List of accidents and incidents involving military aircraft (1950–1954)

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This is a list of accidents and incidents involving military aircraft grouped by the year in which the accident or incident occurred. Not all of the aircraft were in operation at the time. Combat losses are not included except for a very few cases denoted by singular circumstances.

This transport-related list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (August 2008)

Aircraft terminology

Information on aircraft gives the type, and if available, the serial number of the operator in italics, the constructors number, also known as the manufacturer's serial number (c/n), exterior codes in apostrophes, nicknames (if any) in quotation marks, flight callsign in italics, and operating units.

1950

1950

First of only two prototypes of the

Fairchild XNQ-1 Navy trainer contender, BuNo 75725, written off in a crash.^[1]

5 January

A

Eglin AFB, crash lands in the Choctawhatchee Bay, northwest Florida, killing two of the 11 crew. Nine escape from the downed aircraft following the forced landing. The airframe settles in eight to ten feet of mud at a depth of 38 feet (12 m). Divers recover the body of flight engineer M/Sgt. Claude Dorman, 27, of Kingston, New Hampshire, from the nose of the bomber on Monday, 8 January. The body of S/Sgt. William Thomas Bell, 21, aerial photographer, who lived in Mayo, Florida, is recovered on Tuesday, 9 January, outside the plane from beneath the tail. The Eglin base public information officer identified the surviving crew as 1st Lt. Park R. Bidwell, instructor pilot; 1st Lt. Vere Short, pilot; 1st Lt. James S. Wigg, co-pilot; Maj. William C. McLaughlin, bombardier; and S/Sgt. Clifford J. Gallipo, M/Sgt. Alton Howard, M/Sgt. William J. Almand, T/Sgt. Samuel G. Broke, and Cpl. William F. Fitzpatrick, crewmen.^[4]

13 January

A

Smyrna Air Force Base, near Nashville, Tennessee, which has jurisdiction over training flights at Fort Benning, began a full investigation into the cause of the accident. These were the first glider fatalities at Fort Benning since 1946.^[6]

A

Great Falls Air Force Base, Montana, with a crew of 8 and 36 passengers (34 service personnel and 2 civilians).^[8][9] Two hours into a planned eight-and-a-half-hour flight, at 1709 hrs., it makes its last contact by radio and has been missing since.^[9]

Despite a massive air and ground search at the time and repeated searches since 1950, as of 19 June 2011 no trace of the aircraft or its occupants has been found, nor has the cause of the aircraft's disappearance been determined.

11 February

Twin-engine

HE detonator units in 22 boxes was destroyed – salvaged from the wreckage. As there was no evidence of sabotage, and since none of the detonators appeared to be missing, the incident was not reported to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.^[10]

A

Carswell AFB, Texas, loses three of six engines, suffers icing. To lighten aircraft, crew jettisons Mark 4 nuclear bomb casing over the Pacific Ocean from 8,000 feet (2,400 m). High explosives detonate on contact, large shockwave seen, 17 crew later bail out safely over Princess Royal Island, but five (the first to depart the bomber) are not recovered and are assumed to have come down in water and drowned.^[11] Aircraft flies 210 miles (340 km) with no crew, impacting in the Skeena Mountains at 6,000 feet (1,800 m), east of Stewart, British Columbia

. Wreckage found in September 1953.

15 February

de Havilland DH 108, VW120, flown by RAE's OC, Squadron Leader J. Stewart R. Muller-Rowland, enters steep dive from 27,000 feet (8,200 m), breaking up around 10,000 feet (3,000 m) with fatal result. The main wreckage comes down at Little Brickhill, near Bletchley. The pilot's body was found near Sandy Lane near Woburn Sands also near Bletchley.^[12]

22 February

On its 102nd flight, the USAF

aeroelastic flutter of both the vertical

and horizontal stabilizers.

7 March

During a practice

crash barrier, tearing engine loose, airframe overturns, burns. Pilot okay, but Sea Fury written off.^[13]

15 March

First

YB-35), being operated by an Air Force crew, piloted by Major Russell E. Schleeh,^[14] (1919–2012)^[15] engaged in testing the stabilizer response during a high-speed taxi run, experiences a violent nose wheel shimmy. Before the aircraft can be brought under control, the nose gear collapses and the airframe breaks in two, destroying it.^[16] Pilot suffers a broken back, and the flight engineer a broken wrist.^[17] Reclamation authorized by Northrop, for Air Materiel Command, 28 June 1950.^[18]

15 March

Las Vegas Air Force Base, Nevada, heavily damaging the airframe.^[14][20]

17 March

First

Mikoyan-Gurevich I-330 SI, prototype for the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17, crashes this date. First flown 14 January 1950, piloted by Ivan Ivashchenko, he is killed when the aircraft develops flutter which tears off his horizontal tail, causing a spin and crash. Lack of wing stiffness also resulted in aileron reversal, which was discovered and fixed.^[21]

22 March

Fuerza Aérea Argentina Avro Lincoln B.Mk. II, B-019, lost in storm over Tierra del Fuego, eleven killed. Wreckage finally found on a glacier on the Chilean side of Tierra del Fuego in 1983.^[22]

22 March

Two

Kanawha Airport and had an apparent mid-air collision.^[25]

5 April

Martin JRM-3 Mars flying boat, BuNo 76822 named "Marshall Mars", destroyed by fire near Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands – force landed in Keehi Lagoon, Oahu, with engine fire. Crew were rescued after which aircraft exploded.^[26][27]

Although an order for 20 was placed by the Navy, with the end of the war, this was reduced to the five already in production.

7 April

Sole prototype,

Nord NC 1080 single-engine naval fighter, F-WFKZ, first flown 29 July 1949, is completely destroyed in a flight accident. Pilot Pierre Gallay dies in the accident.^[28]

Cause is never determined, and the project is abandoned.

11 April

A

Kirtland AFB, New Mexico, killing 13 crew. One fully assembled bomb casing (probably a Mark 4 nuclear bomb) on board is completely shattered when triggers explode. A fissile pit, carried separately, was recovered.^[29]

23 April

Prototype

SNCASO 4000, France's first jet bomber design, F-WBBL, rolled out 5 March 1950, suffers undercarriage collapse during taxiing trials causing extensive damage. Complex gear design proves too fragile for aircraft weight. With repairs and strengthened gear, the bomber makes its first and only flight on 15 March 1951 but design is found to be underpowered and unstable and never again takes to the air.^[30]

1 May

Third and final de Havilland DH 108, TG283, crashes near Hartley Wintney, Hants, during stall tests, kills replacement RAE OC, Squadron Leader George E. C. "Jumbo" Genders. Aircraft entered uncontrollable spin, pilot bails out, parachute fails.^[12]

11 May

NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, when engine fell off.^[31][32]

12 May

After the

Edwards AFB, California to the Convair plant at San Diego but engine fails immediately after takeoff, forcing an emergency landing on the dry lakebed. Airframe is subsequently trucked to San Diego.^[33]

23 May

While flying

Supermarine Attacker F.1, WA469, to test airbrakes, Supermarine pilot Leslie R. Colquhoun makes a high-speed run over South Marston airfield, experiences a sudden nose-down pitch as the starboard wingtip folds upwards. Using only the rudder – the ailerons had jammed – he makes a wide circuit and touches down at ~200 knots (370 km/h), coming to a stop just short of the end of the runway with a burst tyre. He receives the George Medal for saving the aircraft under daunting circumstances.^[34]

25 May

First prototype of

Aéronavale, VG-90.01, F-WFOE, first flown 27 September 1949, crashes this date killing the pilot Pierre Decroo.^[35]

13 June

First of two

Alan Marsh and flight test engineer Joseph K. Unsworth.^[36]

16 June

The

Edwards AFB, California,^[37] this date.^[38] The XF-88A will eventually be sent to the Langley Aeronautical Laboratory to serve as a spares source in 1955 in support of flight testing of the XF-88B, 46–525, through 1956, after which both airframes are scrapped.^[39] Another source gives the date for the landing mishap as 9 November 1949, and states that the airframe was trucked to St. Louis for repairs.^[40]

22 June

The first production

Navy Bureau of Aeronautics, and James A. Moore, Jr., an employee of North American Aviation, are KWF.^[41] On a hot sticky summer night, with no air conditioning, Larry Lynch, then 12 years old, and his family were sitting on the porch when "they heard a plane approaching from the west. 'It made a strange noise and then there was a loud pop,' said Lynch of Bedford. 'It was also cloudy, so you didn't see all of it until it broke through the clouds pretty low.' The plane was in a dive. Lynch recalls hearing the plane crash moments later about two miles from his family's home on the J. A. Laughlin farm in Huddleston. 'There was a neighbor, and my dad and I got in the truck and went over to the crash site,' recalled Lynch. 'There were probably less than 10 vehicles when we got there.' Hundreds of other cars would follow in the hour before the sheriff's department and fire department arrived. The drivers turned their cars so the headlights shone on the scene. The crash sight was on fire and the stench of gasoline filled the air. Lynch remembers seeing plane and body parts strewn across the field. 'It was a pretty gruesome sight,' he said. 'I was 12 years old and it made a very big impression on me.'"^[42][43] In 2002, a permanent memorial was erected near the crash site at Glenwood Sunoco, 2074 Smith Mountain Lake Parkway in Huddleston, to the three men who died. "The memorial was the brainchild of Jeffrey Clemens, then pastor of New Prospect Church in Bedford. A former Army pastor, he was interested in erecting memorials at the sites of five military plane crashes that killed 13 men in Bedford County from 1943 to 1950. The community came together for the task, raising money and arranging dedication ceremonies. Richard McGann, president of McGann Masonry in Lynchburg built the markers. At the Huddleston crash site, an 868-pound granite marker was dedicated on 10 November 2002.^[42][43]

30 June

Hawker Sea Fury FB.11, TF997, but fails to arrive at home base of HMCS Shearwater, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. Despite a massive international air search, nothing is found. In February 1968, two foresters discovered the wreckage in a remote area of Maine. The Sea Fury had struck a tree on top of the ridge with its port wing root and struck the ground within about 150 feet. The force of the impact dug a 15 foot diameter crater and the aircraft broke up and scattered, within a 50 yard radius. There had been several small fires. Lt. Hare's parachute harness pieces were later found near the crater, ending an initial speculation that he had bailed out and perished elsewhere in the Maine woods.^[44]

6 July

Third prototype of three

NAS Patuxent River, Maryland. Vought test pilot Paul Thayer ejects, parachutes into two feet of water, airframe impacts in dense woods on Drum Point island in the Patuxent River. An account in Naval Aviation News states that Thayer had made a couple of high speed passes over the field and was at ~15,000 feet when he had a flameout. Unable to get a relight, he attempts to roll the fighter inverted and unfastens his belt to drop out of the cockpit. Unable to get the jet to roll, he ejects at ~2,000 feet, believed to be the first ejection in which the pilot was not securely belted into the seat.^[45] Pilot is returned safely to the admiral's reviewing stand, show announcer inquires "What will you do for an encore Mr. Thayer?" He learns that he suffered fracture to small bone at base of spine – later tells Vought management that he was the only manager who actually "broke his ass for the Company."^[46]

13 July

A

Biggs AFB, Texas, carrying a nuclear weapon bomb casing (but no fissile pit), stalls at 7,000 feet (2,100 m) at about 1454 hrs. EST, crashes between Lebanon and Mason, Ohio, killing four officers and twelve airmen.^[47]

No radio communication was received before the crash, and although all crew wore parachutes, none bailed out. HE in bomb casing explodes on impact leaving crater 200X25 feet, explosion heard for 25 miles (40 km). One account states that the weather was clear, but Joe Baugher reports that bomber was in a storm system.

28 July

Royal Navy Supermarine Seafire F.47 VP473 of 800 Naval Air Squadron operating from HMS Triumph, is shot down over Korean waters by a USAF Boeing B-29 Superfortress. Pilot is rescued by an American destroyer.

5 August

A USAF

9th Bomb Wing, carrying a Mark 4 nuclear bomb, suffers runaway propellers and landing gear retraction problems during takeoff at Fairfield-Suisun Air Force Base, Fairfield, California; concerned that the aircraft cannot clear rising terrain ahead, aircraft and mission commander Brig. Gen. Robert F. Travis orders a return to the airfield. The pilot completes a 180-degree turn, but he and the copilot are subsequently unable to correct a descending turn to the left, and the B-29 crashes along the airfield perimeter at a speed of 120 mph (190 km/h) in a wing-low attitude, breaking apart and catching fire.^[48] After emergency personnel arrive at the scene,^[48] a huge explosion occurs, killing 7 on the ground and 12 aboard the plane, including Travis; the airfield is later renamed Travis Air Force Base in his honor.^[11] Numerous nearby mobile homes are severely damaged and dozens of civilians, firefighters, and USAF ground crew are injured.^[49] The USAF attributes the explosion to conventional 500-pound HE bombs aboard the B-29 and claims that the nuclear bomb's fissile pit was aboard a different aircraft, but admits that the bomb casing contained depleted uranium used as ballast, and later orders a public health assessment of the crash site.^[49] Investigators attribute the crash to improper maintenance and the USAF makes several changes to B-29 operating and maintenance procedures.^[48]

24 August

Two

El Mirage Dry Lake, 10 miles NW of Victorville, California. B-26B, 44-34174, piloted by Ouris H. Cuerton, and B-26B, 44-34677, piloted by Lyle N. Leavitt, both crash with crew fatalities during attempted bail-outs.^[50][51][52]

The 729th/452d had been ordered to active service on 10 August 1950.

25 August

RAF

Kota Baru with three crew and four despatchers. In Kota Baru, the aircraft picked up the five passengers and flew east of Kampung Jendera to drop a marker flare at a clearing for eight Lincoln bombers. "The aircraft made a second low-level pass to drop another marker flare when it is believed that it suffered engine trouble due to the adverse weather condition, making it unable to clear a ridge. It then rammed into trees and crashed into a ravine, killing all aboard. The crash happened when the country was struggling with communist insurgents, a period known as the Malayan Emergency (1948–60), when British, Commonwealth and other security forces in Malaya fought the insurgents. The Communist Party of Malaya had demanded Malaya's independence, but Britain responded by mounting a large-scale military and political counter-insurgency operation. Malaya finally won Independence on Aug 31, 1957." On 15 March 2012, the remains of the crew were reburied at the Commonwealth War Grave in Cheras with full military honours in the presence of both British and Malaysian Defence Ministry officials, and members of the Ex-British Army Association of Malaysia.^[53]

9 September

A

Tokyo, Japan. 26 U.S. Navy personnel were killed, including 11 nurses.^[54] Navy R5D-3, BuNo 56496, c/n 10624, was the airframe involved.^[55]

13 September

A F-86 Sabre Jet #49-1203 crashed near Highmarket, close to Griffiss Air Force Base in Rome, New York, USA. The pilot was on a training mission in preparation to go to Korea and was killed. https://www.honorstates.org/index.php?id=2303

19 September

A U.S. Navy C-54 en route to Korea crashed into the sea approximately one minute after takeoff from Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands. The aircraft had 26 personnel aboard including eleven nurses. There were no survivors.^[56]

26 September

USAF

Ashiya Air Base, Kyushu, killing 23 of 51 on board.^[7]

27 September

An Argentine Air Force Vickers VC.1 Viking, T-8, was burnt out in a hangar fire at El Palomar, Argentina.^[57]

29 September

Landing aboard

Task Force 77 in Korean waters, Grumman F9F-2 Panther, BuNo 123432, of VF-111,^[41] crashes through all barriers and hits eleven parked aircraft.^[58]

27 October

VC-5, fails to climb out on launch from the USS Franklin D. Roosevelt, and goes into the water directly off the bow, reportedly off of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The Plane Commander was LCDR Dave Purdon, the B/N was LTJG Ed Decker, and the Third Crewman was Chief Edward R. Barrett. Only Decker escapes from the wreckage with minor injuries to be rescued by the plane guard helicopter. Cause was possibly accidental engagement of the flight control gust locks.^[59][60][61] Newsreel footage of this accident was released through Movietone News

.

8 November

Ashiya Air Base, Japan, when its hydraulics failed. The noses of both are wrecked and both are written off.^[62][63][64]

9 November

Johnson Air Base, Japan, lands too hot and with too much nose-down attitude, overshoots runway, ends up in a cabbage patch, airframe breaks into five major portions. Small fire extinguished quickly but it is written off.^[66]

Five crew died.

A USAF

St. Alexandre-de-Kamouraska, about 90 miles (140 km) northeast of Quebec, Canada. HE in the casing observed detonating upon impact in the middle of the twelve-mile (19 km)-wide river, blast felt for 25 miles (40 km). Official Air Force explanation at the time is that the Superfortress released three conventional 500-pound HE bombs.^[11]

22 November

First official test flight of the

Lockheed TV-2 Seastar chaseplane piloted by Chuck Miller with Roy Pearson on board as missile controller. Cause is found to be a broken brass pin in the port elevator pump assembly that allowed the elevator to deploy, the pin having been worn out during months of ground test runs. Brass is subsequently replaced by steel pins, and problem is solved.^[71]

12 December

A U.S. Navy Douglas AD-4 Skyraider of Attack Squadron 115 "Arabs", Carrier Air Group 11 (CVG-11), bursts into flame as the engine breaks off upon landing aboard the U.S. aircraft carrier USS Philippine Sea (CV-47). The Skyraider had been hit by enemy flak over Korea.^[72]

19 December

First prototype

Allison XT40A turboprop engine had failed and did not declutch, allowing the Skyshark to fly on the power of the opposite section, nor did the propellers feather. As the wings' lift disappeared, a fatal sink rate was induced. Additional instrumentation and an automatic decoupler are added to the second prototype, but by the time it is ready to fly on 3 April 1952, sixteen months have passed, and with all-jet designs being developed, the A2D program is essentially dead. Total flight time on the lost airframe was barely 20 hours.^[73]

23 December

U.S. Navy

NAS Whidbey Island, crashes on McCreight Mountain, Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Wreckage found 21 September 1961, according to Joe Baugher.^[41] Pilot Lt. Lalonde M. Pinne and ten crew KWF. Another source cites crash date of 18 December 1950.^[74] Yet another source lists discovery date as 21 October 1951, found by a Canadian aircraft that was off-course.^[75]

10 January

El Mirage Dry Lake, near Victorville, California, ~25 miles SE of Edwards AFB, while flying in overcast on approach to Edwards. All aboard are KWF.^[3] "In addition to Bailey and Payne, there were four Sergeants, and two civilians onboard. The sergeants were, Robert E. Mathusa, James H. Willingham, Lilburn N. Cate, and Carl A. Milhoan. The civilians were, C. A. White, and W. J. Christian. Both civilians worked for the Ryan Aircraft Co., and were classified as test engineers."^[77]

11 January

Boeing B-29-95-BW Superfortress bomber, 45-21771, c/n 13671, of the 3512th AMS, 3510th AMG,^[76] returning to Randolph Air Force Base, Texas, after a seven-hour training flight, crashed 10 miles SW of Seguin, Texas

. At 8,000 feet the pilot, Captain Norman A. Bivens, cut off the automatic pilot and began descending through an overcast, flying on instruments. Bivens reported losing all flight instruments and the aircraft became uncontrollable. Six of the crew members were killed, while five others parachuted to safety.

15 January

A

NAS Glenview, Illinois, but explodes in midair just before landing, coming down in Northbrook along Willow Road, spreading wreckage over a half mile area. All five on board, pilot Capt. Myron A. Bourland,^[76] two other officers, and two enlisted men are killed. All victims were reported to be residents of the Chicago area.^[79]

21 January

Lockheed P2V-4 Neptune, BuNo 124227 , of VP-22, deployed to WestPac during the Korean War on 1 November 1950 and based at Naha Air Base, Okinawa, is lost this date due to starboard engine failure during takeoff. The P2V crashed and sank in 20 fathoms of water one mile off the end of the runway. There were 11 survivors and two crewmen were listed as missing (their bodies were later recovered).^[80] Crew: Pilot LCDR William R. McDowell (seriously injured), LT J. T. White (seriously injured), LT (jg) K. R. Kiddoo (minor injury), ENS W. E. Todd (minor injury), LCDR J. G. Thompson (seriously injured), ADC F. L. Gabbard (minor injury), AD2 J. H. Raby (missing), ALC W. M. Benson, Jr. (minor injury), AL3 B. G. Carter (missing), AT3 E. W. Ammons (minor injury), AT1 M. M. Iverson (minor injury), AO G. W. Wilt (minor injury), and AA C. D. Cowan (minor injury).^[81]

28 January

World War II fighter ace and test pilot

Andrews AFB. Second crew also killed.^[24] Gentile Air Force Station

, Kettering, Ohio, was named in his honor.

31 January

A Douglas C-54D-1-DC Skymaster, 282, c/n 10597, operated by the Força Aérea Portuguesa, crashes into the sea at 2303 hrs. while approaching Lajes Field, having taken off from Lisbon, Portugal, killing all 14 on board.^{[citation needed]} Fatalities included two pilots, nine mechanics and three military personnel.^[82]

14 February

Major

North American F-86A-5-NA Sabre, 48-0149, c/n 151-43517^[3][83] at age 27. After a cross-country flight from Los Angeles, California, to Otis AFB, he was on his final approach when his plane suddenly shot up skyward, and then turned towards the ground where it crashed.^[84] Raymond was killed instantly. He was reported to have said that he had trouble steering and ejecting from the plane.^[84] He was also reported to have said to the tower that, "I'm going to go up and bring it down in Wakeby Lake, so I don't hit any houses."^[84]

When he died, he left a widow and four children.

13 March

1st Lt. Henry A. Crescibene suffers forced landing due to mechanical failure 3 miles W of

31st Fighter-Escort Group, based at RAF Manston. Aircraft damaged, pilot survives.^[85]

14 March

Faroes and Rockall, crashes into Beinn Eighe's Triple Buttress at ~0200 hrs., just 15 feet (4.6 m) below the top of the 2,850-foot (870 m) westernmost gully of the buttress known as Coire Mhic Fhercair in the Scottish Highlands, killing all eight crew. Wreck not found until 17 March, crew remains not recovered until August. Due to remoteness of the crashsite the wreckage is still there.^[86]

17 March

A U.S. Navy

Dallas, Texas. Killed were Lieut. (jg) Emmitt C. Burleson, Pensacola, the pilot; Ensign James F. Mahan, Texarkana, Arkansas, co-pilot; Robert Crittenden, photographer 1/C, Findlay, Ohio; Bert Thomas Fox, photographer 3/C, Fort Worth, Texas; John F. Hanrahan, apprentice, Fort Worth, Texas; and Harry William Hobbs, 25, of Frederick, Oklahoma, a naval reservist.^[88]

A

Gander, Newfoundland, to RAF Mildenhall,^[89] missing over the Atlantic Ocean; wreckage found near Ireland. 53 went MIA, including Gen. Paul T. Cullen and his command staff, en route to his headquarters of the newly activated 7th Air Division, SAC, at South Ruislip, London, England.^[90] Cullen had been deputy commander of Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. The crew and passengers survived the water landing and were observed in the water, but none were recovered after an extensive search. It has been speculated that they may have been captured by Soviet naval forces.^[91]

3 April

Sole prototype

F-86s to fill requirement for a high-speed fighter. Program abandoned.^[92]

5 April

C-45 plane crashed and burned high atop a 9,000-foot mountain. The plane was attached to the Sandia atomic weapons base here and five of those aboard were stationed at the base. Among the dead was Capt. Ralph I. Bowman, 29, of Los Angeles.^[93]

5 April

First of two pilotless

Point Cook.^[94] Production drones will be built as GAF Jindiviks

.

6 April

A USAF

Selfridge AFB on 23 April 1951.^[3]

8 April

A

F-51 collided with another fighter at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida.^[98][99] Major General Victor E. Bertrandias, deputy inspector general for technical inspection and flight safety research for the USAF, dispatches a group of officers from Norton AFB, California, on 9 April, headed by Major. Brendan Dixon, investigator-analyst of the cargo branch of the Air Force's directorate of flying safety, headquartered at Norton.^[100]

25 April

Miami, Florida, United States, to Havana, Cuba, has a mid-air collision with US Navy Beechcraft SNB-1 Kansan, BuNo 39939, which was on an instrument training flight in the vicinity of Naval Air Station Key West

at the same time. All 43 aboard the airliner and four on the SNB were killed. Flight 493 departed Miami at 1109 hrs. and was cleared to climb to 4,000 feet (1,200 m) on a direct heading to Key West. Approximately ten minutes later, the SNB-1 took off from NAS Key West for simulated instrument training. Although the flight was not cleared to a specific altitude or heading, standard instrument training procedures were in place. At 1149 hrs. Flight 493, heading south, and the SNB-1, heading west, collided over NAS Key West at an estimated altitude of 4,000 feet (1,200 m).

27 April

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, at ~1325–1330 hours. Mustang pilot Lt. Fred Black killed, as well as 13 of 17 B-36 crew.^[101][24] Killed in the Peacemaker was pilot Capt. Harold Leslie Barry, 31, who was the pilot of a B-36 that crashed in British Columbia in February 1950. Five men were lost in that accident. All the survivors of the mid-air escaped from the aft compartment behind the bomb-bay. They were Tech. Sgt. Ellis E. Maxon, 31, of 104 Lockwood, Fort Worth, Texas, scanner; 1st. Lt. Elroy A. Melberg, 32, of 516 Yount, Fort Worth, flight engineer; Master Sgt. W.M. Blair, 31, of 4117 Surrey, Fort Worth, crew chief; and Tech. Sgt. Dick Thrasher of 4421 Sandage, Fort Worth, gunnery instructor. Thrasher had also survived bail out from the British Columbia crash.^[102]

6 May

Kirtland AFB, New Mexico, in high winds, 23 of 25 crew killed.^[101][103]

18 May

Gloster E.1/44, TX145, following test flight out of the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE), Farnborough, suffers damage when starboard undercarriage leg collapses on landing. Probably not repaired as it is struck off charge on 2 August and sent to the Proof and Experimental Establishment (PEE) at Shoeburyness.^[104]

19 May

A U.S. Navy Vought F4U-4 Corsair, BuNo 81969,^[105] assigned to Fighter Squadron 884 "Bitter Birds", CVG-101, crashes after experiencing an engine failure on takeoff from the aircraft carrier USS Boxer (CV-21) on 19 May 1951 off Korea. The pilot, Lt.(jg) Oliver D. Droege, of Kansas City, Missouri (USA), was rescued by a helicopter.^[106] Another source identifies the pilot as Wallace Gene Richardson.^[105]

8 June

Eight USAF

Selfridge AFB, Michigan. Worst mass air crash to date. Eight planes failed due to internal engine icing unknown to happen until this disaster. They were serials 50-1120, -1130, -1133, and -1209, and 51-0479, -0506, and -0679.^[107] Three pilots were killed. Approximately ten minutes after the 32-plane flight departed Wright-Patterson, the eight suffered engine failure. "Three of the pilots were killed as they dived into farm fields or manufacturing yards within a 25 mile circle around Richmond, Ind. The other five planes were brought into belly landings from which three pilots escaped unscathed and the other two suffered injuries. Bergstrom base identified one of the dead as Capt. Edward J. Moroney Jr., Austin, son of Mr. and Mrs. Edward J. Moroney of Highland Park, Ill. He also is survived by his wife and a daughter, 6. The other dead were listed as Maj. George W. Alexander, Austin, and 1st Lt. Robert E. Horne Jr., 24, Bergstrom air base, whose parents live in Gulfport, Miss."^[108] Maj. Richard E. Willsic (also reported as Willsie), in 50-1130,^[107] and Capt. Bryce E. Long, in 50-1120,^[107] parachuted from their aircraft, while Lt. Eustace Coltharp, in 51-0479,^[107] rode his plane in and escaped injury. Three other fighters which suffered partial power loss limped back into Wright-Patterson, while the remaining 21 landed at Selfridge. Sabotage as a cause is quickly discarded with initial suspicions falling on possible fuel contamination, as all of the flight had tanked up at the Dayton, Ohio, base before departure. Lt. Gen. Curtis LeMay heads up the investigation which initially samples fuel from the belly-landed jets as well as those that landed safely in Michigan to look for impurities. The presence of thunderstorms in the area is also acknowledged early in the investigation, with the three fatalities thought to have been due to pilots losing control of their powerless aircraft and then diving out of low clouds.^[108]

13 June

English Electric Canberra B.1, VN850, bailed to Rolls-Royce for Avon engine tests. Crashed on approach to Hucknall with engine fire, coming down just outside field perimeter, killing Rolls-Royce test pilot R. B. Leach. This was the first loss of a Canberra.^[109]

15 June

RAF Station Tengah, crashes at ~1130 hrs., this date^[110] in the Kranji River, Singapore, killing the navigator/bomb aimer, although the pilot, Allan Martin, and radar operator, Peter A. Weston, survive.^[111] The Straits Times, Singapore, reported that despite the efforts of a working party, the crewman's body still had not been recovered by nightfall of 18 June, the twisted wreckage being located in the tidal portion of the river where low-water periods are brief, complicating the salvage and recovery.^[112] Deployed to fight Communist insurgents during the Malayan Emergency, the humid climate created operating problems for Brigands, not the least of which was a tendency to throw a propeller blade due to corrosion, the resultant imbalance shearing the engine from the wing, rendering the plane uncontrollable. VS857 lost its starboard engine in this manner. "Gas was spewing out and the aircraft was gyrotating, Alan could get no control at all except for the first couple of seconds, his words will never leave me, the plane was changing attitude all the way down, at first the engine bulkhead was acting like a dive brake just on one side, after that the controls gave up and she was in a dive, we hit the ground first at a slight angle, a bit of luck, (This all was surmised at the inquiry) the nose came away Alan was slung out for about 50/70 ft.into the water, it bounced on and over and `then` hit the water," recalled Weston. The wings and the fuselage demated on impact.^[113]

Survivors: Pilot in Command Carl L. Hodge; 2) James L. Babb; 3) Aircraft Mechanic Ronald D. McWilliams; 4) Aviation Electronics-Man Curley A. Owens; and 5) Aircraft Mechanic Robert F. Phillips.[116]

23 June

Second

RCAF.^[117]

23 June

The famous non-fatal

Grumman F9F-2 Panther ramp strike accident occurs as Cdr. George Chamberlain Duncan attempts landing on USS Midway in BuNo 125228, during carrier suitability tests in the Atlantic Ocean. Forward fuselage breaks away and rolls down the deck, pilot suffering burns. Footage of this accident has been used in several films including Men of the Fighting Lady, Midway, and The Hunt for Red October.^[118]

30 June

The second prototype

Edwards AFB, California. Republic Aviation test pilot Carl Bellinger

escaped from the aircraft just as the tail melted off; total flight time was a mere ninety seconds. By the time fire apparatus arrived, driving seven miles (11 km) across the dry lake bed, the tail section had been reduced to ashes.

8 July

Baldonnel Airfield. Subsequently repaired and entered service.^[119]

31 July

San Diego naval air station. It exploded as it struck and the flames spread in dry grass, burning over about an acre in the dry hills, about 50 miles north of here. The pilot has not been identified.^[120]

Summer

A

Eglin AFB bombing range in the Gulf of Mexico off the Florida panhandle to drop an unarmed obsolete Mark 4 nuclear gravity bomb on a water target. Due to past mechanical problems, the bombardier was briefed to open the bomb bay doors at the Initial Point (IP). Although the bomber's bombing navigation radar was still in the navigation mode, the bomb dropped unexpectedly when the bay doors were opened, and the 5,000 lb (2,300 kg). of high explosives in the weapon burst in the air over a non-designated target area. An intensive investigation concluded that a corroded D-2 switch, a hand-held bomb release switch, was found to be in the "closed" position and the bomb was dropped through equipment malfunction.^[121]

13 August

A

Seattle, Washington after modifications, suffers problems immediately after take off, fails to gain altitude, comes down two miles (3 km) N of field, clipping roof of a brewery with the starboard wing, cartwheels into wooden Lester Apartments

, wreckage and structure burns for hours. Six on bomber (three Air Force crew, three Boeing employees) and five on ground die.

18 August

Boeing XB-47-BO Stratojet, 46-065, first prototype of two, stalls on landing, suffers major structural damage. No injuries.^[122] Another source cites date of 18 August 1950.^[123]

21 August

A

52d Fighter-Interceptor Group, crashes on take off from McGuire Air Force Base into a scrub pine forest at adjacent Fort Dix, New Jersey, killing the two crew and spraying burning fuel over a group of 54 U.S. Army soldiers assigned to B battery of the Ninth division's 26th Field Artillery Battalion, wrapping up an army communications exercise, killing 11 and injuring 20. The trainer, unable to gain altitude, clips trees at the edge of a clearing and impacts 50 feet (15 m) from an army six-by-six troop carrier vehicle upon which some soldiers had already boarded. Others were lined up in formation close by. Eight died almost instantly and three succumbed later in hospital. All Army fatalities were 22 or younger, all hailed from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, and all had been in the army for less than five months. Also killed were pilot Capt. William H. Raub, (also reported as William H. Rauh^[124]), 31, of Seattle, and his passenger, Maj. Theodore Deakyne, 30, of Levittown, New York. "It was an unfortunate tragedy – a remarkable coincidence of circumstances which brought the plane to the spot where the men were on the verge of moving out. Thirty seconds later might have made a lot of difference," Lt. Bertram Brinley, Fort Dix public information officer, said.^[125][126]

22 August

Edwards AFB, California.^{[127][128][129]}

26 August

Stansted's main runway, it suffered a failure of its slab-type tailplane's servo-control system, producing severe oscillations that subjected the airframe to excessive G-forces, causing the ship to break up, killing pilot D. J. P. Broomfield.^[130][131]

27 August

"

Northrop Aircraft pilot James Bugbee, 29, was seriously injured today when his F-89 twin-jet Scorpion crashed off the end of the runway at Hawthorne Municipal airport [sic] during its initial takeoff attempt."^[132]

3 September

"

Pope Air Force base [sic], N. C., said he was not a member of the bomber's crew, but was riding as a passenger."^[133]

25 September

Two

Wallaceburg, Ontario, 25 miles S of Sarnia, touch wings in mid-air at ~10,000 feet and both crash, exploding about a mile apart on farms in Western Ontario. Both pilots are killed.^[136]

29 September

A

Amiens, France – no casualties, but airframe written off.^[137] Scrapped 3 January 1952.^[138]

6 October

Dakota, HJ-920, of the No. 12 Squadron IAF was on its way from England to India. While flying over the Mediterranean between Malta and Cyprus, the aircraft encountered adverse weather conditions over Cyprus. Emergency landing at Nicosia was not possible because of poor visibility. The aircraft lost its way in the fog and crashed near Gulnar in the Mersin province in Southern Turkey. The crash resulted in the death of all five crew. The fledgling Indian Air Force's third senior-most officer Air Commodore Narendra and Flying Officers P. V. Phillipose and Sunil Kumar Ghosh and Sergeants B. S. Gill and Sergeant D'Souza were killed.^[139]

15 October

Kirtland AFB, New Mexico, with just the nose gear extended, doing such a deft job that this is the only B-36 ever crashlanded that was returned to flight.^[140]

11 November

An Argentine Air Force Vickers VC.1 Viking T-77 crashed at Morón Air Base.^[57]

13 November

A

Fairchild C-82A-FA Packet, 45-57801, c/n 10171, 'CQ-801', of the 11th Troop Carrier Squadron, 60th Troop Carrier Group, en route from Rhein-Main Air Base, Germany to Bordeaux–Mérignac Airport, France, goes off-course due to wind drift, compounded with having received weather briefings for 8,000 feet (2,400 m), but flew at 6,000 feet (1,800 m), hits the side of Mt. Dore in poor weather at ~1300 hrs., 20 miles (32 km) SW of Clermont-Ferrand, France. Six crew and 30 passengers all killed.^[141] It was transporting US Army postal workers to set up a military post office at Bordeaux, France. This remains the worst all-time C-82 accident in terms of human loss.^[142]

19 November

A

Boeing B-47B-5-BW Stratojet, 50-006, crashes shortly after an afternoon take-off at Edwards Air Force Base, California, killing three crew. The bomber comes down a quarter mile W of the runway and explodes. Officials at the base said the bomber was beginning a routine test flight. Killed are Captain Joseph E. Wolfe, Jr., the pilot, Chattanooga, Tennessee; Major Robert A. Mortland, 30, co-pilot, of Clarion, Pennsylvania, and Sergeant Christy N. Spiro, 32, of Worcester, Massachusetts

.

27 November

French

Leduc 0.22-01 ramjet-powered prototype interceptor is badly damaged in landing accident and the pilot seriously injured.^[143]

3 December

A

Denver, Colorado, with one motor not working crashed into a row of residential homes, killing eight airmen. At least one civilian and five airmen were injured. Five houses were damaged – four of them demolished.^[145]

7 December

The 6555th Guided Missile Squadron at

Martin B-61 Matador, GM-547. Lift-off and flight were normal, but the missile did not respond properly to guidance signals, and it finally went out of control and fell into the Atlantic 15 minutes and 20 seconds after launch. The flight covered a distance of 105 miles.^[146]

21 December

Centerville, Maryland, on the Delmarva Peninsula due to incorrect fuel handling that led to tail heaviness which caused loss of control during the high g manoeuvring. Both crew members ejected, but the engineer-observer, Captain Reid Johns Shaw, 29, was killed when his parachute failed to open.^[147]

22 December

DENVER AP – A two-engined B-25 bomber with eight persons aboard, including one woman, crashed in an East Denver residential Saturday night. No homes were hit and no one was killed. Two aboard the plane were injured. Lowry Air Base officials said the injuries were not believed to be serious. One motor appeared to burn as the plane came down on its belly about 400 yards from the nearest dwelling. The scene was less than a mile from where a four-engined B-29 crashed Dec. 3, killing eight crewmen and destroying or damaging five homes. The woman on the plane is a Waf. Air Force officials at Lowry Field said the plane was from Andrews Field, Maryland, and was taking off for Perrin Air Force Base near Sherman, Tex.”^[148]

12 January

Prototype

RAF Vickers Valiant

, WB210, catches fire during in-flight engine relight trials, crew bails out but the co-pilot is killed when his ejection seat strikes tail.

15 January

French

Leduc 0.16 research ramjet suffers landing gear collapse on its first flight and is damaged.^[143]

19 January

McChord Air Force Base, Washington, returning from a mission, clips a ridge in Washington state's Olympic Peninsula,^[150] 20 miles from Sequim,^[151] slides into a 2,000-foot valley, shedding parts and men as it goes. Three of eight on board are killed. Survivors are rescued by helicopter the following day.^[152]

Much of the wreckage is still there.

21 January

Second prototype of

Aéronavale, VG-90.02, first flown June 1951, crashes this date killing pilot Claude Dellys.^[153]

Links: https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-avro-694-lincoln-b2-raf-marham-5-killed 49squadron.co.uk/personnel_index/detail/Wejman_FNU https://www.49squadron.co.uk/personnel_index/detail/Griffiths_FNU https://www.49squadron.co.uk/personnel_index/detail/Pickering_FNU https://www.49squadron.co.uk/personnel_index/detail/Edwards_FNU.html https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8424501

24 January

Stovepipe Wells with starboard engine still running. Wreckage is still there.^[156]

29 January

Fairchild AFB, written off. All crew survive. Aircraft had been built as a B-36B-20-CF, upgraded.^[101]

6 February

Nicosia, Cyprus. Operationally attached to NCU-32G. Returning from the Black Sea made an open ocean dead-stick landing east of Cyprus. Lt. Robert Hager, killed, 14 survivors rescued by HMS Chevron.^[157]

19 February

A Fairey Firefly of 816 Squadron RAN goes missing, and is believed to have crashed into the sea near Moruya, New South Wales. Lieutenant Brian Wall and Sub Lieutenant Douglas Saunders are both lost.^[158]

22 February

Second accident in three days for 816 Squadron RAN occurs when a Fairey Firefly carrying Sub Lieutenant Durrant Small and Observer J. G. Sharp crashes into the sea near Seven Mile Beach, New South Wales. Both Small and Sharp are killed.^[158]

3 March

A

RAF Butterworth, Malaya.^[159]

21 March

10 Navy airmen are killed when a four-engine

NAS Alameda, California, dives into Corpus Christi Bay less than a mile from Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, Texas. All aboard the plane are killed.^[160]

KWF are: four officers, Lt. William Ervin Dozier, Ltjg Bertram Magna Roeder, Delangton Ernest Ruttledge, and Rodney Gwynn Williams; two Naval Air Cadets, Richard Wilfred Augrain, and Robert Benedict Nye; and four enlisted crew, Aviation Machinists Mate Airman Richard Charles Chase, Aviation Machinists Mate Third Class John Leonard Daffenberg, Airman Donald Jarrell Givens, and Airman Apprentice Robert Herman Steinbaugh.

21 March

A

Denver, Colorado; Cpl. Henry G. Geiger, 19, Cedar Rapids, Iowa; and Pfc. Thomas F. Penninger, 21, gunner, son of Mr. and Mrs. Harlon M. Penninger, Lubbock, Texas.^[162]

3 April

A

Boeing B-29A-65-BN Superfortress, 44-62164, crashes at night. Suspected reason – Fuel line issues. The crew bailed out over a farmer's field 8 miles (13 km) N/5.5 miles W of Onaga

, Kansas, United States. The captain died in the crash and one airman perished when his parachute failed to open. In addition, several cattle were killed. The surviving crew was fired at by the farmer, who believed them to be invading "ruskies".

4 April

A

Douglas VC-47D Skytrain, 45-926, c/n 16929/34187, over Mobile, Alabama, United States; 15 die.^[163]

15 April

While making a maximum gross weight takeoff at ~ 0345 hrs., a

Fairchild AFB. The aircraft was airborne briefly for ~ a quarter mile, when one starboard engine began backfiring and caught fire, followed by the shutdown of all six engines. The aircraft then skidded on its nose for another quarter mile, struck a ditch, and exploded. A "large heavy object (of highly classified nature)" tore through the front of the plane on impact, causing severe injuries to many crewmen. Later, amid several smaller explosions, a huge single explosion shook the ground. Seventeen men were aboard the plane; 15 were killed and two survived with major injuries.^[164] Joe Baugher states that the aircraft failed to climb out due to mis-set elevator trim which kept nose down on takeoff.^[149]

27 April

A United States Air Force Republic F-84 Thunderjet (Serial Number 49-2111) crashed in the streets of St Peter's, Kent killing approximately 3 people. The plane came from the nearby Manston Airport and the engine caught fire mid flight. On Tuesday 8th April 2003, the Mayor of Broadstairs and St peter's (Hazel Pinder-White) unveiled the memorial.

9 May

Maj. Neil H. Lathrop attempts low-level aileron roll in second prototype

Edwards AFB, California with fatal result.^[165]

9 May

French

Musée de l'Air.^[143]

5 June

Exercise Bluebird: a Royal Netherlands Air Force Republic F-84 Thunderjet collided with the mast of the British Royal Navy motor launch HMML 2582 and crashed onto the deck in flames. The launch sank with the loss of fifteen crew and the pilot of the Thunderjet. The accident occurred in the Marsdiep, Netherlands.^[166]

13 June

Luke AFB, Arizona, after colliding with Douglas B-26B-66-DL Invader, 44-34673, c/n 22952.^[51] Fighter pilot killed.^[167]

24 June

On the eighth test flight of the first

Convair B-60 program was canceled and the two airframes were salvaged in 1954 for parts.^[168]

30 June

A Royal Canadian Air Force bomber with four aboard goes missing in the Yukon. Still missing on 4 July.^[169]

8 July

Israeli

de Havilland Mosquito T.3, 2119, as Capt. Daniel Shapira demonstrates a take-off to Lt. Ze'ev Tavor it goes badly, airframe ending up in the weeds. Despite this, both pilots eventually become test pilots. This was the first Israeli loss of the type.^[170]

10 July

A

Fairchild AFB, Washington, with ROTC cadets on board. There were no casualties, although the aircraft was a total loss and the hulk was later used by the fire department for practice fires.^[172]

11 July

Seven of eight crew survive the crash landing of a

Whitehorse when it crashed. The last radio message, shortly before noon, stated that they were over their search area in fair to good weather. The hunt for the B-17 began at 2015 hrs. when it had not returned by fuel exhaustion limits. An amphibian sighted the downed plane in the night and dropped food and sleeping bags. American parachutists jumped to the downed crew's aid on 12 July and three helicopters – two American and one Canadian – began moving survivors to Snag, Yukon territory, about 30 miles SW of the crash site. A seriously burned crewman was ferried by C-47 to Elmendorf Air Force Hospital at Anchorage. Two other survivors were not as seriously injured.^[173]

25 July

French

SNCASE Languedoc launch aircraft, F-BCUT, on release and is forced to make a belly-landing. Limited range of design causes project to be dropped and second prototype not completed.^[143]

29 July

A

RAAF as third of three.^[137]

5 August

Mission Beach.^[177]

6 August

A fire breaks out on the hangar deck of the

Grumman F9F-2 Panthers, were damaged (by fire and saltwater) or destroyed.^[179]

7 August

A U.S. Navy

Mariveles Mountains near the entrance to Manila Bay, the Philippines. Thirteen bodies were recovered from the wreckage, with no survivors.^[178] SE-7 had departed Naval Station Sangley Point, Philippines, on a patrol in extremely bad weather. Reported losing one engine and was attempting to return to base on single engine. KWF were LT Thomas Leslie Rhodes Jr., PPC, LTJG Robert Fred Bahlman, ENS Lee Marvin Moore, AD1 Charles Chauncey, AD3 William E. Bailey, AL1 John Stanley Dedman, AL3 Forrest B. Nance, AL3 William F. O'Hare, AL3 James Alfred Smith Jr., AO2 Tommy T Simmons, AN Edward Joseph Gimburek, AN Sidney Paul Krasnesky, Aviation Photographer's Mate Donald Elwin Spence.^[180]

8 August

Whilst on a night

Shikoku Island, Japan. The entire crew, including five officers and nine enlisted men, are KWF.^[178] Lost are: LT Howard L. "Sam" Cornish (PPC), LT (jg) Steven Arthur Dobbins, LT (jg) Donald E. Richardson, ENS Wayne Grogan, LT Ebbie Wells (Squadron Maintenance Officer), ADC Lee Ladd, AD2 George J. Brambinck, AD3 John Edward Meriwether, AL2 William Morrison Grayson, AL3 Joseph Arnold Hall Jr., AO 3 Davis Mawney, AN Roscoe Bence, AN L. Lowell and AN George A., Murray Jr.^[180] "It was vectored into a mountain by radar ground control. Investigation revealed that a U.S. Air Force ground controller, unfamiliar with the extremely slow climb performance of a loaded Mariner, had assumed SE-2 had reached an altitude to clear the hills."^[181]

25 August

Building 100 on the flightline at

F-86D-1-NA Sabre, 50-469, of the 3200th Proof Test Group,^[183][105] flown by Colonel Arthur R. DeBolt, 39, of Columbus, Ohio. Colonel William Arthur "Mac" McWhorter was piloting the mother ship with a QB-17 drone in trail over the Gulf of Mexico for a radar-controlled approach by the jet fighter, "which by mistake fired a rocket that sent a B-17 bomber spinning into flames into the Gulf of Mexico. Six of eight crewmen on the bomber may have been killed. The Air Force said the pilot, DeBolt, apparently mistook the B-17 mother" [sic] plane for a radio-controlled drone during a test operation. Col. DeBolt was overcome with grief by the tragic error."^[184]

Two Shot Down By Error Survive – Weary Pair Battled Gulf for 24 Hours

PANAMA CITY, Fla. AP – Thirst for drinking water was the chief worry of two weary airmen during a 24-hour battle in the storm-swept Gulf of Mexico in a life raft. They were brought here Tuesday.

S-Sgt. Charles D. Jones, 31, of Meridian, Miss., and Airman 2-c Peter R. Rosing, 22, of Ingleside, Ill., were the only known survivors of a B-17 bomber shot down by mistake Monday by a new-type automatically-controlled jet fighter.

HAD NO DOUBTS

We never had any doubts but that we would be picked up,' said Jones, a sandy-haired veteran of six years with the Air Force. 'Our only real concern was whether we'd be able to last until we got some good drinking water.

Jones and Rosing were picked up by a Coast Guard minesweeper Tuesday, then transferred to an Air Force rescue boat for an 18-mile run in to Tyndall Air Force Base. A C-47 took them to the base hospital at Eglin Air Force Base north [sic] of here.

For security reasons, newsmen were not permitted to ask the airmen about the accident which caused their plight.

SUFFERS BURNS

Rosing, a stocky, black-haired youth, was brought off the crash boat on a stretcher. He suffered second and third degree burns about the hands and face when his plane caught fire. He also was suffering from shock, and medics administered plasma as soon as he arrived.

Jones said his first thought when the plane was hit was to jump, even though he'd never made a parachute jump before in his life.

An Air Force C-47 spotted the raft bobbing about in the Gulf 60 miles southwest of Panama City, and directed the minesweeper

Seer

to the spot.

Both came aboard under their own power, although Rosing had severe burns of the face and hands caused when the plane caught fire. Before the rescue they spent 24 gruelling hours being tossed about by 15 feet high waves in the Gulf.

The Air Force refused to give up hope for the remaining crewmen. It speculated that heavy currents might have carried any other survivors several miles from the spot where the plane came down.

A large force of air and surface rescue craft ranged over a wide area of the Gulf searching for remaining crewmen.

The rocket that sent the B-17 plunging into the Gulf was fired by the pilot of an F-86D. This is the Air Force's newest all-weather fighter, which has been undergoing operational suitability tests at the air proving ground at Eglin before being placed in combat service.

The Air Force said the pilot, Col. Arthur R. DeBolt, 39, of Columbus, O., apparently mistook the B-17 "mother" plane for an uninhabited radio controlled drone which it was guiding.

Col. DeBolt described by the Air Force in Washington as "an exceptional officer," was grief stricken at the error, and said he was unable to explain it.

He saw the hit plainly on his radarscope and figured it was scored on the drone.

The first I new [sic] it was a mistake, I heard a voice on the radio from one of the other planes accompanying us saying, 'Watch for chutes. He got the wrong plane.'^[185]

Colonel DeBolt was the commanding officer of the

Miami, Florida, and Technical Sgt. Lyle C. Phillips, 31, of Brewton

, Minnesota.

30 August

As a pair of

Detroit-Wayne Major Airport, Detroit, Michigan, killing the Scorpion pilot, Maj. Donald E. Adams, a Korean war jet ace (6.5 kills), radar operator Captain Edward F. Kelly, Jr.,^[192] and one spectator.^[193] Cause was found to be from severe torsional aeroelastic problems that led to all F-89Cs being grounded and returned to the factory for wing structural redesign.^[194]

1 September

Several tornados sweep across

Fort Worth base. Gen. Curtis LeMay is forced to remove the 19th Air Division from the war plan, and the base went on an 84-hour work week until repairs were made. 26 B-36s were returned to Convair for repairs, and the last aircraft deemed repairable was airborne again on 11 May 1953.^[195]

6 September

Farnborough Air Show during pull out from high speed dive, killing both crew, debris, including engines, falls among crowd killing 29 spectators.^[196] Another source cites 28 dead. It was eventually established that disintegration had followed structural failure of the wing (possibly weakened earlier), almost certainly resulting from violent tail flutter.^[197]

10 September

A contractor-led team launches the first

Patrick AFB, Florida, on mission 621–1, but the test fails.^[198]

10 September

Six

VMF-115, part of a 21-plane flight returning from a mission, and diverting from K-3 to K-2, crash into Unman-san, a South Korean mountain, in foggy conditions, following lead aircraft navigational instrument failure. All six pilots killed. Lost are Maj. Raymond E. De Mers in BuNo 125168, 2d Lt. Richard L. Roth in BuNo 125170, 2d Lt. Carl R. La Fleur in BuNo 125173, Maj. Donald F. Givens in BuNo 125178, 1st Lt. Alvin R. Bourgeois in either BuNo 125181 or 125182, and 2d Lt. John W. Hill, Jr. in BuNo 125223.^[199] Another source cites crash date of 11 September 1952.^[178]

11 September

Three Air Force crew and two civilians aboard a

Newport News, Virginia; William Bethke, a civilian technician who lives near Rome; and Joseph M. Eannario, who lives in Rome.^[204]

1 October

U.S. Navy

Point Loma. Both crew survive the accidental ditching, with pilot Lt. Ross C. Genz, USNR, rescued after four hours in a life raft by a civilian ship, but radarman AN Harold B. Tenney, USN, apparently drowns after evacuating the bomber and is never seen again. Wreckage discovered in 1992 during underwater survey.^[205]

8 October

A

McChord AFB, Washington, collide 1.5 miles N of Wilsonville, Oregon. The B-29 was making a simulated attack on Portland, Oregon, when it was struck by the F-94, making a simulated gunnery pass. Fighter landed at the Aurora State Airport, but the B-29 was lost with all 11 crew killed.^[206]

17 October

A

113th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron exploded mid-air while on a routine flight in Belleville, Illinois over the home of the pilot's family, killing him.^[207]

23 October

Aéronavale crashes at Bonneuil-sur-Marne, Val-de-Marne, killing all eleven people on board.^[208]

26 October

Boeing WB-29 Superfortress, 44-69770, "Typhoon Goon II", (built as B-29-60-BW), of the 54th Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, Guam, is lost during a low-level penetration of Typhoon Wilma,^[65] a Category 5 storm, ~300 miles E of Leyte, Philippines, 10 crew killed.^[209] Lost are: Maj. Sterling L. Harrell, Capt. Donald M. Baird, Capt. Frank J. Pollack, 1st Lt. William D. Burchell, 1st Lt. Clifton R. Knickmeyer, M/Sgt. Edward H. Fontaine, A1C. Alton B. Brewton, A1C. William Colgan, A1C. Anthony J. Fasullo, and A3C. Rodney E. Verrill.^[210] No wreckage is found.

27 October

An Argentine Air Force Vickers VC.1 Viking T-64 crashed at Morón Air Base.^[57]

1 November

A USAF

F-84G of 1211th Test Squadron piloted by Capt. Jimmy Priestly Robinson during atomic testing Operation Ivy

is lost at sea and neither Robinson nor his aircraft are ever found.

15 November

A United States Air Force Fairchild C-119C-23-FA Flying Boxcar, 51-2570, c/n 10528, disappears on a flight from Elmendorf AFB to Kodiak Naval Air Station with 20 on board.^[211]

17 November

On the first launch attempt of the

Martin B-61A Matador, GM-11042, the JATO booster malfunctions and penetrates the rocket which then crashes 400 feet from the launch point.^[212]

A

Douglas C-124A Globemaster II, 51-0107, c/n 43441, on approach to Elmendorf AFB, Anchorage, Alaska, United States crashes into a remote glacier. The wreckage was found several days later on the South side of Mount Gannett. There were no survivors killing all 52 aboard. [41 Army and Air Force passengers and 11 crewmen.]^[213] 4th worst accident involving a Douglas C-124 This includes crashes as a result of criminal acts (shoot down, sabotage etc.) and does also include ground fatalities. 4th loss of a Douglas C-124. This is the 4th Douglas C-124 plane that was damaged beyond repair as result of an accident, a criminal act or a non-operational occurrence (hangar fire, hurricanes etc.) Debris from the crash was again found in June 2012.^[214] Bodies of 17 of the victims of this crash have been identified and returned to their families for burial with full military honors.^[215]

24 November

The second

Air Research and Development Command, and Air Materiel Command, primarily at the Aberdeen Proving Ground, is involved in a fatal accident at Aberdeen, Maryland, this date. Four crew killed when it crashes in the Bush River near Edgewood, Maryland.^[216]

1 December

A USAF

Mount San Gorgonio, buried twelve feet in the snow. All 13 killed while flying (KWF). One source gives crash date as 28 November.^[218]

14 December

A

Boeing Washington B.1, WF570, of 35 Squadron, RAF Marham, flies into ground five miles (8 km) ENE of Marham whilst attempting a radio compass let down in bad weather. Both pilots, the nav/plotter and the radio operato are killed, whilst the flight engineer and one of the air gunners suffer serious injuries.^[137]

A

Larson AFB, Moses Lake, Washington

, United States. 115 on board (105 Passengers, 10 Crew); 87 killed (82 Passengers, 5 Crew). This was the highest confirmed death toll of any disaster in aviation history at the time. Cause attributed to maintenance error; the elevator and rudder gust locks were not disengaged before takeoff.

26 December

A U.S. Navy

MCAS Iwakuni, Japan, crashes in the Sea of Japan 50 miles E of Kosong, North Korea, whilst on anti-submarine patrol, killing ten members of the crew of fourteen.^[178] The Navy in Tokyo announces on 29 December that two bodies had been recovered, and that four injured crew were rescued by the destroyer USS Renshaw.^[219]

5 January

A

Horncastle. Both pilots, the flight engineer, radio operator and nav/radar are killed, whilst the nav/plotter survives with serious injuries.^[137]

8 January

A

Boeing Washington B.1, WF502, of 90 Squadron, RAF Marham, crashes at Llanarmon,^[174] North Wales whilst on a simulated night radar bombing exercise. Dives into ground at high speed, all ten crew killed.^[137]

12 January

"An

North American F-86F-30-NA, 52-4306, of the 3200th Flight Test Squadron, 3200th Proof Test Group, piloted by Robert G. Loomis; suffered engine failure.^[221]

13 January

Sauk Center, Minnesota; Capt. Edward Y. Williams, 33, Spokane, Washington; and 1st Lt. George D. Griffitts, 23, Hico, Texas.^{[222][223][224][225]}

31 January

A USAF

China-Burma-India campaign (1943–1945).^[226]

31 January

A

Lockheed P2V-5 Neptune, BuNo 127751, c/n 426-5085, of VP-22^[227] goes missing out of Naha Air Base, Okinawa. Subsequent search reveals the wreckage 45–50 miles from the base with 11 victims on a mountainside at the northeast end of Okinawa.^[80] Aircraft struck 1,200–1,300 foot cliff at the 1,000 foot level. Crew killed: Pilot: LT (jg) D. E. Russell, LT (jg) J. L. Kreeting, USN (co-pilot), ENS C. D. Oliver, USNR A (navigator), AD1 R. J. Helms (plane captain), AOAN N. J. Nellis (ordanceman), AOAN J. H. Franks (ordanceman), AL2 L. Baltzar (radioman), AL2 A. G. Sanderson (2nd radioman), ATAN G. A. Knochel (2nd radarman), AT2 J. D. Norris (radar observer), and AD3 K. E. Johnson (2nd mechanic).^[81]

7 February

"Operation Styleshow", simulated combat mission by 18

492th Bomb Squadron, 7th BW. Weather had deteriorated when the flight arrived in the morning over Fairford. Undermanned and inexperienced GCA personnel led to delays while other B-36s landed.^[228] After two missed GCA approaches and extended holding, 5719 faced fuel exhaustion. Pilot Lt. Col. Herman F. Gerick, rather than risk the lives of his crew or those on the ground, orders bail out 22 miles NE of Fairford and aims bomber at open country. All crew parachute safely – sole injury is one breaks a leg upon landing. Unmanned B-36 flies 30 miles before breaking up and impacting at Nethermore Woods, Lacock, near Chippenham, Wiltshire, England. Gerick, the co-pilot George Morford, and crew members Royal Freeman, Edwin House and Doug Minor will all be KWF in the crash of B-36D 44-92071 on 11 December 1953.^[229] Other crew were William Minelli and Bill Plumb. No coverage was reported in the local Wiltshire Times, the sole mention being a letter published 14 February, berating the U.S. Air Force crew for abandoning the airframe to its fate, and inquiring, "I wonder whether any of our British boys would have done such a thing? Somehow, I don't think so."^[230]

27 February

A

Third Naval District coordinated the rescue.^[231]

27 February

An engine on a

Tokorozawa and seven crew successfully bail out, the Air Force in Tokyo reports. "The crippled plane, on a routine training flight, presumably crashed in the Pacific ocean."^[232]

27 February

The

Douglas B-26 Invader shortly after takeoff from a South Korean air base today. Three airmen were killed and the pilot injured.^[233]

9 March

USMC

VMF-223, piloted by Capt. William H. Bezzell, USMC, suffers apparent tailhook failure while coming aboard USS Bennington, operating off of Guantanamo Bay Naval Base during post-refit shakedown training, bounces into the air, sails through the nylon Davis safety net airborne, hits deck again and dives into the forward elevator well, landing on top of nose of another F9F-4 of the same unit on the lowered elevator. Quick reactions by hangar crew in flooding the area with foam and closing doors to the hangar bay averts disaster and no post-crash fire occurs. Pilot uninjured, and injuries to most of 40 crew involved are minor, but Airman Ricketts, who was underneath the Panther on the elevator, is seriously injured and is eventually discharged when his condition does not improve.^[234]

18 March

Boeing SB-29-70-BW Superfortress, 44-69982, search and rescue plane of the 52d Air Rescue Squadron, 6th Air Rescue Group, based at Harmon Air Force Base, Newfoundland, was sent out to assist in search efforts. It disappeared shortly before landing, crashing into St. Georges Bay, a few miles from the runway, killing 11. Wreckage never found. In the aftermath of the B-36 crash, an accident investigation board recommended new procedures to scan more frequently for approaching high terrain and to climb to safer altitudes before approaching within 200 miles (320 km) of a water-land boundary. President Dwight Eisenhower

personally went to the Rapid City base and re-named it Ellsworth Air Force Base, to honor the general

21 April

T396, the last Handley Page Halifax in RAF service, a Mk IX of No. 1 Parachute Training School, RAF Henlow is written off in an accident.^[235]

24 April

USAF

Boeing ETB-29A-60-BN Superfortress, 44-62093, sending both aircraft down to crash in Peconic Bay, New York, killing all aboard both aircraft. The program is immediately cancelled.^[236]

May

An

RCAF Avro Lancaster of No. 407 Squadron RCAF crashes into Iron Mountain, Oregon. "It is unclear why 407 Squadron was operating over northern Oregon at the time, but Iron Mountain is southwest of the Hanford nuclear production facility in Washington state. It is possible that the aircraft was engaged in sampling training during a controlled release of Hanford radioactive material, but since such activities were cloaked in extreme secrecy at the time, the reasons for the flight and crash must remain speculative."^[237]

11 May

First prototype of the

Alexey Perelet.^[240]

12 May

Niagara Falls Airport, New York – never flies again.^[241]

9 June

An Argentine Air Force Vickers VC.1 Viking T-6 crashed at Praderes, Buenos Aires, Argentina.^[57]

11 June

The second Gloster Javelin prototype, WD808, with modified wing, crashes after experiencing a deep stall (elevators masked from airflow by wings, making recovery impossible) on climb-out from RAF Moreton Valance, Gloucestershire, killing test pilot Lt. Peter G. Lawrence MBE RN, when he delays ejection too long whilst steering towards unpopulated ground, his chute having insufficient time to open.^[242] Airframe impacts at Ashton Court Park, Long Ashton, near Bristol, Somerset.^[243]

13 June

A

McDonnell F2H-2 Banshee, BuNo 123333, suffers an engine fire while parked on the deck of the USS Lake Champlain (CVA-39) off the coast of Korea, but is doused quickly.^[244]

17 June

A

Denver, Colorado, killed in the accident, posthumously receives the Navy and Marine Corps Medal which is presented to his widow in a ceremony at the Naval training center of the Denver Federal Center.^[245]

A United States Air Force

Douglas C-124A Globemaster II, 51-0137, c/n 43471, crashes at Kodaira, Japan after engine failure on take-off at Tachikawa Air Force Base, Tokyo, Japan. 129 die, making this the deadliest recorded disaster in aviation history at the time.^[246]

21 June

Two crew of the

Scott AFB, Illinois, when the pilot attempted to return shortly after the 1330 hrs. CST take-off. Fighter struck a dike short of the runway, hitting ~10 feet (3.0 m) below the top, and caromed onto the runway. Radar operator was killed on impact and the pilot died later of injuries.^[247]

15 July

First of two

Point Loma, wreckage never recovered. A chase plane awaiting a Convair F2Y Sea Dart filmed the final minutes of the hair-raising flight, but it was classified secret and has probably never been released. Airframe had over 102 hours of flight time. When first flown on 18 April 1950, it was the first turboprop-powered flying boat to fly.^[248]

17 July

US Marine Corps

Georgia Institute of Technology.^[250]

30 July

A Sikorsky H-19 Chickasaw helicopter, 51-3896, crashed near O'Neill NB when a central rotor blade came loose during flight and struck the rear rotor. The entire crew of 6 was killed. The aircraft had flown cross-country from Bedford, Massachusetts, and was conducting high-altitude turbulence research. The aircraft carried Dr. Guenter Loeser, a German meteorological scientist, A2C Donald Eddy, A2C Francis "Jerry" Mapes, Capt Charles A. Johnson of San Gabriel, Calif., the co-pilot, Lt. Francis L. Gasque, of Conway, SC, and the crew chief as Sgt. Robert Ide of Scranton, PA.^[251][252]

6 August

de Havilland Mosquito FB.6 2113, (another source states that was an NF.30^[253]) disappeared in flight over the Mediterranean, Two crew missing,^[254] Uriel Ashel and Oded Shatil. Crashed into the sea at night.^[253]

6 August

The first attempted launch of a

Northrop B-62 Snark at Cape Canaveral, Florida, fails^[255] when, after 15 seconds of flight, the drag chute deploys prematurely and the missile crashes.^[256][257]

12 August

A

Piasecki HUP plane-guard helicopter.^[258]

23 August

First prototype

Squadron Leader Walter J. "Wally" Runciman, suffers heavy landing on its first flight, this date; damage takes three weeks to repair,^[259] but it is finished in time for the Farnborough air show.^[260]

26 August

U.S. Coast Guard

Seattle, Washington, overruns runway, crushes nose as it ends up in Lake Washington. Retrieved and sold for salvage.^[261][262]

30 August

Second prototype

SNCASO SO.9000 Trident I -002 makes first and last flight, crashing and being a total write-off.^[263]

5 September

"

Itazuke Air Base near Fukuoka. The jet crashed into a barn, injuring the pilot. No names were released."^[264]

9 September

A USAF

Lockheed Air Terminal, to protest the testing of jet planes in the populous area. The Associated Press reports the location as the "San Fernando Valley Airport".^[266]

9 September

A U.S. Navy

North Hollywood; John C. Peckenpaugh, AOM 3-c, son of Robert A. Peckenpaugh, Hardinsburg, Kentucky; and Paul D. Pock, son of Mr. and Mrs. Paul C. Pock, Altamont, Illinois.^[268]

9 September

"MERCED (AP) – A two-engine Navy plane from Monterey crashed near Castle Air Force Base Wednesday and was demolished by fire. Two of the four crewmen received major injuries, All four received second degree burns."^[269]

11 September

One

62d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron fighters gets separated during a wind and rain storm over Northern Illinois on Friday night. Maj. Robert L. Thomas, at O'Hare Air Reserve Station, said that two aircraft apparently lost their bearings. One came down on a farm near the farm community of Wilton Center, ~35 miles SW of Chicago, the pilot safe after bailing out at 10,000 feet. "The second plane was reported to have crashed in Lake Michigan adjacent to Chicago, but Thomas said that report later was found incorrect."^[270]

19 September

F-86 Sabre comes out of a loop in a steep dive before 60,000 National Air Show spectators at Toronto, skips along on the surface of Lake Ontario for a few hundred feet, then explodes into a ball of flame, the blast of which can be heard a mile away. The pilot had planned to close his display with a sonic boom but was killed before that.^[271]

19 September

A

SA-16 ?) tore off a float while attempting to land to pick up survivors. Its crew off nine was also fished up by the SS Nassau.^[272]

25 September

The last

Eielson AFB, Alaska, while assigned to the 58th Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron (Medium), Weather.^[274]

1 October

A USAF

Fort Benning. The semi-conscious man had died of his injuries some 35 minutes after the first responders got to him. The Air Police, and Sheriff and Coroner for Harris County arrived at ~0030 hrs., 2 October.^[275] Tom Baxley, one of the farmers, said that the bodies of the dead, most of them torn by the collision, were flung about among the pine trees, and bits of the plane were hurled over a wide area. Schmidt was hospitalized with a possible hip fracture and cuts. Among the fatalities were two airmen assigned to Eglin AFB who had also hitch-hiked a ride and were on their way home on leave. The impact location is on the site of the proposed $40,000,000 Hall of History to mark a scenic point frequented by the late President Franklin D. Roosevelt.^[276] Killed were Capt. Stephen A. Clisham, pilot; Capt. Virgil G. Harris, co-pilot; T/Sgt. Othelier B. Hoke, flight engineer; and passengers A3C Robert W. Davidson, and A2C Benny J. Shepard.^[277]

Shepard, riding in the waist section aft the bomb bay, as was Schmidt, survived the initial impact and was thrown from the wreckage, but died of his severe injuries before assistance arrived.

This accident was added to the Wikipedia article on 12 June 2012. Exactly one month later, it was discovered by board members of the Pine Mountain Trail Association at the F. D. Roosevelt State Park, who had been seeking details of the 1953 accident. Based on information in this article, they were able to locate survivor Richard Schmidt within a day, and on the Veterans Day weekend, 10 November 2012, he and Monica Clisham Coffey, the daughter of the B-25's pilot, unveiled a plaque and a memorial rock at Dowdell Knob to those who died in the crash, and in Schmidt's honor.^[278] Schmidt was also reunited with 84-year-old Robert Lee Wadsworth of nearby Manchester, and 88-year-old Billy Colquitt, "the minister who accompanied Wadsworth up the mountain and prayed with Airman 2nd Class Benny J. Shepard as he drew his dying breaths."^[279][280]

1 October

"An Air Force

Vienna Air Force Base near Warren, Ohio. The plane was on a routine flight from the base. Name of the pilot was withheld. Witnesses said [that] the craft was several thousand feet up as it zoomed over the city. Martin, who came here to conduct an investigation, said [that] there is "only about one chance in a million" of such a thing happening and added [that] the Air Force would pay all damages."^[281]

7 October

Second Lt. G. A. Thomas, of the

March AFB officials said that the downed fighter was located on Thursday, four miles N of the border.^[282]

8 October

"Three Air Force fliers died in the blazing wreckage of their jet bomber which crashed Thursday at 4:55 p.m., 15 miles southeast of

March Air Force Base, near Lakewood. The victims' bodies were badly charred as the wreckage burned for four hours. Reports that the plane exploded in air were disbelieved by investigators as the wreckage was concentrated in a small area. A board of Air Force officers will be appointed to investigate the accident, said Floyd K. Smith, civilian public information officer at Norton.^[284]

8 October

"

Civil Aeronautics Authority Jacqueline Cochran Regional Airport at Thermal, California, with one motor out of commission. Haskell commented, "we can thank the good Lord we have been keeping the lights on all night. The situation could have been bad." The plane's origin and destination have not been revealed, but it was reported that the passengers aboard were all Air Force jet pilots being transferred from one base to another. A crash landing was expected and police emergency patrol cars and fire station equipment rushed to the scene while Wiefels and Sons Palm Springs ambulance stood by. While spectators watched tensely, the pilot of the C-47 succeeded in making his emergency landing with only one motor of the twin-engine craft in operation."^[285]

11 October

U.S. Air Force spokesmen at

Hamilton AFB, California, report that an Air Force Reserve pilot, 1st Lt. Frederick H. Reed, 32, Berkeley, California, was killed when his F-51 Mustang crashed into San Pablo Bay, a half mile from the base.^[286]

13 October

Moreno Valley, two miles W of the base.^[287] Aircraft commander was Capt. Byron M. Steel.^[123] Two other victims were Capt. Charles W. Brosius, of the 33d BS, 22d BW, husband of Marian B. Brosius, 6714 Palm Avenue, Riverside, and father of son Peter Charles, 1, and daughter Gretchen, 2 months; and Capt. Earl F. Poytress, Headquarters, 12th Air Division, husband of Barbara B. Poytress, 4583 Gardena Drive, Riverside, and father of daughter, Barbara Katherine, 3½. This was the first loss of a March B-47 since they arrived at the base on 30 January 1953.^[288] On 17 October, a spokesman for the Aircraft Accident Investigation Board asked for any eye-witnesses to the bomber in flight before the crash to please contact the Director of Operations, 12th Air Division, March AFB.^[289]

14 October

Second of two

NACA.^[291]

17 October

Richart R. Galt, pilot of a

Republic F-84F-1-RE Thunderstreak, 51-1354, is killed in an accident at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida.^[292]

18 October

U.S. Navy

Lockheed P2V Neptune, BuNo 124901, of VP-18,^[293] crashes into the sea nine miles off Iceland with nine crew aboard. Hours later the Icelandic Life Saving Association says that only bits of wreckage floated at the site. A search, which continues through at least 19 October involves American planes and surface ships, a Royal Navy vessel, and Iceland Coast Guard vessels.^[294]

19 October

"

Kindley Field. The plane was on a training flight, and intended to remain over night at Kindley Field before proceeding to San Juan, Puerto Rico. Eyewitnesses said the plane passed over Kindley with its right engine ablaze. They said the pilot pulled up, and was apparently trying to gain altitude when the plane stalled and crashed tail first."^[295]

20 October

Edwards AFB, California, killing Northrop test pilot Walter P. Jones and Northrop radar operator Jack Collingsworth.^[296]

22 October

The

Scott AFB, Illinois, suffers its first fatal North American F-86D Sabre loss when Maj. Yancy Williams crashes after takeoff from Runway 14 in F-86D-20-NA, 51-3029. Williams attempts to turn to the northwest, overshoots the approach to Runway 36, and then attempts a landing in a cornfield west of the base. He almost made it, but the Sabre strikes an electric transformer pole and explodes. The accident investigation shows that the Sabre had a hydraulic elevator control lock due to a misconnecting of hydraulic lines. Williams had been the squadron Material Officer.^[297]

26 October

A

Nellis AFB, Nevada. The victims names were withheld pending notification of next of kin.^[298]

2 November

First prototype

Convair YF-102 Delta Dagger, 52-7994, suffers engine failure due to fuel injection system problem during test flight, lands wheels up, severely injuring pilot Richard L. Johnson, airframe written off.^[299]

8 November

Eight

Homestead AFB, Florida, S of Miami, where one, flown by Capt. Donald Edwards, of Opa-locka, Florida, overshoots the field, ending up in a canal.^[300]

17 November

Fort Bragg, North Carolina, during a joint airborne operation. One of 12 C-119s on a troop drop, it lost an engine, dropped out of formation, hit and killed ten troopers in their chutes that had been dropped from other aircraft, that in addition to four crew members and one medical officer that went down with the plane.^[154]

23 November

Kinross Air Force Base, Kincheloe, Michigan, investigating an unusual target on radar operators. Wilson had problems tracking the object on the Scorpion's radar, so ground radar operators gave Moncla directions towards the object as he flew. Flying at some 500 miles per hour, Moncla eventually closed in on the object at about 8000 feet in altitude. Ground radar showed both the unidentified craft and the Scorpion suddenly disappearing from screen after intersecting. It is presumed the Scorpion crashed into Lake Superior, though no confirmed traces of the craft or Moncla and Wilson have been found.^{[citation needed}

]

24 November

A USAF

Maxwell Field at Montgomery, Alabama, and Tyndall Air Force Base, Panama City, Florida, discovered the pilot's body. Norley said that the pilot's identity will not be released until notification of the next of kin.^[302]

28 November

The first aircraft accident since arrival of the

McChord Air Force Base, a short distance north of Ft. Lewis. Lt. Quiggle, Airman Taylor and Pvt. Carver received minor injuries not requiring hospitalization and received first aid at the base hospital. It was not in full operation at the time and Satterlee, with serious injuries, was transported to the Ardmore Sanitarium and Hospital where he stayed until he returned to duty."^[303]

30 November

A USAF

C-119 Flying Boxcar crashes in flames while on approach to Orly Airport, Paris, France, killing all six crew. "French officials said the plane appeared to explode in air moments after it had been given a clearance for its approach to the field. They said [that] six bodies had been recovered from the wreckage. Air Force sources said the plane was manned by a ferry crew from Dover Field, Del. The bodies of five men were pulled from the charred wreckage. A sixth crewmen was found dead in a clump of trees after he had tried unsuccessfully to bail out from about 700 feet. His partially-opened parachute was tangled in branches 40 yards from the crash site."^[304]

30 November

USAF Lt. Ben E. Short, of

Travis AFB.^[307]

1 December

A Navy trainer and an Air Force

Sacramento.^[308]

3 December

Air Force cadet Orrin W. Vail, 21,

Lockheed T-33A Shooting Star crashes five miles from James Connally Air Force Base, Waco, Texas.^[309]

3 December

Teaneck, New Jersey; Capt. Jesse G. Williams, Kenedy, Texas, all pilots; and A1C William L. Child, Nevada, Iowa, a crew chief. A ground crew dispatched to the scene recovered all four bodies from the blackened wreckage.^[310]

4 December

"

SAN DIEGO (AP) – Death of Lt. Dean Converse of Long Beach, in the crash of his A2F Grumman Guardian [sic] plane 50 miles off Long Beach was announced by Pacific Fleet air headquarters here Friday."^[311]

4 December

"

CHERRY POINT N.C. (AP) – A search for a jet training plane with two pilots aboard uncovered no clues Sunday, a Cherry Point Marine spokesman reported. The plane, a silver-colored trainer, has been missing since Friday. The Cherry Point public information office said Saturday the pilots were 1st Lt. Duke Williams Jr., 27, of Yazoo City, Miss., a former prisoner of the Chinese Communists in Korea, and Capt. John H. Barclay, 34, of Santa Monica, Calif."^[312]

5 December

"

Atlanta, the flight leader. 1st Lt. Elwood C. Kent, 28, of East Point, Ga. 1st Lt. Samuel P. Dixon, of Chamblee, Ga. 2nd Lt. William A. Tennent, 25, of Atlanta. Maj. W. J. Gay, of the Dobbins base operations office said Capt. Hodge radioed the Atlanta Naval Air Station, a checkpoint for planes landing at Dobbins, that the formation was starting its descent from 27,000 feet and would report again at 11,500. The fliers were not heard from again. Gay said the crash occurred about 25 miles northeast of Atlanta. The planes fell about four miles west of Lawrenceville. Dobbins officials said all the men were experienced jet pilots and they knew of no reason for the crashes. An investigation is under way. Three of the pilots – Kent, Dixon and Tennent – made up a stunt team specializing in close formation and acrobatic flying. Hodge and Kent were veterans of World War II and Hodge was a combat pilot in Korea."^[313]

11 December

A

Wiltshire County, England, UK.^[229]

14 December

The crash of a Northrop F-89 Scorpion shortly after takeoff from Ontario International Airport, Ontario, California, kills the Northrop test pilot instantly and fatally injures the radar intercept officer.^[315]

16 December

A

NAS Agana, Guam, makes a low-level (200–300 feet) penetration into the eye of Super Typhoon Doris, but while radioing a report at 2245 hours Zulu, the transmission is interrupted and attempts to reach the operator fail. A nine-day search turns up no trace of the aircraft or its nine crew: Pilot J. W. Newhall, 39; Co-pilot S. B. Marsden, 29; Lt. Cmdr. D. Zimmerman Jr., 35; Ltjg. F. Troescher Jr., 26; AL1 F. R. Barnett, 26; AD1 J. N. Clark, 32; AD3 E. L. Myer, 20; AL2 N. J. Stephens, 23; and AO3 A. J. Stott, 23.^[317]

17 December

A

Andersen AFB, Guam, fails to reach the runway and crashes into an officers housing area at the base, demolishing ten homes and damaging three more. Nine of sixteen crew were killed, as were seven on the ground – an officer, his wife, and five children.^[318] This aircraft had been searching for the PB4Y-2S lost on 16 December in Typhoon Doris when it suffered an engine failure.^[317][319]

17 December

A United Press report out of

Keflavik Airport. The 53d Air Rescue Squadron flies in an Icelandic ground rescue party, including expert skiers, to an airfield at the foot of the glacier. The wreckage was at the 4,000-foot level.^[321] Efforts to reach the crash site are hampered for several days by blizzards and high winds.^[322] When the site is reached on 21 December, all nine crew are dead and supplies dropped within 100 yards of the wreckage four days before are untouched.^[323]

18 December

Ogden Municipal Airport, Utah, for nearby Hill Air Force Base, put down on much shorter runway, overrun threshold, bounce across deep ditch, where it loses a wing and part of the undercarriage, a 10-foot-wide (3.0 m) canal, crosses a state highway, ground-loops, and comes to rest in pieces, followed by immediate fire as the shattered landing gear puncture fuel tanks. One fatality on crew, Capt. B. D. Wilson, 31, Chester, Pennsylvania, the co-pilot; two others injured. Pilot Maj. James Gewrick sustains severe cuts. "The survivors, in addition to Gewrick, were navigator Capt. W.D. Spicer, crew chief M. Sgt. G. L. Easterbrook, T. Sgt. W. E. Cracup, and S. Sgt. D. T. Price, radio operator Sgt. V. A. Clegg and J. L. Cater, a sailor who had hitched a ride from Kansas. Home towns of the men, except for Carter who is from Nephi, Utah, were not announced immediately."^[324]

18 December

A

North American Aviation, Inc. said that the jet had been accepted by the Air Force and was on its delivery flight. The pilot was identified as 1st Lt. Fred L. Hughes, 25, whose widow Wanda and young son Randal live in a trailer court near Nellis Air Force Base, Las Vegas.^[325] F-86F-30-NA Sabre, 52-5128, written off.^[305]

19 December

The U.S. Air Force suffers its third B-29 loss in three days, and second in the Pacific, when a search and rescue plane, returning from a mission with one engine out, aborts one landing attempt, only to drag a wingtip on the second try, resulting in the bomber cartwheeling and exploding N of Nagoya. Two crew die, and six injured, three seriously, in the Saturday night crash.^[326]

20 December

A

NAS Agana, Guam, searching for the Navy PB4Y-2S lost 16 December in Typhoon Doris, crashes in the cone of an extinct 3,166-foot-tall volcano on Agrihan Island in the Northern Marianas, killing all ten on board.^{[328][329][330]} The aircraft was last reported seen at 1000 hrs. in the Pagan Island area, N of Guam.^[331]

21 December

"HONG KONG (AP) – A United States Navy plane on a holiday trip crashed and burned at Hong Kong's Airport Tuesday but most and probably all aboard were saved. A quick check among survivors indicated there were 14 aboard and all had escaped."^[332]

22 December

Pilot on a routine training mission from Eglin Air Force Base survives a crash landing in a Republic F-84 Thunderjet at Lee, Florida.^[333]

22 December

"

Taranaki after the pilot became disorientated in cloud and lost control. Squadron Leader Maxwell Stevens killed. P-51D-25-NT, NZ2411, ex-45-11501, c.n. 124-48254, received from storage by No.2 (Wellington) TAF Squadron 11 July 1952. Crashed at Tongaporutu in northern Taranaki after the pilot became disorientated in cloud and lost control. Flying Officer Richard Westrupp killed.^[335]

3 January

A U.S. Air Force Curtiss C-46 Commando attempting a forced landing in Southern Japan hits trees, killing all four crew.^[336]

3 January

A

Holloman AFB, New Mexico, states that the men were found Monday "in good physical condition." They received only minor bruises and scratches despite jumping into pitch darkness over the rugged Sacramento Mountain range. They were identified as Capt. Frederick M. Werth, Bristol, Virginia, and S/Sgt. Willie E. Woods, of Sunflower, Mississippi.^[337] B-26C-35-DT Invader, 44-35429,^[78][338]

is written off.

6 January

Fort Worth. He did tell the Air Police that he stole the plane and intended to kill himself, as his note said. Capt. Robert Spence, the Carswell public information officer, asked Collins whether he wanted to make a detailed explanation. 'No, I don't want to make any comment until I see my commander,' he told Spence. Most of the note, addressed to his wife, was not legible. It was written in grease paint on the orders promoting him to captain. But one sentence said: 'I am going to die in the air like I want to.' Mrs. Collins, who lived near Fort Sill with their two children, said she had no idea why he stole the plane. Her husband is a former Marine, who was taking pilot training at Fort Sill as part of an Army aviation tactics course."^[339]

15 January

USAF

Libyan desert, suffers controlled flight into terrain at cruise speed 40 miles S of Wheelus Air Base. Aircraft was equipped with an HTR-13 obstruction-warning radar but it did not take control of the aircraft to raise it over obstructions, only providing a warning.^[340]

16 January

A USAF

Shaw AFB, South Carolina, crashes under murky skies into a home near Nashville, Tennessee, killing all three crew but sparing three residents serious injury. The house was badly burned and wreckage was spread out over "about a three-quarter-mile area" after the bomber exploded. Crew bodies were badly mangled.^[341]

26 January

A

Boeing Washington B.1, WF495, of 149 Squadron, disappears during the night en route from Prestwick to Laagens in the Azores. Aircraft is believed to have come down in Morecambe Bay but after an intensive search lasting several days no trace is ever found.^[342] Aircraft was on return flight back to USAF.^[174] Last message from pilot mentioned icing and it is thought this condition led to loss of control. Seven crew lost. Another source gives date as 27 January.^[137]

1 February

USAF

Curtiss C-46D-15-CU Commando, 44-78027, c/n 33423, suffered an in-flight fire. Pilot attempted a ditching in the Tsugaru Straits, but aircraft crashed off Hokkaido, 36 killed.^[19]

16 February

During training in the Pacific out of

VS-21, 'BS' tail code, is lost off the deck of USS Point Cruz. Three crew escape from the airframe before it sinks and are recovered.^[343]

23 February

USS Antietam and is lost off the coast of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.^[344]

2 March

McDonnell F2H-3 Banshee loses partial power while in landing pattern for the USS Oriskany (CV-34), dropping below glide path. Unable to boost the jet back on slope, the Banshee suffers ramp strike, fuselage breaks in two, fuel tanks erupt in orange fireball, aft end of plane falls into the sea, forward fuselage and cockpit rolls down deck, pilot miraculously surviving unhurt.^[345]

4 March

USAF Douglas C-47A-45-DL Skytrain, 42-24096, c/n 9958, strikes a mountain near Saint-Étienne-de-Tinée, France, due to a navigation error, killing all 20 on board.^[346] Crew of four and 16 passengers were en route from Rome to Bitburg, West Germany, when the aircraft was lost. A fleet of 26 French and Italian aircraft conducted a search for the missing flight.^[347]

5 March

A USAF

Greenham Common, UK.^[123]

9 March

Westinghouse XJ40-WE-6 engine, pilot B. North ejects at 15,000 feet. Airframe impacts on land.^[349] Second prototype is grounded permanently shortly thereafter as being unsafe to fly,^[350] and scrapped, with little additional data expected to be produced by its operation.^[351]

16 March

RAF

de Havilland Mosquito TT.35, TH992, 'N-for-Norman', built at Hatfield as a B.35, and modified as a target-tug, of No. 2 APS at Sylt, on mission over the North Sea, loses starboard engine. While attempting to return to base the port engine overheats, pilot puts it down on the first available land, a beach on the island of Anrum, N of Heligoland, shearing off starboard engine and breaking fuselage into three pieces, but no post-crash fire. Pilot and Target Towing Operator (TTO) survive with minor injuries. Airframe believed to have been burnt where it came to rest.^[352]

17 March

Test pilot Joe Lynch is killed in the crash of the first

Edwards AFB, California.^[353]

18 March

Naval Air Test Center Patuxent River, Maryland.^[354] Airframe tumbles, and crashes at sea. LCDR N. J. Smith III ejects at 14,000 ft, 480 kn.^[349]

19 March

"

Hardy Barracks, Tokyo, Japan. After discharging a passenger at Hardy Barracks Captain Lentz proceeded on the return leg of the round robin from Tokyo to Atsugi. At 1110 hrs, when approx 5 miles NW of Yokohama and at an altitude of 450 feet, the main transmission left the airframe with all three blades attached. Almost simultaneously upon leaving the airframe, one of the blades struck the tail cone, severing it from the rest of the fuselage. Cpl Harry J. Pitre in the lefthand side seat and MSgt Alexander N. Clark in the forward cabin seat were also killed.^[357]

19 March

"

B26 exploded and crashed in a swampy area near here Friday night. A portion of one body was found but there were indications that more were aboard."^[358] B-26B, 44-35965, built as B-26C-55-DT, piloted by Hughie M. Maples, Jr., crashed ~three miles NW of Amelia.^[359]

19 March

A USAF

U. S. Naval Academy at Annapolis stood guard over the area as a group of investigators from Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, examined the wreckage for clues to the cause of the tragedy.^[361]

21 March

Navy Reserve pilot Lt. John Fielder, 31, of

Catalina Channel region and coastal and mountain areas near Santa Ana found no trace of the pilot.^[363]

Fielder did not survive his bail out.

23 March

While conducting training in the Pacific out of

VS-21, 'BS' tail code, hits the island of USS Point Cruz prior to crashing into the sea. CDR. Rodney G. Orr and AT-3 Hershall Elliot escape from the airframe before it sinks and are recovered.^[343]

26 March

Possible disaster is avoided when a

Dana Point, California."^[364]

27 March

USAF Capt. Berry H. Young,

Curtis E. LeMay, Commander-In-Chief, Strategic Air Command.^[365] "An Air Force spokesman said such landings, with no power on one side, are extremely rare."^[366]

26 April

Northrop N-69 Snark, GM-11111, launches from Cape Canaveral, Florida, crashes 3,000 yards from launcher, just after the booster rockets separate, due to loss of electrical power.^[367]

29 April

A hangar fire at RCAF Station Vancouver does $1,500,000 in damage and destroys six planes, according to a United Press report.^[368] Two de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otters are known destroyed, 3670 and 3676.^[369] Also destroyed is Sikorsky H-5, 9606. This source also cites incorrect date of 4 May for the fire.^[370][371]

Post-April

Third prototype

Empire Test Pilot School. Cause was difficult to determine as airframe was destroyed.^[372]

7 May

A U.S. Navy

Lockheed P2V Neptune of VP-23 crashes into the surf ~200 yards from shore near Nassau, Bahamas, and all ten crew perish. Six bodies were recovered by Friday night, and other bodies were sighted trapped in the wreckage.^[373]

7 May

Capt. Howard Nelson, 29, is rescued after he bails out of a

62d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron North American F-86D Sabre on a flight out of O'Hare Air Reserve Station, Chicago, Illinois.^[374]

10 May

A

Venice, California, bails out and is rescued about 0100 hrs. floating two hours in a raft off of Kenosha, Wisconsin. Miller was able to radio his situation to O'Hare ground controllers and his blip was watched on radar so the controllers directed the Coast Guard to the pick-up.^[374]

13 May

North American F-86D-20-NA Sabre, 51-2960, listed with the USAF 42nd FIS (501st ADG) in 1954; Written off at O'Hare Airport, Illinois, this date.^[375]

17 May

Supermarine Attacker FB.1, WA533, of 736 Squadron is damaged upon landing aboard HMS Illustrious when port main gear collapses. Airframe is repaired, but sees no more operational flying.^[376]

30 May

A North American F-86A Sabre of the 3599th Flying Training Squadron, Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, crash lands at McGuire Air Force Base, New Jersey, with the pilot receiving fatal burns. First Lt. Charles Grenz, 24, of Radburn, New Jersey, was pulled alive from his burning fighter, but was dead upon arriving at the base hospital. The pilot's mother was waiting in the McGuire base operations office to drive him home for Memorial Day.^[377]

3 June

Northrop N-69A Snark missile, GM-3394, was successfully guided for landing on the Cape Canaveral Skid Strip, but the missile's rear skid was not locked and the vehicle crashed and exploded upon contact.^[378][379]

4 June

A report from Seoul states that five Americans are lost when a U.S. Marine transport crashes or ditches in the Sea of Japan, a Marine spokesman reported on Saturday 5 June. The Fifth Air Force said on Friday night that eight or nine aboard the plane had been rescued, but a First Air Wing spokesman said that eleven were on board and that only six were picked up.^[380]

6 June

"TOKYO (Monday) (AP) – The U.S. Navy reported Sunday night that one body has been recovered and four other airmen were presumed dead after a JD1 utility plane crashed in the Inland Sea Sunday. Aboard were a pilot, a navigator and three crew members. Rescue personnel in crash boats found the body and the personal effects of the other four about five miles off the city of Iwakuni. They marked the spot with a buoy. The search was resumed Monday. The water at the point is 96 feet deep. The Navy planned to send down divers. The customary investigation was ordered to determine cause of the crash. The plane was on a flight from Atsugi Naval Air Station to Itazuke. Names of the victims were withheld pending notification of next of kin."^[381] The Navy released the victims' names on 7 June. Amongst the dead were Lt. Cmdr. James William Barbee Jr., of San Lorenzo, California, and Ens. James Boyd Triplett, of South Gate, California.^[382]

7 June

Two U.S. Army crewmen are killed when a Sikorsky H-19 Chickasaw develops engine trouble and crashes into a building five miles E of Seoul, South Korea. The pilot and copilot are seriously injured.^[383]

7 June

"

UP) – Two F86 Sabre Jets collided in mid-air Monday, but both pilots parachuted to earth safely. The pilots refused publication of their names for fear their wives would be upset, the spokesman said."^[384]

9 June

"

Iwakuni Air Base. The Navy said next of kin have been notified. Personnel aboard the plane included: Lt. Wallace R. Carter, husband of Mrs. Wanda L. Carter, 1011 Taylor Ave., Alameda, Calif. Lt. J. G. William B. Hedric, husband of Mrs. Joan H. Hedric, 842 Harvard Dr., Alameda, Calf. Ens. Homer F. Trotter Jr., son of Mr. and Mrs. Walter B. Norris, 1312 E. Walker, San Bernardino, Calif. Aviation Electronics Man 1-c Laurence E. Stone, husband of Mrs. Betty J. Stone, 892 D. Thau Way, Alameda, Calif. Aviation Machinist Mate 3-c Walter R. Raab, son of Mr. and Mrs. Harold E. Raab, 13609 Cordary Ave., Hawthorne, Calif. Marine Maj. James R. O'Moore, husband of Mrs. Dorothy D. O'Moore, 619 Poppy Avenue, Corono Del Mar [sic], Calif."^[385] The wreckage of the Martin PBM-5 Mariner, BuNo 84779 (?), was sighted Friday 11 June by an Air Force search plane, smashed against a 6,300-foot island mountain on rugged Yakushima, 50 miles off Southern Japan. There were seven Navy and two Marine officers and eight sailors aboard when it departed Iwakuni. It disappeared in stormy weather five hours later. There were no survivors.^[386] Others on board were: Lt.(JG) Cecil F. Hackeny Jr., Birmingham, Alabama; Lt. (JG) Wallace H. Wertz, Newport, Pennsylvania; Ens. John D. McCathy, Olean, New York; Ens. Berje Weramian, Corpus Christi, Texas; Douglas C. Campbell, Electronics Technician 2/c, Boscobel, Wisconsin; Ira E. Crider, Telman 3/c, Tyler, Texas; Jerrold D. Edwards, Aviation Electronics Technician 3/c, Portland, Oregon; Ronald D. Graham, Aviation Structural Mechanic 2/c, Donora, Pennsylvania; Donald D. Landon, Photographers Mate 3/c, and James E. Landon, Aviation Ordnance Man 2/c, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and Marine Capt. Theodore R. Moore, Warren, Pennsylvania. The Marines were from the First Marine Air Wing, six officers and seven enlisted were from VP-47, and one officer and one enlisted were from Fleet Air Wing Six.^[387]

11 June

A

Naval Air Station Memphis, Tennessee, killing five but missing 100 sailors who left the structure three minutes earlier. Both the building and the airframe burned. The pilot and four on the ground die.^[389]

14 June

A

Eaton Rapids, Michigan; and James M. Key, 25, Aviation Storekeeper 1.c, Rock Island, Oklahoma.^[390]

17 June

A USAF

Hamilton Air Force Base, California, crash lands in the surf one mile NW of Ventura, California, Four officers escape with minor injuries. They are Lt. Col. Harry M. Thompson, 35, pilot; Capt. Owen C. Johnson, 32, co-pilot; and 1st Lt. Robert E. Shrider and 2d Lt. Orvil L. Cook, passengers, all of Hamilton AFB.^[391]

27 June

Beechcraft SNB-2C Navigator, BuNo 23773,^[392] ripping loose the airliner's port engine. Captain J. C. Pollard and First Officer J. S. Myrick, 30, both of Nashville, succeed in putting the plane down. The Convair skids to a halt on the runway on its nose as the nose gear fails to extend, and rescue and fire crews extinguish the blazing wing, nose, and baggage compartment. All aboard survive. The SNB crashed immediately and exploded. Two dead aboard the SNB are identified by Dr. Carl E. Teterick, acting coroner, as Lt. Cmdr. John Hoerath, 37, of Westerville, Ohio, and Lt. Cmdr. Donald Gavin Edgar, 48, of Columbus. They were flying from Lafayette, Indiana, to Naval Air Station Columbus.^[393]

27 June

March AFB at Riverside, killing all 14 on board.^[394] Within 90 minutes, the 42d Air Rescue Squadron from March arrives on scene, five miles E of Riverside, to find no survivors. "The only Chicagoland victim of the crash was Staff Sgt. James R. Morgan, 33, of Anderson, Ind."^[395]

1 July

Second of 13

Edwards AFB, California, when a fire develops on board.^[396]

14 July

First prototype

metal fatigue.^[397][398]

26 July

Lieutenant Floyd C. Nugent suffers

Hotel Del Coronado for almost 30 minutes before ditching near the shore."^[400]

27 July

Second prototype

Farnborough. It will not fly for six months.^[401]

5 August

As the first pre-production

Allison XT-40A power to counter-rotating propellers fails, and even though the powerplant continues to partially function, the props automatically feather. Unable to spot a reasonable landing spot, the pilot ejects, suffering back injuries that leave him a plaster cast for several months. The Skyshark program is cancelled one month later, with only six of ten pre-production A2D-1s completed ever being flown.^[402]

21 August

Col.

Lockheed T-33A-1-LO Shooting Star trainer, 52-9630, c/n 7815,^[394]

near the base. Local citizens then urge the renaming of the facility in his honor. The base was renamed on 15 June 1956.

24 August

The pilot of a

Eglin AFB following an ejection as the aircraft rolled to a stop after landing at Eglin Auxiliary Field 6. The Thunderjet was on a routine training mission.^[403]

26 August

Top Korean War USAF ace Capt.

Edwards AFB, California.^[404]

27 August

A Convair B-36 Peacemaker crashes while attempting a landing following a training mission at Ellsworth Air Force Base near Rapid City, South Dakota. Of the 27 crewmembers aboard, 24 die and 3 are injured in the initial crash, making it the deadliest B-36 crash to date.^[405] Two additional victims later succumb to their injuries, bringing the total death toll to 26. The sole survivor, Lt. Roger Bumps, later recovers from his injuries.^[406]

31 August

Sole

Cessna XL-19B Bird Dog, 52-1804, c/n 22780A, modified with Boeing XT-50-BO-1 210 shp turboprop engine, crashes 2 miles (3.2 km) W of Sedgwick

, Kansas.

22 September

A USAF

North American EF-86D-5-NA Sabre, 50–516, crashes and burns on take-off from Eglin Air Force Base, Florida killing the pilot. After briefly becoming airborne, it settled back onto the runway's end, continues off the overrun area and comes to rest in a marshy stream bed ~1,000 feet (300 m) to the north.^[407]

27 September

Sole Folland Midge prototype, G-39-1, crashes into trees at Chilbolton, England, killing the Swiss pilot. Cause was believed to have been inadvertent application of full nose-down trim.

28 September

Fourth of 13

Edwards AFB, California. Vehicle impacts at high speed and is destroyed. However the flight sets a speed record for a turbojet-powered aircraft.^[396]

30 September

XA271 a

Miles Marathon T1 of No. 2 Air Navigation School

dives into the ground near Calne, Wiltshire, England following structural failure of outer wings.

October

The sole prototype Tupolev Tu-75 military transport, derived from the Tupolev Tu-70 airliner, itself a derivative of the Tupolev Tu-4 "Bull" bomber, first flown 21 January 1950, crashes after several years of use by MAP (Ministerstvo Aviatsionnoy Promyshlennosti – Ministry of Aviation Industry).^[408]

12 October

North American F-100A-1-NA Super Sabre, 52-5764, c/n 192–9,^[394] crashes at Edwards Air Force Base, California, at 1100 hrs., killing North American test-pilot Lt. George Welch, a veteran of the Japanese Navy attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.^[409] During terminal velocity dive test from 45,000 feet (14,000 m), aircraft yaws to starboard, then begins roll. Airframe breaks up under 8 G strain, pilot falls clear, chute opens, but he sustains fatal injuries, dying shortly after reaching the ground.^[410]

12 October

A United States Navy

Eglin AFB suffers a structural failure on landing at Auxiliary Field Number 8 which causes the starboard engine to break loose and burn in a Tuesday morning accident. The crew of two escape injury.^[411]

13 October

Westland Wyvern TF1, VZ783, 'X', of 813 Squadron, suffers power failure on take-off from HMS Albion in the Mediterranean Sea due to unforeseen tendency of the turboprop engine to suffer fuel starvation in high-G catapult launch. Aircraft goes into water off the bow, is cut in half by the ship, pilot ejects underwater using Martin-Baker Mk.2B ejection seat, survives with slight injuries.^[412][413]

19 October

First flying prototype

F11F.^[414]

21 October

XA546 a

Gloster Javelin FAW.1 on a pre-delivery test flight crashes into the Bristol Channel

.

29 October

A

Baldwin, Kansas, said the burning craft went into a vertical dive at 1,000 to 2,000 feet and plunged straight into the ground." He said that a hole 40 feet deep was blasted on impact with wreckage thrown 500 yards in all directions. Dead were Capt. Hassel O. Green, 32, instructor-pilot, of Newsite, Mississippi; Capt. George H. Miller, 33, co-pilot, of Burbank, California; and Capt. Arthur F. Bouton, Jr., 31, observer, of Little Rock, Arkansas. Lt. Allen Oppegard, Air Information Services officer at the Naval Air Station Olathe, said the pilot told medical personnel from the base that the plane went out of control at about 10,000 feet but that he did not know why. The pilot said he did not recall how he got out of the aircraft.^[415]

4 November

Convair YF2Y-1 Sea Dart, BuNo 135762, disintegrated in mid-air over San Diego Bay, California, during a demonstration for Navy officials and the press, killing Convair test pilot, Charles E. Richbourg. Pilot inadvertently exceeded airframe limitations.^[416]

4 November

A USAF

Ellington AFB, Texas. Shortly after departure, the pilot radios that he has mechanical problems and requests emergency return to Tucson. Aircraft strikes power lines on final approach and crashes into a perimeter fence short of the runway. All crew are KWF.^[418]

8 November

North American F-100A-10-NA Super Sabre, 53-1534,^[419] c/n 192–29,^[420] near Auxiliary Field 2 of Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. Commodore Stephenson, on a tour of the U.S., is flying at 13,000 feet (4,000 m) as he joins formation with another F-100 when his fighter drops into a steep spiral, impacting at ~1414 hrs. in a pine forest on the Eglin Reservation, one mile (1.6 km) NE of the runway of Pierce Field, Auxiliary Fld. 2.^[421]

9 November

Dornier Do 24T-3, HR.5–1, burnt out.^[422]

9 November

North American F-100A-5-NA Super Sabre, 52-5771, c/n 192–16,^[394] crashes in Nevada, after control is lost during a gunnery test sortie. Pilot Maj. Frank N. Emory, of Mount Vernon, Washington, ejects, receiving only minor injuries. The Air Force grounds the new fighter on 10 November after this, the fifth loss of the type in just a few months.^[423] At this point, the USAF had about 70 of the aircraft. Instability problems are found to be largely due to insufficient tail area which is then increased and the design modified. The F-100 grounding order is lifted in early February 1955.^[424]

14–15 November

The U.S. Navy and Marine Corps have a very bad day, losing three aircraft and four crew in three accidents. A

Grumman S2F Tracker goes into the Atlantic Ocean at 0500 hours, immediately after launch from USS Antietam. The four crew are recovered by the destroyer USS Putnam shortly afterward, but one of them, Lt. Cdr. Willard A. Pollard, of Virginia Beach, Virginia, dies aboard the Putnam shortly after his rescue.^[426]

17 November

Boscombe Down. Fairey pilot Peter Twiss, stretches glide, dead-sticks into airfield, drops undercarriage at last moment but only nose gear deploys, jet bellies in, sustaining damage that sidelines it for eight months. Twiss, only shaken up, receives the Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service in the Air. FD.2 test program does not resume until August 1955.^[427]

17 November

Lt. Col.

North American F-86F Sabre in a dense fog. His engine flamed out. He was on a rotational tour from Alexandria AFB, Louisiana, with the 389th Fighter-Bomber Squadron, which he commanded. He was a leading and much-decorated North American P-51 Mustang ace during World War II. Col. England flew 108 missions and scored 19 aerial victories-including 4 on one mission. England also served as a combat pilot in the Korean War. Alexandria Air Force Base is renamed England Air Force Base in his honor on 23 June 1955.^[428]

18 November

At 1715 hrs., this date, a

Canoga Park, California, crawls to the nose and evacuates the aircraft from a hatch before the plane stops moving, is struck and thrown across the pavement, sustaining fatal head and chest injuries. He dies just over an hour later, at 1825 hrs. Base firefighters quickly extinguish the blaze. The bomber, one of two which departed Norton at 1522 hrs. on a routine flight, is unable to drop the landing gear despite circling for an hour and trying to shake it down while burning off fuel. As the sun sets, the B-25 approaches from the west and touches down. Gregor receives burns when the port engine catches fire, although emergency crews awaiting the arrival surround the plane “within seconds” and extinguish the blaze with foam, and rush the injured to the hospital.^[429] Taccone's body is turned over to the Mark B. Shaw Company for transportation to Canoga Park for services and interment. He is survived by his widow, Grace E., and a son, Marion R., III.^[430]

18 November

Three

Norton AFB a few hours earlier that killed the co-pilot.^[431]

19 November

Two

T-33A-1-LO) comes down 14 miles NE of Niagara Falls. Lt. Col. Woody's F-86D-40-NA, 52-3639, c/n 190–35,^[394] impacts at Amherst, New York.^[434]

19 November

“

C45 into parking position and was placing blocks in front of the plane's wheels when the propeller hit her.”^[435]

19 November

A

Biloxi lighthouse.^[436] The Air Force "said Saturday it appeared that only one man was aboard. The identity of the man was not known. There was no indication whether he was a member of the air force or a civilian. An air force spokesman said the body was recovered during the morning by salvage crews going through the wreckage in two feet of water about 400 yards off a resort beach. The plane exploded and the wreckage was scattered over a half mile area near the Biloxi lighthouse."^[437]

20 December

VS-39, 'SN' tail code, suffers a forced landing in a field at East Killingly, Connecticut, and is burnt out in post-landing fire.^[344]

22 December

Capt. Richard J. Harer, test pilot with the

Lockheed F-94C-1-LO Starfire, 50-962,^[438] c/n 880-8007,^[439] on Rogers Dry Lake following engine problems, becomes trapped in the cockpit as the aircraft burns. Capt. Milburn "Mel" Apt, flying chase in another fighter, lands beside the failing F-94 and succeeds in pulling Harer from the burning jet, saving his life. Harer suffers a broken back, third degree burns and compound fractures of both legs that result in their amputation.^[440][441] Apt was awarded the Soldier's Medal for saving Harer's life.^[442]

• List of accidents and incidents involving the Lockheed C-130 Hercules
• Lists of accidents and incidents involving military aircraft

Notes