Date:	Friday 4 November 1955
Time:	day
Type:	Gloster Meteor T Mk 7
Owner/operator:	231 OCU RAF
Registration:	WG947
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RAF Merryfield, Ilton, Ilchester, Somerset, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Take off
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	RAF Merryfield, Ilchester, Somerset
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Gloster Meteor T.Mk.7 WG947: Delivered 29/8/51. RAF Service career was with 205 AFS (Advanced Flying School) and 231 OCU, RAF Merryfield

Written off 4/11/55: The pilot originally hailed from Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). He took off from RAF Merryfield, Ilton, Ilchester, Somerset, and the aircraft ascended to an altitude of 150 feet above the runway. At that point, the starboard wing dropped, and the Meteor overturned diving into the ground inverted.

An eyewitness at the inquest (reported in the Western Gazette on 11 November 1955) stated:

"As the aircraft became airborne with its wheels up, and at a height of about 50 feet, I noticed that the aircraft began to swing to starboard. Initially the swing was not great, but as the aircraft continued to climb, the swing became more apparent.

At a height of between 150 and 200 feet the starboard wing dropped, the aircraft tuned over onto its back, and crashed upside down"

The pilot was reported to have called on the radio "I've had it!", just before the aircraft hit the ground. He was killed by the impact

Crew of Meteor WG947:
Pilot Officer Michael Leonard Jonklass RAF (Pilot, Service Number 607498, aged 22) - killed on active service 4/11/55, buried at Ilton, Ilchester, Somerset

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.175 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Royal Air Force Aircraft WA100-WZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1983 p 47)
3. Category Five; A Catalogue of RAF Aircraft Losses 1954 to 2009 by Colin Cummings p.164
4. Wings Over Somerset: Aircraft Crashes since the End of World War II By Peter Forrester
5. Western Gazette - 11 November 1955
6. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=WG

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
09-Jun-2008 04:29	JINX	Added
13-May-2015 08:46	Boile A.	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Phase, Departure airport]
01-Jun-2020 23:15	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Operator, Total occupants, Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
02-Jun-2020 07:32	BlB	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Nature, Departure airport, Operator]