Just prior to what became this final flight on the afternoon of Tuesday, 19th January 1954 the pupil pilot of this 207 Advanced Flying School aircraft had twice flown with an instructor who assessed him as competant to begin solo flying training. He was then detailed to undertake a solo circuits and landings training exercise at Full Sutton airfield and the visibility and wind condition was deemed suitable. The exercise was planned to have been three short circuits and landings flights. After taking off for the first of the short flights it was felt that a crosswind would effect further circuit flying so a message was transmitted informing this pilot to land. Flying Control had intended to open one of the other runways to flying to offer less crosswind on further takeoffs and on landings. What happened to this aircraft after taking off is unclear but while being flown on the pilot's first circuit of the airfield it was significantly lower that it should have been. It flew over the York to Pocklington railway line at very low height near Fangfoss station, struck a tree and crashed into a ploughed field next to the line. The aircraft broke up and one of the engines continued into an ajoining field. Eight railway workers had been in a hut on the lineside which the aircraft narrowly missed just prior to the crash. They witnessed the crash and, along with a farm worker from Fangfoss Grange, went to the wreckage and located the pilot but nothing could be done for him.
The subsequent inquest on the pilot was reported on in local newspapers. The Coroner pressed an officer from Full Sutton around what had actually been transmitted to the pilot in a message that told him to "land immediately" and whether this could have been misunderstood that he should force land immediately owing to an issue with the aircraft, rather than make a landing on the airfield at the nearest opportunity. This was dismissed by the RAF officer but the inquest doesn't actually give a reason why the aircraft crashed. It did state that the crash occurred in a field around 150 yards from Fangfoss Grange and a similiar distance to the railway. Newspaper reports also stated that this was the third time in one to two years that a plane had crashed on virtually the same spot on the farmland owned by Mr Fountain, of Fangfoss Grange. Looking up what other incidents occurred in the area one was definitely Meteor WH167 on 13th May 1952, the other may have been Meteor WG986 on 16th April 1952. Much later Sirocco 337GB G-MMLL crashed near the farm on 8th May 1987.
Pilot - P/O Peter Bryan Jackson RAF (2547969), aged 19. Buried Fangfoss Churchyard, Yorkshire.
Peter Jackson was from Bolton, Lancashire.