At 13.15hrs on 22nd April 1956 four 609 Squadron Meteors took off from Church Fenton airfield so that the pilots could undertake a formation flying exercise at altitude. The four pilots undertook formation flying practice at 30,000 feet for half a hour and then climbed to 35,000 feet. They undertook further formation flying at that height which included a turn and then descended to 24,000 feet. Once the other three aircraft levelled out at 24,000 feet it was found that the forth was missing. Exactly what then occurred to WE895 was not fully understood but it was assumed that the pilot lost control while descending so then ejected roughly over the area east of South Milford. The Meteor continued in a south-easterly direction and dived into the ground just west of Chapel Haddlesey at 13.45hrs. It crashed into the north bank of the River Aire and disintergrated. Unfortunately the pilot did not seperate from his seat or the parachute deploy properly and he was killed, his body along with the seat and canopy were found around a mile east of South Milford. An examination of the seat found it probable that the pilot had used the incorrect method to eject and had let go of the face blind immediately after pulling to eject with the result that the blind blew back over the top of the seat and fouled the parachute's firing system. While the seat and pilot were ejected from the aircraft, the drogue parachute did not fire out so that the main chute did not deploy.

Pilot - F/Lt William Sandeman Campbell RAF (1568523), aged 33. Cremated Lawnswood Cemetery, Leeds, Yorkshire.