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Date: | Friday 24 August 1956 |
Time: | day |
Type: | Hawker Hunter F Mk 4 |
Owner/operator: | CFS RAF |
Registration: | XF980 |
MSN: | HABL/003135 |
Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
Other fatalities: | 1 |
Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
Location: | Wootton-under-Edge, Gloucestershire -
United Kingdom
|
Phase: | En route |
Nature: | Training |
Departure airport: | RAF Little Rissington, Gloucestershire |
Destination airport: | |
Confidence Rating: | Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
Narrative:Hunter F.4 XF980 of RAF Central Flying School, collided with Javelin XA644 of Gloster Aircraft Ltd, over Nailsworth, Gloucestershire. The Javelin, which was on a test flight from Moreton Valence, crashed immediately, but the Hunter crashed at Wotton-Under-Edge.
The Hunter was climbing at full throttle and collided at 10,000 feet over Nailsworth, Gloucestershire with the Javelin, which was making a rapid descent. The closing speed of the two aircraft was 920 knots, and the tail of the Hunter sliced through the front fuselage of the Javelin, ejecting both of the Javelin's crew. The pilot of the Javelin - Gloster Test Pilot E.B. Smith - had his parachute chord severed and he fell to the ground at Tetbury, Gloucestershire. The other crew member on board the Javelin, Flight Lieutenant R. E. Jeffries ejected safely, and survived. (He died on February 14 2017 at the age of 93)
The pilot of the Hunter was Flight Lieutenant P.K.V. Hicks ejected through the canopy and was injured.
Sources:
1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.182 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Royal Air Force Aircraft XA100-XZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 2001 p 34)
3. Category Five; A Catalogue of RAF Aircraft Losses 1954 to 2009 by Colin Cummings p.208
4. Jet Jockeys, by Peter Caygill, page 153 (ISBN 1 84037 313 X - Airlife Publishing)
5.
http://web.archive.org/web/20170723045955/http://www.ejection-history.org.uk:80/PROJECT/YEAR_Pages/1956.htm 6.
http://www.ukserials.com/losses-1956.htm 7.
http://simviation.com//lair/casualty1956.htm 8.
http://www.nailsworth.com/showthread.aspx?getthread=Aircraft_Collision!&start=1&ref=2590
9.
http://www.planetrace.co.uk/1950-1959_26.html 10.
http://ww2f.com/threads/wing-commander-robert-jefferies-afc-qc-obe.59147/ Revision history:
Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
10-Jan-2009 11:55 |
ASN archive |
Added |
04-Dec-2011 17:35 |
Dr. John Smith |
Updated [Cn, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Country, Phase, Departure airport, Source, Narrative] |
22-Apr-2013 13:19 |
Dr. John Smith |
Updated [Source, Narrative] |
20-Nov-2018 15:43 |
Nepa |
Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Nature, Operator] |
25-Jun-2020 17:00 |
Dr. John Smith |
Updated [Time, Cn, Operator, Source, Narrative] |
25-Jun-2020 19:01 |
Digger |
Updated [Operator, Operator] |