,_Germany

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
07-Jun-2008 02:28	JINX	Added
16-Jan-2012 13:13	Nepa	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Source]
03-Jul-2014 10:05	angels one five	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator]
10-May-2015 17:27	Angel Dick one	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator]
27-Dec-2019 20:18	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
27-Dec-2019 21:37	stehlik49	Updated [Operator, Operator]
19-Mar-2021 18:04	Nepa	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Operator]