Date:	Thursday 21 October 1954
Time:	day
Type:	Gloster Javelin FAW Mk 1
Owner/operator:	Gloster Aircraft Co. Ltd
Registration:	XA546
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Bristol Channel, off RAF Weston-super-Mare, Somerset -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.)
Nature:	Test
Departure airport:	RAF Moreton Valence, Gloucestershire
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Gloster Javelin FAW.1 XA546, Gloster Aircraft Co Ltd: Crashed and destroyed 21 October 1954: did not recover from low level spin, aircraft crashed 11 minutes after take off from Moreton Valence, Gloucestershire, into the Bristol Channel off Weston­-super‑Mare, Somerset. Some sources state that the test flight involved spin testing and spin recovery procedures, and that XA546 crashed after "having entered what appeared to be an intentional spin".

Pilot (F/Lt Robert James Ross, Test Pilot on loan from RAE Farnborough) lost with aircraft. Some sources believe that he ejected from the aircraft, but too late and at too low an altitude. Body not recovered. XA546 was the third production-standard Javelin FAW.1, which first flew 28/08/54, and was taken on charge on 31/08/54. It was struck off charge on 25/01/55 as Cat.5(M) the date when it (and the pilot) were officially declared as "missing"

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.165 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Royal Air force Aircraft XA100-XZ999 (James J. Halley, Air Britain, 2001) p.6
3. Patridge, J. The Gloster Javelin 1-6: Number 179. Profile Publications, 1967, p.10
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gloster_Javelin#Production_and_further_development
5. National Archives (PRO Kew) File BT233/244: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C424365
6. http://www.ggat.org.uk/timeline/pdf/Military%20Aircraft%20Crash%20Sites%20in%20Southeast%20Wales.pdf
7. https://www.airteamimages.com/gloster-javelin_XA546_united-kingdom---royal-air-force_114866.html
8. http://www.thunder-and-lightnings.co.uk/memorial/entry.php?id=238
9. https://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/515844/details/gloster-javelin-faw1-xa546
10. http://www.planetrace.co.uk/1950-1959_26.html

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
28-Feb-2013 21:32	Dr. John Smith	Added
24-Nov-2016 13:47	Dr.John Smith	Updated [Location, Source, Narrative]
24-Nov-2016 13:51	Dr.John Smith	Updated [Source]
20-May-2019 22:09	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]
10-Jan-2020 19:21	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Source, Narrative]
10-Jan-2020 19:22	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source]
22-Jan-2021 10:50	Quenten74	Updated [Aircraft type, Location, Departure airport, Narrative, Operator]