Date:	Wednesday 4 December 1957
Time:	day
Type:	Hawker Sea Hawk FGA.6
Owner/operator:	MTPS FAA RN
Registration:	WV852
MSN:	AWA.6097
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	White Cart River, 1 mile east of RNAS Abbotsinch, Scotland -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Approach
Nature:	Test
Departure airport:	HMS Sanderling /RNAS Abbotsinch, Glasgow
Destination airport:	HMS Sanderling /RNAS Abbotsinch
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Hawker Sea Hawk FGA.6 WV852: Built by Armstrong-Whitworth Aircraft Ltd., at Baginton, Coventry as a Sea Hawk FGA.4. Delivered to the FAA RN (Fleet Air Arm Royal Navy) at HMS Gannet, RNAY Belfast, Northern Ireland 7/12/1954. Then transferred to HMS Sanderling, RNAS Abbotsinch AHU, where test flown 7/2/1955. Transferred to HMS Blackcap, RNAS Stretton AHU, Stretton, Cheshire 10/2/1955 where prepared for issue to service.

First issued for service to 801 Squadron FAA RN, HMS Fulmar, RNAS Lossiemouth on 8/3/1955 as "151/C" later "153/C" when embarked aboard HMS Bulwark. Withdrawn from service back to HMS Sanderling RNAS Abbotsinch AHU 24/11/1955 for overhaul and storage.

Next issued for service on 24/7/1956 to 898 Squadron FAA RN at HMS Goldcrest, RNAS Brawdy, Pembrokeshire as "472/O".

Withdrawn from service to RNAY Fleetlands 14/5/1957 and refurbished as a Sea Hawk FGA.6. Upon completion of work, issued to the MTPS (Maintenance Test Pilots Squadron) FAA RN at HMS Sanderling RNAS Abbotsinch, Glasgow 26/10/1957

Written off (damaged beyond repair) 4/12/1957: Stalled and spun in to the White Cart River, 1 mile East of HMS Sanderling, RNAS Abbotsinch, Glasgow. Aircraft stalled when turning at low level on final approach. Pilot - Lieutenant Commander W.G.Martin - ejected, but died of injuries sustained.

Wreckage recovered to HMS Daedalus, RNAS Lee-on-Solent, Hampshire for accident investigation. Upon completion, moved to RNAY Fleetlands for disposal: Struck Off Charge as Cat.ZZ 29/1/1958 and authorised to be reduced to Spares & Produce

The reported crash location of The White Cart River is a tributary of the River Clyde, Scotland, which it joins from the west roughly midway between the towns of Erskine and Renfrew and opposite the town of Clydebank.

The River Cart itself is very short, being formed from the confluence of the Black Cart Water (from the west) and the White Cart Water (from the south east) and is only 0.75 mile (1 km) long. The River Cart and its tributary the White Cart Water were navigable as far as the Seedhill Craigs at Paisley.

1. Fleet Air Arm Fixed Wing Aircraft Since 1946 (Ray Sturtivant. Lee Howard and Mick Burrows, Air Britain, 2004 p.322)
2. http://www.ukserials.com/losses-1957.htm
3. Video of WV852 on board HMS Bulwark in 1955 (as 153/C of 801 Sqn FAA RN - at 00:30-00:34): https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/1060023899
4. https://www.naval-history.net/xDKCas1956-59.htm
5. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=WV
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_Cart#White_Cart_Water

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
27-Aug-2020 20:46	Dr. John Smith	Added
27-Aug-2020 21:19	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source]
27-Aug-2020 21:27	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]
05-Feb-2021 16:38	Bishop	Updated [Operator, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Operator]