On 4th March 1958 the pilot of this 85 Squadron aircraft had undertaken an air gunnery exercise and was returning to Church Fenton airfield where his unit was based when the aircraft collided with 72 Squadron Meteor WS700 while joining the landing circuit for Church Fenton. The pilot of WS782 was able to eject and landed reasonably safely. WS782 crashed inverted near mount Pleasant Farm, between Kelfield and Cawood. The pilot landed reasonably safely but sustained an ankle and facial injury from which he later recovered. The crash occurred during a school half-term holiday. Two teenage boys, Brian Thompson and David Lambert, were walking along the riverbank at the time of the collision and narrowly avoided being struck by falling debris including the tail of one (probably WS782). The crew of WS700 were unable to clear the aircraft and both died when it crashed into the River Ouse just downstream of Cawood, the boys witnessed the aircraft go into the river and were able to guide search teams to the site.
Pilot - F/Lt Dennis George Hazell RAF (4072330). Minor injuries.
Dennis Hazell was later awarded the Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service in the Air, Gazetted on 1st January 1969. On 13th November 1970 he ejected from Red Arrow, Knat XR994 at Kemble. He was awarded the Air Force Cross, Gazetted 12th June 1971. Having risen to the rank of Wing Commander he was killed on 3rd March 1978 in the Red Arrow crash of Knat XR994 at Kemble. He is buried at Hillingdon Cemetery, London.
The crash site of Meteor WS782 was located in June 2005 by historians Ken Reast, Albert Pritchard and Eric Barton with permission from the landowner. The photograph above shows a small fragment Eric located that shows some lettering including an Armstrong Whitworth inspection stamp.