Date:	Sunday 5 December 1954
Time:	day
Type:	Gloster Meteor F Mk 8
Owner/operator:	604 (County of Middlesex) Sqn RAF
Registration:	WH408
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Thames Estuary, 4 miles E of Shoeburyness, Essex. -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF North Weald, Essex
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Gloster Meteor F.Mk.8 WH408: Notified as awaiting collection 18/3/52, delivered to the RAF 20/3/52. Known RAF service was with 604 (County of Middlesex) Sqn RAF coded "D"

Written off (destroyed) 5/12/54: While engaged in a practice interception sortie, the aircraft entered a spin, from which the pilot could not recover, and so he abandoned the aircraft over the Thames Estuary, 4 miles East of Shoeburyness, Essex. According to "The Right of The Line", the newsletter of 600 (City of London) Squadron (December 2018 issue - see link #7)

"The year 1954, was closed by yet another accident and another aircraft lost. On 5th December, Pilot Officer Cross lost control of WH408/'D' during 'over-enthusiastic' manoeuvring during a PI" [Practice Interception] "over the Thames Estuary. Thankfully on this occasion the pilot was able to eject successfully to be recovered by a United States Air Force (USAF) HU-16 Albatross amphibian based at Manston, Kent"

According to a testimony of the pilot himself (Pilot Officer Brian Cross, RAF): "...ejected at 20,000 feet and 500 knots, suffering a broken ankle due to high speed ejection. However parachute canopy was torn by this speed and only half remained effective. The parachute was collapsed when Brian Cross regained conciousness, and although was then successfully opened, it collapsed twice more before opening at 500 feet above the Thames Estuary".

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.166 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Royal Air Force Aircraft WA100-WZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1985 p.50)
3. Category Five; A Catalogue of RAF Aircraft Losses 1954 to 2009 by Colin Cummings p.105
4. 604 (County of Middlesex) Squadron RAF Operational Record Book (ORB)(Air Ministry Form AM/F.540) for the period 1/1/54 to 31/12/54: File AIR 27/2675/3 at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8427043
5. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=WH
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._604_Squadron_RAF#Post-war
7. http://600squadronassociation.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/The-Right-of-The-Line-Dec-2018-141218.pdf

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
12-Jun-2008 08:34	JINX	Added
10-Jan-2011 13:00	Brian Cross	Updated [Narrative]
10-Jan-2012 14:34	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Source, Narrative]
10-Jan-2012 14:34	Nepa	Updated [Aircraft type, Source]
29-Apr-2020 19:09	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
29-Apr-2020 19:11	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]