Date:	Thursday 14 December 1961
Time:	day
Type:	Hawker Siddeley P.1127 Harrier
Owner/operator:	Hawker Siddeley Aircraft Ltd
Registration:	XP836
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RNAS Yeovilton, Somerset -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Test
Departure airport:	Dunsfold, Surrey (EGTD)
Destination airport:	RNAS Yeovilton (EGVL)
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
On 14/12/1961, XP836, the second Hawker Siddeley P.1127 (Harrier prototype) operated by Hawker Aircraft Ltd., was written off when the port engine front nozzle became detached in flight, causing an emergency diversion to RNAS Yeovilton, Somerset. When the flaps were selected, the aircraft rolled uncontrollably to port, due to nozzle imbalance and the pilot - Hawker Siddeley Test Pilot A.W. "Bill" Bedford - ejected safely at 100 feet, but the aircraft exploded on impact.

Subsequent investigation showed that the glass-fibre construction of the nozzle was at fault, these nozzles henceforth being changed to steel construction. XP836 was the second Prototype Hawker Siddeley P.1127 (first flown 7/7/1961) but the first Hawker Siddeley P.1127 to crash.

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.203 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Royal Air Force Aircraft XA100-ZZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 2001 p 206)
3. National Archives (PRO Kew) File BT233/443: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C424654
4. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=XP
5. http://web.archive.org/web/20161217162442/http://www.ejection-history.org.uk:80/aircraft_by_type/harrier/harrier.htm
6. http://www.ukserials.com/losses-1960.htm

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
16-Apr-2014 23:01	Dr. John Smith	Added
16-Apr-2014 23:05	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Operator]
16-Apr-2014 23:11	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Aircraft type, Narrative]
24-Dec-2015 20:50	TB	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator]
27-Jan-2020 21:40	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Operator, Source, Embed code]
27-Jan-2020 21:42	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source]