Date:	Monday 9 April 1956
Time:	day
Type:	English Electric Canberra B.2
Owner/operator:	Bristol Siddeley Engines
Registration:	WD952
MSN:	71034
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 3
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Cribbs Causeway, Bristol, Somerset -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Take off
Nature:	Test
Departure airport:	Filton Airfield, Bristol (FZO/EGTG)
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
EE Canberra WD952: Delivered to the RAF 6/12/51. Transferred to C(A) MoS (Controller (Aircraft) Ministry of Supply) charge 18/12/51 for use as the Bristol-Siddeley Olympus testbed

Written off (damaged beyond repair) 9/4/56. Suffered port engine failure at 50 feet on take off from Filton, Bristol due to compressor blade failure. Force landed wheels up at Cribbs Causeway and struck an oak tree which tore off the port wing, undercarriage and elevators, leaving the remainder of the airframe severely damaged. The crew of three escaped unhurt.

Wreckage later (by September 1956) broken up at Colerne after completion of accident investigation procedures. This aircraft had gained the world height record on two occasions: 63,668 ft on 4th May 1953 and 65,876 ft on 29th August 1955.

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.179 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Royal Air Force Aircraft WA100-WZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1983 p 30)
3. Category Five; A Catalogue of RAF Aircraft Losses 1954 to 2009 by Colin Cummings p.189
4. Wings Over Somerset: Aircraft Crashes since the End of World War II By Peter Forrester
5. WD952 at Farnborough September 29/8/55: https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/view/1678042
6. WD952 at Farnborough September 1955: https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/view/1269851
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_Electric_Canberra#Flight_records_set_by_Canberras
8. https://www.airteamimages.com/english-electric-canberra_WD952_united-kingdom---royal-air-force_114833_large.html

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
03-Jun-2008 16:17	JINX	Added
23-Oct-2011 15:14	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Source, Narrative]
29-Jan-2012 14:33	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
13-Jun-2020 22:40	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Source, Narrative]