Date:	Tuesday 11 January 1955
Time:	day
Type:	Gloster Meteor T Mk 7
Owner/operator:	72 (Basutoland) Sqn RAF
Registration:	WF783
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	1.5 miles South of RAF Church Fenton, North Yorkshire -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Initial climb
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Church Fenton, North Yorkshire
Destination airport:	RAF Church Fenton, North Yorkshire

Narrative:
Gloster Meteor T.Mk.7 WF783: Delivered 2/5/51. RAF service career was with 609 (West Riding) Squadron and 72 (Basutoland) Squadron RAF

Written off (destroyed) 11/1/55: Whilst carrying out an asymmetric overshoot, the aircraft went out of control, rolled over, and dived into the ground one-and-a-half miles South of RAF Church Fenton, North Yorkshire, in a field off Biggin Lane. Both crew were killed instantly. Police from Tadcaster and fire appliances from Tadcaster and Wetherby attended. Aircraft wrecked, both aviators thrown clear and found in a nearby hedgerow. Base M.O. Flying-Officer Galdin stated death from multiple injuries and burns.

Crew of Meteor WF783:
Flight Lieutenant Malcolm John Woodyear RAF (pilot, aged 29) of Edgware
Flying Officer Gordon Ewart Fisher RAF (passenger, aged 22) from Hythe, Kent.

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.167 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Royal Air Force Aircraft WA100-WZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1985 p.)
3. Category Five; A Catalogue of RAF Aircraft Losses 1954 to 2009 by Colin Cummings p.97
4. The Gloster Meteor in British Service By Martin Derry
5. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=WL
6. http://www.coldwarshield.co.uk/downloads/volume_one/ColdWarShieldVolumeOnePage385.pdf
7. Memo diary, West Riding Constabulary Collection, Wakefield Archives.

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
07-Jun-2008 02:24	JINX	Added
15-Jan-2012 02:39	Nepa	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Destination airport, Source]
05-May-2020 19:23	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
06-Dec-2023 18:31	Paul Allonby	Updated [Source, Narrative]