On Thursday, 20th December 1951 this No.203 Advanced Flying School aircraft was one of three being flown on a training flight that included formation flying. With the exercise complete the formation headed back to Driffield and as they broke formation on the approach to land the lead aircraft (Meteor RA426) collided with the No.2 (Meteor VW304). Nether aircraft were fitted with ejection seats. The collision occurred between a wing of VW304 and the tail of RA426. The pilot of this aircraft immediately attempted a landing but lost control and it crashed across the Driffield to Market Weighton road near the airfield. It came to rest thirty yards into a field opposite the airfield but had overturned and the pilot was killed.
(VW304) Pilot - P/O Alan Smith RAF (583767), aged 21. Buried Rose Hill Cemetery, Doncaster, Yorkshire.
The complete tail of RA426 was broken off in the collision but the pilot was able to put the aircraft into a climb and then baled out. He survived. This aircraft was referred to in newspaper reports of the time as having crashed into a waterlogged field on the west side of the Driffield to Market Weighton railway line, and near Southburn railway station. It did not crash near Carnaby as is claimed elsewhere on the internet.