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| Date: | Thursday 5 June 1958 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  Hawker Hunter F4 |
| Owner/operator: | 229 OCU RAF |
| Registration: | WV391 |
| MSN: | 41H-670837 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | near RAF Chivenor, Devon, England -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Approach |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Chivenor, Devon [EGDC] |
| RAF Chivenor, Devon [EGDC] |
WV391 ff 23-08-55 Hugh Merewether. Delivered. 13-09-55, No 20 Sqn, (‘Z’), Oldenburg, 12-01-56. To Buckeberg, 11-01-57, for modification of the 30mm ADEN guns to HV ammunition and fitting of the Avon 121 engine. Returned to No.20 Sqn, 01-03-57, then to No.26 Sqn, ('Z'), 09-05-57. No.229OCU, (‘RS-E’). Delivered 31-05-57. The pilot was practicing landing at Chivenor, in manual control and everything appeared to be normal until the final stages of the approach. The aircraft was seen to rock laterally as if experiencing aileron buffet and the nose was raised as though the pilot intended to overshoot. However, the sink rate increased and aircraft assumed stalled or semi-stalled condition, striking the ground in nose high attitude. It then slid into a levee protecting a dyke and overturned, 2000yds from the Chivenor ATC tower (51° 05' 13" N, 04° 10' 25" W). The cause was established as a defective bleed valve control unit which would have caused a compressor stall in the engine if the throttle was opened. This would have prevented the pilot from overshooting the aircraft. Pilot; Wg.Cdr. Michael Wilsher Coombes, aged 37yrs, was killed. W/O, 05-06-58
Sources:
Hawker Hunter 1951 - 2013 by David j. Griffin - Database
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 10-Jan-2009 11:55 | ASN archive | Added |
| 24-Mar-2012 04:38 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Cn, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Country, Phase, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 14-Aug-2013 03:25 | RAFOHunter | Updated [Source, Narrative, ] |
| 04-Dec-2018 09:29 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Location, Nature, Operator, ] |
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