This became the second fatal 66 Squadron Meteor accident to occur in the Filey area in three weeks. After the first accident all 66 Squadron pilots were ordered to not to undertake low flying in the Filey area.
On 4th September 1953 the pilot of this 66 Squadron aircraft was briefed to carry out a combined training exercise. It was to initially see the pilot carry out authorised low flying in the "Watnall No.2" low flying area but to not descend below 250 feet, he was then to climb to undertake an aerobatic training exercise to be flown not below 10,000 feet. He was then detailed to carry out a controlled descent before returning to base and undertake a ground controlled approach to land. Where the Watnall No.2 low flying area was is unclear from the accident documentation but it appears to have been an area roughly in the eastern area of the Vale of Pickering, but not including Filey. The aircraft took off from Linton on Ouse airfield at 14.05hrs. Ten minutes after taking off the aircraft was seen flying roughly north to south, in a shallow dive, flying low and fast in the Filey area with the pilot seemingly intent on flying over the Butlin's Holiday Camp south of the town. Once over the holiday camp the pilot banked the aircraft to starboard, probably to put the aircraft into a roll, but almost immediately the port outer wing, then starboard wing broke off over the swimming pool area. The starboard wing struck the tail as it detached and which also broke off. The aircraft then continued to break up over the next mile with various pieces of the aircraft falling into the holiday camp and on farmland beyond. The main centre fuselage section with the cockpit travelled the furthest but it was inverted when it crashed. It was also thought that the pilot may have attempted to eject just before impact but as the aircraft was inverted this had only one outcome and unfortunately the pilot was killed. Accident documention states that his body was recovered but modern RAF casualty records on the internet do not include any burial details. He was from the Shirley area of Southampton and he was probably buried there. A detailed examination of the aircraft followed. It was thought that the aircraft was travelling at around 450mph when structural failure occurred, the forces and loading on the aircraft during the manouevre at high speed were too great for the aircraft, they were beyond the limits that it had been designed.
Pilot - P/O Brian Watton RAF (3134158), aged 23. Burial location unknown (probably Southampton).
Brian Watton was the youngest son of Thomas and Mildred Watton, of the Shirley area of Southampton. He was born on 26th August 1930. He was a National Service pilot. Owing to a speech-related stammer and this being a potentially dangerous condition under certain circumstances for an operational pilot it was decided that he would leave the RAF on completion of his National Service at the end of September 1953.
The photograph above shows where the Butlin's Holiday Camp site was and the photograph below shows where the main bulk of the aircraft crashed. When I took these photographs around the Summer 2005 era the road system in the area was being upgraded.
