Date:	Monday 21 January 1952
Time:	day
Type:	Gloster Meteor T Mk 7
Owner/operator:	205 AFS RAF
Registration:	WG975
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	2 miles SW of RAF Middleton St.George, Darlington, Co.Durham, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Approach
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Middleton St. George, near Darlington, County Durham
Destination airport:	RAF Middleton St. George, Co. Durham
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Gloster Meteor T.7 WG975, 205 AFS (Advanced Flying School) RAF: delivered 2/11/1951. Written off (destroyed) 21/01/1952 when crashed two miles south west of RAF Middleton St. George, near Darlington, County Durham. The pilot was undertaking his first solo flight in a Meteor. After two successful practice approaches, the pilot commenced a third and final approach to RAF Middleton St. George. During the final turn to line up to the runway on final approach, it seems that the pilot attempted to tighten the turn, which caused the aircraft to stall and dive into the ground. The pilot was killed

Crew of Meteor WG975:
Pilot Officer Vernon Reginald HEATHER (pilot) RAF - killed

The subsequent RAF Board of Inquiry into the incident concluded that the cause of the crash was that the airbrakes had been extended during the turn to line up with the runway for the third and final approach. Extending the airbrakes would have raised the stalling speed, and the minimum "safe" airspeed needed to keep the aircraft flying. It would also have made the aircraft more difficult to control in the final stages of the approach as the power and airspeed was reduced.

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.124 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Royal Air Force Aircraft SA100-VZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1983)
3. Last Take Off; A Catalogue of RAF Aircraft Losses 1950 to 1953 by Colin Cummings p.216
4. 205 AFS ORB (Operations Record Book)(Air Ministry Form AM/F.540) for the period 1/1/1951 to 31/5/1954: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 29/2145/2 at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C7162859
5. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=WG
6. http://www.dtvmovements.co.uk/Info/History/Accidents.htm
7. https://www.nelsam.org.uk/NEAR/Losses/Losses-PostWWII.htm .

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
09-Jun-2008 11:39	JINX	Added
11-May-2015 19:56	Froome	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Destination airport]
22-Feb-2021 23:10	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Operator, Total occupants, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
23-Feb-2021 09:10	Froome	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Destination airport, Operator]
24-Feb-2021 23:01	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]
19-May-2021 09:02	Anon.	Updated [Location, Narrative, Operator]
19-May-2021 09:08	Anon.	Updated [Location, Operator]