Date:	Friday 19 November 1954
Time:	day
Type:	Gloster Meteor F Mk 4
Owner/operator:	12 FTS RAF
Registration:	VW302
MSN:	G5/235
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Bristol Channel, 6 miles north of Lynmouth, Devon -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	RAF Weston Zoyland, Bridgwater, Somerset.
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Gloster Meteor F.Mk.4 VW302: Delivered to the RAF 2/3/49. Known service was with the ETPS (Empire Test Pilot School), 207 AFS (Advanced Flying School) and 12 FTS RAF Weston Zoyland

Written off (destroyed) 19/11/54: The Meteor ran out of fuel after instrument failure on a sortie from RAF Weston Zoyland, Bridgwater, Somerset, and dived into the Bristol Channel, 6 miles North of Lynmouth, Devon.

The crash was witnessed by some Lynton boatmen, as well as Mr. Tom Richards, his Brother, and his 72-year-old uncle. They rowed out in their 23-foot rowboat to the crash location six miles offshore. There, they found the pilot floating in the sea, near the aircraft wreckage. They recovered the pilot, then rowed back to shore, and the pilot was transported to Lynton Hospital, Sadly, he never regained consciousness, and died in hospital the same day
Crew of Meteor VW302:
Flying Officer Donald Harry Butterworth (Service Number 583550, pilot, RAF) - born 6/2/30, died 19/11/54, buried Weston Zoyland, Bridgwater, Somerset.

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 SA100-VZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1985 p.94)
3. Category Five; A Catalogue of RAF Aircraft Losses 1954 to 2009 by Colin Cummings p.104
4. Wings Over Somerset: Aircraft Crashes since the End of World War II By Peter Forrester
5. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=VW

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
28-Apr-2020 20:28	Dr. John Smith	Added
28-Apr-2020 20:31	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
28-Apr-2020 21:42	MIG21	Updated [Operator, Location, Narrative, Operator]