What would be the pilot of Meteor WH347 when this incident occurred was a serving 74 Squadron pilot who was posted to the Central Gunnery School for addition training. He was relatively new to the Central Gunnery School but was an experienced Meteor pilot. At 13.47hrs on 13th April 1953 the aircraft took off from Leconfield airfield to undertake what was classed as a sector reconnaissance flight in the general Hull and Beverley area. It was to give the pilot chance to familiarise himself with the general area and local landmarks. There was another Meteor flying a similar exercise at the same time. At 13.55hrs both Meteors passed each other in the Skirlaugh area flying in opposite directions at around 2,000 feet. The pilot of WH347 then put the aircraft into a climb and at between 3,000 and 3,500 feet above the ground the aircraft broke up roughly over Skirlaugh railway station, with the aircraft then falling on farmland over the area between the station and Old Ellerby. The pilot was unable to get clear of the falling aircraft and was killed in the resulting crash.
A detailed examination of the wreckage concluded that the break up initially began when the starboard wing leading edge becoming detached. This caused an out-of-balance condition on the airframe and the rear fuselage then disintergrated. The tail then fell away and a short time later, after the aircraft had become inverted the starboard wing, outboard from the engine, broke off. The main fuselage, engines and port wing fell to the ground in one section and was destroyed by fire. The starboard wing, other rear fuselage sections and the tail fell nearby. This incident was similiar to a number of other incidents in the past year that involved the leading edge of a wing becoming detached in flight. It was identical to Meteor WE879 where the pilot had managed to crash land at Carnaby on 18th August 1953. Meteor WH347 appears to have been flying faster than the some of the others so that the problem would magnify itself greater at higher speeds. The forces on the airframe caused the rear fuselage to fail. A modification that strengthened the wing leading edge attachments was not carried out on this aircraft.
Pilot - F/O Ian Tacchi RAF (3124174), aged 21. Buried Leconfield Churchyard, Yorkshire.
Ian Tacchi and his grave at Leconfield Churchyard. He was the son of Basil and Kathleen Tacchi, of Copnor, Portsmouth.