Date:	Saturday 24 November 1951
Time:	14:45
Type:	Gloster Meteor F Mk 4
Owner/operator:	205 AFS RAF
Registration:	VW297
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RAF Middleton St George, 5 miles E of Darlington, Co. Durham, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Take off
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	RAF Middleton St George, near Darlington, County Durham
Destination airport:	RAF Middleton St George
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Gloster Meteor F Mk 4 VW297/"FMJ-R", 205 AFS (Advanced Flying School) RAF: delivered 22/2/1949. Written off (destroyed) 24/11/1951 in a take off accident at RAF Middleton St. George.

The pilot of the Meteor intended to carry out an asymmetric (single engine) approach, landing, and take off for practice. The Meteor landed successfully and rolled for some distance on the runway. The pilot then attempted to take off again (still on only one engine) but as his aircraft left the ground it slewed to the right, crashing into the west wing of the RAF Middleton St George Officers Mess.

Legend has it that the Meteor demolished the pilot's own car, parked outside the building and came to rest in his own room. Unusually, the pilot was not killed by the flying accident, but by head injuries sustained when struck by dislodged brickwork when exiting the wreckage!

Pilot:
F/O (159483) Raymond Thomas NORMAN, RAF - killed. R.I.P.

According to a report in "Air Yorkshire" (July 2019 - see link #9) marking the closure of the St. George Hotel, which was created from the RAF Middleton St George Officers Mess in 1965:

"I also took time to view the corner of the former Officers Mess which was rebuilt after it was demolished by Gloster Meteor F.4 VW297 when it crashed on take-off on the 24/11/1951. The 205 AFS operated Meteor was flown by Flying Officer Raymond Norman who was taking off using the short east-west runway 10/28 (which is no longer in use) but failed to gain enough speed to climb out and careered off the end of the runway.

Amazingly, the Meteor struck the pilots own car which was parked outside the Officers' Mess before it buried itself into the corner of the west wing. Miraculously, Flying Officer Norman survived the crash but was cruelly killed by falling brickwork as he attempted to climb out of the shattered Meteor cockpit.

He now lies buried in Darlington West Cemetery alongside several other young airmen from both Middleton St. George and Croft who lost their lives in this early period of jet flying training. The two damaged ground floor rooms were numbers 51 and 52 and it is said that you can make out the repaired brickwork from the outside but the bricked-up windows which are evident today are not the result of the crash but the result of combining the small bedrooms and adding en-suite bathrooms at a later date.

The ghost of Flying Officer Norman is said to haunt the St George Hotel and there have been various sightings of him over the years, both by British Midland pilots stopping overnight in the St George Hotel and by airport staff reporting activities around hangars 1 and 2."

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.122 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.199
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.dtvmovements.co.uk/Info/History/Accidents.htm
6. https://www.nelsam.org.uk/NEAR/Losses/Losses-PostWWII.htm
7. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=VW
8. https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234907710-raf-training-command-markings-meteor-mk4/&do=findComment&comment=902835
9. Air Yorkshire July 2019: http://s617306976.websitehome.co.uk/AYASMagazines/Air.Yorkshire.July.2019.pdf

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
06-Mar-2010 23:29	angels one five	Added
06-Mar-2010 23:37	angels one five	Updated [Registration, Source, Narrative]
25-Sep-2012 01:50	Nepa	Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Registration, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Narrative]
10-Dec-2012 00:24	angels one five	Updated [Aircraft type, Narrative]
10-Dec-2012 00:28	angels one five	Updated [[Aircraft type, Narrative]]
29-Nov-2013 21:56	angels one five	Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Operator, Narrative]
10-May-2015 17:36	Angel Dick one	Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
12-Dec-2020 10:18	angels one five	Updated [Location, Narrative]
15-Feb-2021 22:56	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
19-May-2021 08:56	Anon.	Updated [Location, Narrative, Operator]
19-Sep-2021 08:39	angels one five	Updated [Departure airport, Destination airport, Narrative]