Date:	Wednesday 24 February 1954
Time:	day
Type:	Canadair Sabre F4 (F-86E)
Owner/operator:	26 Sqn RAF
Registration:	XB866
MSN:	604
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	North Sea, off Heligoland Bight -   Germany
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Oldenburg, Lower Saxony, West Germany
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Canadair CL-13 (F-86E) Sabre F.4: Diverted to RAF before RCAF serial 19704 marked, became XB866 in RAF service. First flight on 20 May 1953. Delivered (taken on charge) by RAF 20 July 1953. With No. 26 Squadron at Oldenburg, Germany in 1953-54.

Written off (destroyed) when crashed on 24 February 1954. Radio contact was lost after take off from RAF Oldenburg, Lower Saxony, West Germany. No wreckage or pilots body was ever found. It is thought that the pilot was suffering from anoxia, and lost control when he passed out due to oxygen starvation. In addition, it is thought that the aircraft had an unserviceable compass. Aircraft flew into the North Sea, off Heligoland Bight. Pilot presumed killed, as no trace of aircraft wreckage or pilot ever found.

XB866 was formally struck of charge as Cat.5 (Missing) 12 March 1954. The reported crash location of Heligoland Bight (German: Helgoländer Bucht) is a bay which forms the southern part of the German Bight, itself a bay of the North Sea, located at the mouth of the Elbe river. The Heligoland Bight extends from the mouth of the River Elbe to the islands of Heligoland and lies between the East Frisian island of Wangerooge and the North Frisian peninsula of Eiderstedt at approximate co ordinates 54°1′0″N, 8°16′0″E.

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.1 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Royal Air Force Aircraft XA100-XZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 2001 p 10)
3. http://www.ukserials.com/losses-1954.htm
4. http://www.rwrwalker.ca/RCAF_19701_19750_detailed.htm
5. http://www.planetrace.co.uk/1950-1959_26.html
6. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=XB
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heligoland_Bight

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
01-May-2013 21:44	Dr. John Smith	Added
26-Jun-2013 09:58	TB	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Source, Damage, Narrative]
30-Jan-2020 22:34	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
30-Jan-2020 23:27	stehlik49	Updated [Operator, Operator]