On 11th August 1952 two Meteors of No.215 Advanced Flying School took off from Finningley airfield at 12.30hrs to undertake a formation flying training exercise. In the lead aircraft was an instructor accompanied by a pupil pilot and the pilot of Meteor RA376 was flying solo in the second aircraft. After taking off both aircraft began to climb using the full power of the engines that they then entered cloud. The lead aircraft continued to climb through the cloud but when it emerged above the cloud the second aircraft was not seen. The jet was seen by people on the ground to be descending at high speed in the Firbeck area and it flew into the ground at full power around half a mile east of Letwell just a minute after taking off. The aircraft disintergrated and the pilot was killed.
It was thought that the pilot of RA376 had become disoriented in the cloud while switching from visual flying to instrument flying and had put the aircraft into a diving turn from which it then crashed. It was also considered possible that because the pilot needed to change channels on his radio after taking off he may have taken his concentration away from instrument flying and onto the radio channel selection switches. It was also felt that the instructor in the lead aircraft should not have led his pupil into cloud so soon after taking off and without first having established radio contact.
Pilot - P/O John Sim Kidd RAF (2502528), aged 20. Cremated Dundee.
John Kidd.