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.

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/

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]