Date:	Thursday 7 November 1957
Time:	day
Type:	Hawker Hunter F Mk 4
Owner/operator:	229 OCU RAF
Registration:	XF948
MSN:	HABL/003116
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	10 miles north of Lundy Island, Bristol Channel, off North Devon -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	RAF Chivenor, Barnstaple, Devon (EGDC)
Destination airport:	RAF Chivenor, Barnstaple, Devon (EGDC)
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Hawker Hunter F.Mk.4 XF948: Built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd., Blackpool, Lancashire. Delivered to the RAF on 9/4/1956 to 5 MU RAF Kemble, Gloucestershire. First issued for service to 3 Squadron, RAF Geilenkirchen, West Germany as "J" on 6/6/1956. Transferred back to 5 MU Kemble and refurbished for further service. Then issued to 229 OCU RAF Chivenor, Barnstaple, Devon as "ES-P" on 12/6/1957.

Written off (destroyed) 7/11/1957: Abandoned due to an engine fire, ten miles north of Lundy Island in the Bristol Channel, off the coast of North Devon. The pilot had completed an air-to-air firing sortie over the Bristol Channel at 9,000 feet, and the reported that the "FIRE WARNING" light had illuminated. The engine flamed out, and the pilot operated the onboard fire extinguisher.

The pilot then commenced an attempt to glide back to base at Chivenor, but then decided that he would not reach base, and therefore was instructed by ATC at Chivenor to eject at 4,000 feet, ten miles north of Lundy Island. Despite an extensive SAR (Search And Rescue) effort, no trace of the pilot was ever found.

Crew of Hunter XF948:
Pilot Officer Colin Ernest Truman, RAF (pilot, Service Number 4141152, aged 21) - killed on active service 7/11/1957, body not found/not recovered

On 23/2/1958 the crew of an Avro Anson reported spotting from the air some pieces of wreckage of a Hawker Hunter on the mudflats of the Severn Estuary. However, the wreckage was not located nor recovered, and if it was that of Hunter XF948, then it was washed away with the changing tides.

Note that several sources list the pilot of a "Flight Cadet"; however, he was promoted to the rank of Flying Officer with effect from 3/9/1957 (backdated to 30/7/1957)[see link #10]. He was a graduate of the RAF College at Cranwell (Course Number 70A) - which is mentioned in the promotion announcement.

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 SA100-VZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1983 p 90)
3. Category Five; A Catalogue of RAF Aircraft Losses 1954 to 2009 by Colin Cummings p.210
4. Three's Company p.156 By Jack T C Long
5. Wings Over Somerset: Aircraft Crashes since the End of World War II By Peter Forrester
6. http://web.archive.org/web/20170421194235/http://www.ejection-history.org.uk:80/PROJECT/YEAR_Pages/1957.htm#nov
7. http://www.ukserials.com/losses-1957.htm
8. http://www.oldcranwellians.info/flight-cadet-entry-post-war/alumni-post-a-z.html
9. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=XF
10. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/41165/supplement/5169/data.pdf

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
21-Mar-2012 11:28	Dr. John Smith	Added
07-Feb-2017 18:19	ORD	Updated [Narrative]
04-Dec-2018 09:28	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Nature, Destination airport, Operator]
11-Aug-2020 23:32	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Cn, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
12-Aug-2020 08:32	Newton	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Operator]
12-Aug-2020 15:44	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]
12-Aug-2020 15:44	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
12-Aug-2020 15:48	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source]