Date:	Wednesday 24 October 1956
Time:	day
Type:	Hawker Hunter F Mk 4
Owner/operator:	CFS RAF
Registration:	XF999
MSN:	HABL/003154
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	3 miles east of RAF Kemble, Gloucestershire -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Initial climb
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	RAF Little Rissington, Gloucestershire
Destination airport:	RAF Kemble, Gloucestershire
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Hawker Hunter F.Mk.4 XF999: Built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd at Blackpool, Lancashire. Delivered 20/7/1956 to 45 MU RAF. Sole operational service career was with the CFS (Central Flying School), RAF Little Rissington, Gloucestershire from 7/9/1956. The Hunter was delivered as a replacement for Hunter F.Mk.4 XF980, which had been destroyed in a mid air collision with Gloster Javelin XA644 on 24/8/1956 (which see)

Written off (destroyed) 24/10/56: Crashed three miles east of Kemble, Gloucestershire after control failure while in the circuit for Kemble. Undercarriage was partially lowered, but jammed in this position; aircraft then rolled, and was abandoned inverted. The pilot ejected through the canopy but the ejection sequence was not completed, and the pilot was killed. The board of inquiry attributed the cause of the accident to hydraulic failure leading to control difficulties and "out of balance forces" while flying in turbulent conditions.

Crew of Hunter XF999:
Flight Lieutenant Charles Martin HARCOURT, RAF (pilot, Service Number 4021911, aged 27) - killed on active service 24/10/1956

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.183 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Royal Air Force Aircraft XA100-XZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1983 p 34)
3. Category Five; A Catalogue of RAF Aircraft Losses 1954 to 2009 by Colin Cummings p.218
4. RAF Little Rissington: The Central Flying School 1946-76 p.306 By R. Deacon, A. Pollock, M. Thomas, R. Bagshaw
5. National Archives (PRO Kew) File BT233/366: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C424487
6. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=XF
7. http://www.planetrace.co.uk/1950-1959_26.html
8. http://www.ukserials.com/losses-1956.htm
9. https://www.aviation-links.co.uk/Gloucestershire%20Aircraft%20Accidents.pdf

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
10-Jan-2009 11:55	ASN archive	Added
10-Mar-2012 19:15	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Country, Phase, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
27-Mar-2013 00:08	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Cn, Source, Narrative]
20-Nov-2018 16:00	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Nature, Operator]
22-Jan-2020 18:03	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Cn, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
22-Jan-2020 18:05	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source]
22-Jan-2020 23:05	stehlik49	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Departure airport, Operator]
13-Jul-2020 23:26	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Operator, Source, Narrative]
14-Jul-2020 08:27	Yarbi	Updated [Operator, Location, Operator]