List of accidents and incidents involving military aircraft (1950–1959)

This is a list of notable accidents and incidents involving military aircraft grouped by the year in which the accident or incident occurred. For more exhaustive lists, see the Aircraft Crash Record Office or the Air Safety Network.

See also: List of accidents and incidents involving military aircraft, pre–1950

See also: List of accidents and incidents involving military aircraft, 1975–1999

See also: List of accidents and incidents involving military aircraft, 2000–

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

• 11 February – Twin-engine Beechcraft D-18 cargo air service aircraft flying from Dayton, Ohio to Albuquerque, New Mexico, crashed four miles W of West Mesa Airport with a pilot and two AEC security guards aboard. Plane was making an approach to a landing strip when it encountered a cloud and broke off the approach. While circling around the mesa atop which the airstrip was located, it hit a steep slope in an upright position. Completely demolished by the ensuing impact and fire, killing all three men aboard, the classified cargo of 792 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.
• 13 February – A U.S. Air Force B-36B-15-CF Peacemaker, 44-92075, of the 436th Bomb Squadron, 7th Bomb Wing, in transit from Eielson AFB, Alaska to 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. High explosives detonate on contact, large shockwave seen, 17 crew later bails 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. Aircraft flies 210 miles with no crew, impacting in the Skeena Mountains at 6,000 feet, E of Stewart, British Columbia. Wreckage found in September 1953. See also 1950 British Columbia B-36 crash.
• 15 February – de Havilland DH 108, VW120, flown by RAE's OC, Squadron Leader J.S.R. Muller-Rowland, enters steep dive from 27,000 feet (8230 m), breaking up around 10,000 feet (3048 m) with fatal result. Wreckage comes down at Birkhill, near Bletchley.
• 22 February – On its 102nd flight, the USAF XF-89 Scorpion, 46-678, crashed on Rosecrans Avenue, Hawthorne, California after making a high-speed low pass for Air Force officials at Hawthorne Airport (Northrop Field). Right horizontal stabilizer peeled off, aircraft disintegrated, throwing pilot Charles Tucker clear, parachuted safely, but flight engineer Arthur Turton died in mishap. Aircraft impacted five miles from factory, setting alight a Standard Oil below-ground storage tank. Cause was found to be high-frequency, low-amplitude flutter of both the vertical and horizontal stabilizers.
• 7 March - During a practice dive-bombing attack, Hawker Sea Fury FB.11, VX651, '132', of 736 Squadron, loses part of lower engine cowling which strikes wing. Pilot returns to HMS Illustrious but misjudges landing, missing all arrestor wires, hits crash barrier, tearing engine loose, airframe overturns, burns. Pilot okay, but Sea Fury written off.
• 22 March – Fuerza Aérea Argentina Avro Lincoln B.Mk. II, B-019, c/n 1495, 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.
• 5 April – Martin JRM-3 Mars flying boat, BuNo 76822, c/n 9266, "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.
• 7 April – Sole prototype, Nord (SNCAN) development of Aerocentre NC 1080 single-engine naval fighter, first flown 29 July 1949, is completely destroyed in a flight accident.
• 11 April – A USAF B-29 on a routine flight crashes into mountain three minutes after take-off from 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 fuel capsule, carried separately, is recovered.
• 23 April – Prototype Sud-Est SNCASO SO.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.
• 1 May – Third and final de Havilland DH 108, TG283, crash near Hartley Wintney, Hants, during stall tests, kills replacement RAE OC, Squadron Leader George E.C. Genders. Aircraft entered uncontrollable spin, pilot bails out, parachute fails.
• 12 May – After the United States Air Force gives Convair a contract to install an Allison J33-A-29 jet engine with afterburner in place of the J33-A-23 in the XF-92A, 46-0682, test pilot Chuck Yeager attempts ferry flight from Edwards AFB, California to the Convair plant at San Diego but engine fails immediately after take off, forcing an emergency landing on the dry lakebed. Airframe is subsequently trucked to San Diego.
• 25 May – First prototype of Arsenal VG 90 turbojet strike fighter design for the Aéronavale, VG-90.01, F-WFOE, first flown 27 September 1949, crashes this date killing the pilot Pierre Decroo.
• 13 June – RAF Cierva Air Horse helicopter, VZ724, (at the time, the largest helicopter type flown), breaks up in flight and crashes, killing all three crew, Squadron Leader F.J. "Jeep" Cable, test pilot Alan Marsh and flight test engineer J. Unsworth.
• 7 July – Third prototype of three Vought XF7U-1 Cutlass twin-tailed fighters, BuNo 122474, suffers engine explosion during flight exhibition at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland. Vought test pilot Paul Thayer ejects, parachutes into two feet of water, airframe impacts on island in the Patuxent River. 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."
• 13 July – A USAF B-50D-110-BO Superfortress, 49-267, of the 97th Bomb Wing out of Biggs AFB, Texas, carrying a nuclear weapon bomb casing (but no fuel capsule), stalls at 7,000 feet at about 1454 hrs. EST, crashes between Lebanon, Ohio and Mason, Ohio, killing four officers and twelve airmen. 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. One account states that the weather was clear, but Joe Baugher reports that bomber was in a storm system.
• 5 August – A USAF B-29-85-BW Superfortress, 44-87651, carrying a Mark 4 nuclear bomb, suffers two runaway propellers and landing gear problems on takeoff at Fairfield-Suisun Air Force Base, Fairfield, California, United States. The crew attempts an emergency landing but crashes, causing a huge explosion that kills 19 aboard the plane and on the ground, including mission commander Brig. Gen. Robert F. Travis; the airfield is later renamed Travis Air Force Base in his honor. Numerous nearby mobile homes are severely damaged and many civilians, firefighters, and USAF ground crew are injured- 60 required hospital treatment and 47 suffered superficial injuries according to newspaper reports, but other sources place the total as high as 173. The USAF attributes the explosion to ten or twelve conventional 500-pound HE bombs aboard the B-29 and claims that the nuclear bomb's fuel capsule 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.
• 10 November – A USAF B-50 Superfortress on a routine weapons ferrying flight between Goose Bay, Labrador and its home base at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona, loses two of four engines. To maintain altitude it jettisons empty Mark 4 nuclear bomb casing just before 1600 hrs. at 10,500 feet above the St. Lawrence River near the town of St. Alexandre-de-Kamouraska, about 90 miles NE of Quebec, Canada. HE in the casing observed detonating upon impact in the middle of the twelve-mile-wide river, blast felt for 25 miles. Official Air Force explanation at the time is that the Superfortress released three conventional 500-pound HE bombs.
• 22 November - First official test flight of the U.S. Navy Chance Vought XSSM-N-8 Regulus, FTV-1, (Flight Test Vehicle), '1', from Rogers Dry Lake, Edwards AFB, California, goes badly when, after reaching an altitude of several hundred feet after lift-off, the J33 jet-powered missile rolls violently right and crashes. Had it rolled to the left, it would likely have struck the USN 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.

1951

• 21 February - English Electric Canberra B2, USAF 51-17387, ex-RAF WD932, used as pattern aircraft for B-57 Canberra, crashes during flight from Martin plant at Middle River, Maryland, north of Baltimore. Incorrect fuel handling led to tail heaviness which caused loss of control during high g maneuvering and subsequent wing failure. Both crew eject, but one does not survive.
• 14 March – RAF Coastal Command Avro Lancaster GR.3, TX264, 'BS-D', of 120 Squadron Kinloss, off-course in high winds and heavy overcast during a night-time navigation exercise between the Faroes and Rockall, crashes into Beinn Eighe's Triple Buttress at ~0200 hrs., just 15 feet below the top of the 2,850 foot 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.
• 23 March – A United States Air Force C-124 Globemaster II, 49-244, c.n. 43173, of the 2nd Strategic Support Squadron, missing over the Atlantic Ocean; wreckage found near Ireland. 53 died, including Gen. Paul Cullen and his command staff.
• 3 April – Sole prototype Hawker P.1081, converted from second prototype Hawker P.1052, VX279, with 5,000 lb. s.t. Rolls-Royce Nene turbojet, first flown 19 June 1950, crashes this date at high speed on the South Downs, killing pilot Squadron Leader T.S. "Wimpy" Wade. Cause was never fully established, but aircraft may have gone out of control during dive and exceeded limitations, witnesses reported hearing sonic boom as it came down. Australian interest in building type under license disappears, both they and the Royal Air Force acquiring F-86s to fill requirement for a high-speed fighter. Program abandoned.
• 5 April – First of two pilotless Royal Australian Air Force GAF Pikas, (Project 'C'), A92-1, C-1, "P", crashes at Woomera, Australia, and is subsequently broken up. Second prototype is now on display at the RAAF Museum at Point Cook. Production drones will be built as GAF Jindiviks.
• 27 April - B-36D-25-CF Peacemaker, 49-2658, of the 436th Bomb Squadron, 7th Bomb Wing, Carswell AFB, Texas, collides with F-51D-25-NT Mustang, 44-84973, during gunner training NE of Perkins, Oklahoma, 55 Miles NE of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Mustang pilot killed, as well as 13 of 17 B-36 crew.
• 6 May - B-36D-25-CF Peacemaker, 49-2660, of the 7th Bomb Wing, Carswell AFB, Texas, crashes while landing at Kirtland AFB, New Mexico, in high winds, 23 of 25 crew killed.
• 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.
• 13 June – RAF 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.
• 23 June – Second Avro CF-100 Mk.1, 19102, 'FB-K',crashes on the day it is handed over to the RCAF.
• 30 June – The second prototype Republic XF-91 Thunderceptor, 46-681, had an engine failure during takeoff from 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 across the dry lake bed, the tail section had been reduced to ashes.
• Summer – A B-36 crew on a training mission out of Carswell AFB, Texas, to the Eglin AFB bombing range in the Gulf of Mexico off the Florida panhandle to drop an unarmed obsolete 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 lbs. 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.

US Navy personnel aboard aircraft carrier USS Essex (CV-9) flee as F2H-2 Banshee strikes parked aircraft and explodes; 16 September 1951.

• 18 August - Boeing XB-47-BO Stratojet, 46-065, first prototype of two, stalls on landing, suffers major structural damage. No injuries.
• 23 August – Bell X-1D, 48-1386, suffers fire/explosion internally while being carried aloft for its first flight, jettisoned from mothership, impacting on Rogers Dry Lakebed, Edwards AFB, California. Joe Baugher cites loss date of 22 August, as does FlyPast article by Lance Thompson, "Valley of the Kings", December 1997, Number 197, page 25.
• 26 August – Handley Page HP.88, VX330, a two-fifths scale flying testbed for the Handley Page HP.80 Victor bomber to prove crescent wing design, breaks up in flight when the rear fuselage separates during a manoeuvre. During a high-speed, low-level pass over 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.
• 16 September – A damaged F2H-2 Banshee jet fighter, BuNo 124968, of VF-172, returning to the US Navy aircraft carrier USS Essex, on its first Korean War cruise, misses the recovery net and crashes into several planes parked on the ship's deck, killing seven people and destroying four aircraft. This crash led the USN to equip all future carriers with angled flight decks for safer airplane recovery.
• 29 September - A Royal Air Force Boeing Washington B.1, WF555, ex-USAF B-29A-70-BN Superfortress, 44-62254, of 57 Squadron, Waddington, Lincs., experiences runaway propeller on number 3 (starboard inner) engine which hits number 4 (starboard outer) causing severe damage. Three crew in rear fuselage ordered to bail out before bomber makes successful wheel-up landing at a disused airfield near Amiens, France - no casualties, but airframe written off. Scrapped 3 January 1952.
• October 15 - Convair B-36D-35-CF Peacemaker, 49-2664, c/n 127, '664', triangle 'J' tail markings, of the 436th Bomb Squadron, 7th Bomb Wing, Carswell AFB, Texas, experiences main gear extension failure, pilot Maj. Leslie W. Brockwell bellies it in at 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.
• 27 November – French Leduc 0.22-01 ramjet-powered prototype interceptor is badly damaged in landing accident and the pilot seriously injured.

1952

• 12 January – Prototype RAF Vickers Valiant, WB210, catches fire during in-flight relight trials, crew bails out but co-pilot, Squadron Leader Foster, 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.
• 21 January – Second prototype of Arsenal VG 90 turbojet strike fighter design for the Aéronavale, VG-90.02, first flown June 1951, crashes this date killing the pilot Claude Dellys.
• 29 January - B-36D-45-CF Peacemaker, 44-92080, of the 92nd Bomb Wing, lands short at Fairchild AFB, written off. All crew survive. Aircraft had been built as a B-36B-20-CF, upgraded.
• 3 April – A United States Air Force B-29 Superfortress crashes at night. Suspected reason – Fuel line issues. The crew bailed out over a farmer's field 8 miles 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 United States Air Force C-124 Globemaster II collides in midair with a C-47 Skytrain over Mobile, Alabama, United States; 15 die.
• 15 April – While making a maximum gross weight takeoff at ~ 0345 hrs., a B-36D Peacemaker failed to become safely airborne and crashed off the end of a runway at 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.
• 9 May – Maj. Neil H. Lathrop attempts low-level aileron roll in second prototype Martin XB-51-MA, 46-686, crashes at end of runway at Edwards AFB, California with fatal result.
• 9 May – French Leduc 0.16 research ramjet again suffers landing gear collapse on touchdown and is damaged. After several more flights in 1954, it will be retired to the Musée de l'Air.
• 24 June – On the eighth test flight of the first Convair YB-60-1-CF, 49-2676, a flutter condition resulted in the trim tab disintegrating and the rudder suffering severe torsional wrinkles while flying at 263 mph at 35,000 feet. Replaced by rudder built for second prototype which never received one and never flew. As the B-52 project was succeeding, the B-60 program was canceled and the two airframes were salvaged in 1954 for parts.
• 8 July – Israeli IAF/DF Mosquito T.3, 2119, RAF serial unknown, 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.
• 10 July 1952 - A B-29 Superfortress crashes on the runway at 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.
• 25 July – French Leduc 0.22-01 ramjet-powered prototype interceptor, repaired following 27 November 1951 landing accident, strikes its Sud-Est 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.
• 29 July - A Royal Air Force Boeing Washington B.1, WW349, ex-USAF B-29A-55-BN Superfortress, 44-61968, hit while parked at Wisley, Surrey by Vickers Valiant, WJ954, in taxi accident. No injuries. Airframe had been intended for transfer to RAAF as third of three, presumably to become A76-3, but no replacement allocated.
• 29 August – Boulton Paul P.120, VT951, first flown 6 August 1952, crashes this date on Salisbury Plain, Wilts, Great Britain after control failure, tail flutter. Pilot A.E. "Ben" Gunn ejects safely. Airframe had accumulated only ~eleven hours flying time. This is the first recorded loss of a delta-wing-design airframe.

The Northrop F-89 Scorpion disintegrating at Detroit, 1952

• 30 August – One of a pair of Northrop F-89 Scorpions disintegrates in flight during a display at the International Aviation Exposition at Detroit, Michigan, killing the Scorpion pilot and one spectator.
• 1 September – Several tornados sweep across Carswell AFB, Texas destroying B-36B-10-CF, 44-92051, and damaging 82 others of the 7th and 11th Bomb Wings, including ten at the Convair plant on the other side of the 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.
• 6 September – Prototype de Havilland DH 110, WG236, flown by John Derry and Anthony Richards disintegrates at the Farnborough Air Show during pull out from high speed dive, killing both crew, debris, including engines, falls among crowd killing 29 spectators.
• 22 November or 23 November – A United States Air Force C-124A Globemaster II, 51-0107, on approach to Elmendorf AFB, Alaska, United States crashes into a remote glacier, killing all 52 aboard.
• 1 December – A USAF C-47B-50-DK Skytrain, 45-1124, c/n 17127/34394, crashes in the San Bernardino Mountains with 13 aboard "during a lashing storm while ferrying personnel from its home base, Offutt Air Force Base, Omaha, Nebraska to March Air Force Base near here." Search parties fly out of Norton Air Force Base, San Bernardino, California, and search snow-covered 8,000 foot level near Big Bear Lake, where a sheriff's deputy reported seeing a fire on Monday night. The aircraft was last heard from at 2151 hrs. PST. Wreck found at ~11,400 foot level of Mount San Gorgonio. All 13 killed while flying (KWF).
• 14 December - A Royal Air Force Boeing Washington B.1, WF570, ex-USAF B-29A-70-BN Superfortress, 44-62241, of 35 Squadron, Marham, Norfolk, flies into ground five miles ENE of Marham whilst attempting a radio compass let down in bad weather. Both pilots, the nav/plotter and the signaller are KWF, whilst the flight engineer and one of the gunners suffer serious injuries.
• 20 December – A United States Air Force C-124A Globemaster II, 50-100, c/n 43238, crashed on takeoff from 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.

1953

• 5 January - A Royal Air Force Boeing Washington B.1, WF553, ex-USAF B-29A-60-BN Superfortress, 44-62031, of 15 Squadron, Coningsby, Lincs., crashes whilst attempting a GCA approach at Coningsby in bad weather, impacting near Horncastle. Both pilots, the flight engineer, signaller and nav/radar are KWF, whilst the nav/plotter survives with serious injuries. Airframe scrapped 2 February 1953 at No.58 MU, Sutton Bridge.
• 8 January - A Royal Air Force Boeing Washington B.1, WF502, ex-USAF B-29A-50-BN Superfortress, 44-61894, of 90 Squadron, Marham, Norfolk, crashes at Llanarmon, North Wales whilst on a simulated night radar bombing exercise. Dives into ground at high speed, all ten crew KWF. Airframe scrapped 31 January 1953 at No.34 MU, Stoke Heath.
• 13 January – "An Eglin (AFB) F-86 Saber [sic] jet crash landed on Range 51 here today left pilot Capt. Robert G. Loomis alive but injured. The airman is in the Eglin hospital with a back injury and undetermined internal injuries."
• 31 January – A USAF F-86F Sabre crashes in bad weather while on final approach to Truax Field, Wisconsin, killing the pilot, Major Hampton E.Boggs a former Korean War and World War II ace with the 459th Fighter Squadron.
• 6 March - An F4U Corsair, '412', returning to the USS Oriskany (CV-34) after a mission over Korea with one bomb hung-up on a port wing rack, jars the ordnance loose as it touches down, bomb bounces twice and explodes, injuring 15 and killing two, including Photographers Mate Thomas Leo McGraw in the starboard catwalk who films the landing and weapon coming free. Airman Richard D. Donovan risks himself to climb onto the burning fighter to cut unconscious pilot Lt. Edwin Kummer free from his harness. Pilot survives with burns and leg injuries.
• 21 April – Last Handley Page Halifax in RAF service, HP.71 Halifax A.Mk. IX, RT396, of No. 1 Parachute Training School, RAF Henlow written off in accident.
• 24 April – USAF Strategic Air Command experimental project MX-1018, Project Tom-Tom, an attempt to extend fighter escort for bombers on long-range missions by coupling a pair of Republic F-84s onto bomber wingtips, suffers setback when EF-84D, 48-641, piloted by Maj. John Davis, loses control, rolls upside down, hits wing of ETB-29A-60-BN Superfortress, 44-62093, sending both aircraft down to crash in Peconic Bay, New York, killing all crew of both. The program is immediately canceled.
• 12 May – Bell X-2, 46-675, exploded in belly of Boeing EB-50D-95-BO Superfortress mothership during captive LOX topping-off test and was dropped into Lake Ontario. Bell test pilot Jean "Skip" Ziegler's body dropped with airframe and Bell flight engineer Frank Wolko is also apparently carried over the side in the explosion. Neither body recovered. EB-50D, 48-096, piloted by William Leyshon and D.W. Howe, limps into Niagara Falls Airport, New York – never flies again.
• 15 May – An errant USAF F-84 Thunderjet collides with two USAF C-119 Flying Boxcars flying in formation near Weinheim, Germany, sending all three planes down in flames. C-119C-70-FA, 51-8235, c/n 10783, struck by the fighter, which then struck C-119C-70-FA, 51-8241, c/n 10789, three Flying Boxcar crew KWF, three injured. F-84 pilot parachutes to safety.
• 18 June – A United States Air Force C-124A Globemaster II, 51-137, 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.
• 21 June – Two crew of the 3200th Fighter Test Squadron, Air Proving Ground Command, Eglin AFB, Florida, are KWF in a Lockheed F-94C Starfire when it crashes at Fairfax Field, Kansas City, Kansas. Fighter had departed the airfield on a routine training mission for a flight to Scott AFB, Illinois, when the pilot Capt. William C. Sharp, 34, from Cleveland, Ohio, attempted to return shortly after the 1330 hrs. CST take-off. Fighter struck a dike short of the runway, hitting ~10 feet below the top, and caromed onto the runway. Radar operator 1st Lt. Ray P. Tucker, 32, of Tipton, Indiana, was killed on impact and the pilot died later of injuries. Tucker had seen combat in the Asiatic-Pacific Theatre in World War II, and Sharp had 25 combat missions in P-40 and P-51 fighters in the China-Burma-India Theatre.
• 15 July - First of two Convair XP5Y-1s (and only one to fly), BuNo 121455, is lost on 42nd flight during high-speed testing by pilot Don Germeraad over the Pacific near San Diego, California. While operating at 115 percent of design limits under Navy contract, the elevator torque tube breaks, aircraft commences cycle of rollercoaster climbs and dives which continues for 25 minutes until control obviously being lost, all eleven on board go over the side and are rescued. Flying boat crashes into the ocean and sinks ~six miles off 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.
• 6 August – Israeli IDF/AF Mosquito FB.6 2113, ex-RAF PZ183, disappeared in flight over the Mediterranean, Lt. Uriel Ashel and 2nd Lt. Oded Shatil missing.
• 30 August – Second prototype Sud-Ouest SO.9000 Trident I -002 makes first and last flight, crashing and being a total write-off.
• 14 October – Second of two Bell X-5 swing-wing testbeds, 50-1839, gets into irrecoverable spin condition at Edwards AFB, California, crashes in desert, killing test pilot Capt. Ray Popson on his first flight in the type. On the same date, the nose gear of the XF-92 collapses, ending use by NACA.
• 17 October - Capt. Richard R. Galt, 29, is killed in the crash of an F-84F Thunderstreak at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida in a Saturday accident this date. Memorial services are held for the pilot at an Eglin AFB Chapel on 21 October. He is survived by his wife, Mrs. Marjorie Galt; two daughters, Susan, 5, and Margaret, 3; and his parents, Dr. and Mrs. Russell Galt of Susquehanna University, Selins Grove, Pennsylvania.
• 2 November – First prototype Convair YF-102 Delta Dagger, 52-7994, suffers engine failure during test flight, lands wheels up, severely injuring pilot Richard L. "Dick" Johnson. Airframe written off.
• 17 November – USAF C-119F-KM Flying Boxcar, 51-8163, c/n 166, crashed at 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.
• 17 December – A USAF B-29 Superfortress making an emergency landing at Andersen AFB, Guam, failed to reach the runway and crashed 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.
• 18 December – USAF TB-29 Superfortress, formerly Silverplate B-29-55-MO, 44-86382, of the 7th Radar Calibration Squadron, Sioux City Air Force Base, Iowa, destroyed by post-crash fire when pilot and co-pilot mistake Ogden Municipal Airport, Utah, for nearby Hill Air Force Base, put down on much shorter runway, overrun threshold, bounce across deep ditch, 10-foot wide canal, crosses highway, comes to rest in pieces, followed by immediate fire. One fatality on crew, two others injured.
• 22 December 1953 - The Eglin Air Force Base public information office reported Tuesday that Lt. Frank T. Robinson crash-landed an F-84 Thunderjet at Lee, Florida, around 1500 hrs. The pilot, attached to the Air Force Operational Test Center at Eglin, was reported safe by officials at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama. The news release stated that the pilot was on a routine training mission.

1954

• 26 January – An RAF Boeing Washington B.1, WF495, ex-USAF B-29A-65-BN Superfortress, 44-62128, of No. 149 Squadron RAF, 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 intensive ASR search lasting several days no trace is ever found. Aircraft was on return flight back to USAF. 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.
• 2 March - F2H-3 Banshee, piloted by Lt. F. J. Repp, 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.
• 16 March - RAF de Havilland Mosquito TT.35, TH992, 'N-for-Norman', built at Hatfield as a B.35, and modified as a target-tow, 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 Flt. Sgt. Ron Healy 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) Gavin Law, survive with minor injuries. Airframe believed to have been burnt where it came to rest.
• Post-April - Third prototype SAAB J 32 Lansen, 32-3, first flown April 1954 and tasked with armament testing, crashes after just 35 flight hours when it flies into the ground at high speed, killing Bengt Fryklund, an experienced pilot who had graduated at the top of his intake at the Empire Test Pilot School. Cause was difficult to determine as airframe was destroyed.
• 8 April – A Royal Canadian Air Force Canadair Harvard collided with a Trans-Canada Airlines Canadair North Star over Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, killing 37 people.
• 17 March – Test pilot Joe Lynch is killed in the crash of the first North American TF-86F Sabre, 52-5016, when he performed a slow-roll on take-off at Edwards AFB, California.
• 30 March – A C-119 Flying Boxcar careens into a US Army mess hall and explodes after crash-landing in a parade field at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, United States, killing five aboard the plane and two inside the building.
• 17 May - Royal Navy Supermarine Attacker FB.1, WA533, 'LM 115', of 736 Squadron is damaged upon landing aboard HMS Illustrious when port main gear collapses. Airframe is repaired, but sees no more operational flying.
• 27 July - Second prototype Avro Vulcan, VX777, suffers substantial damage when it swings off runway upon landing at Farnborough. It will not fly for six months.
• 24 August - The pilot of an F-84G Thunderjet dies at the Eglin AFB, Florida base hospital at ~1130 hrs. of injuries sustained earlier in the day when he was ejected from the cockpit of the fighter-bomber as it rolled to a stop after landing at Eglin Auxiliary Field 6. The pilot, identified as Maj. Robert A. Krug, 32, of the 307th Strategic Fighter Squadron, 31st Strategic Fighter Wing, Turner Air Force Base at Albany, Georgia, resided in Albany but was originally from Reading, Pennsylvania. He is survived by his wife, Delores, and two sons, Lee, 1, and Robin, 3. The Thunderjet was on a routine training mission. A board of qualified Air Force officers have been appointed to determine the cause of the accident.
• 26 August – Top Korean War USAF ace Capt. Joseph C. McConnell (16 victories) is killed in crash of fifth production North American F-86H-1-NH Sabre, 52-1981, c/n 187-7, at Edwards AFB, California.
• 27 September – Sole Folland Midge prototype, G-39-1, crashes into trees at Chilbolton, England, killing Swiss pilot Max Mathez. Cause was believed to have been inadvertent application of full nose-down trim.
• 30 September - XA271 a Royal Air Force Miles Marathon T1 of No. 2 Air Navigation School dives into the ground near Calne, Wiltshire, England following stuctural failure of outer wings.
• 12 October – USAF F-100A-1-NA Super Sabre, 52-5764, c.n. 192-9, 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 and a former fighter-pilot with the 80th Fighter Squadron. Welch was awarded a DFC for his actions on 7 December 1941, but not a Medal of Honor as nominated, as he had taken off without orders (as had all Air Corps pilots that day.) During terminal velocity dive test from 45,000 feet, 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.
• 19 October – First flying prototype Grumman XF9F-9 Tiger, BuNo 138604, suffers flame-out with pilot Lt. Cmdr. W.H. Livingston able to put it down on the edge of a wood near the Grumman company runway at Bethpage, Long Island, New York, escaping with minor injuries. Airframe written-off, however. Production models will be redesignated F11F.
• 21 October - XA546 a Royal Air Force Gloster Javelin FAW1 on a pre-delivery test flight crashes into the Bristol Channel.
• 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.
• 9 November - Ejército del Aire (EdA - Spanish Air Force) Dornier Do 24T-3, HR.5-1, burnt out this date.
• 17 November – Fairey FD.2, WG774, a single-engined transonic research aircraft, the last British design to hold the World Air Speed Record, suffers engine failure on 14th flight when internal pressure build-up collapses the fuselage collector tank at 30,000 feet, 30 miles from Boscombe Down. Fairey pilot Peter Twiss, ex-Fleet Air Arm, 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.

1955

• 22 March – A United States Navy Douglas R6D-1, BuNo 131612, c/n 43715, of VR-3, assigned to MATS, hits a cliff on Pali Kea Peak in the Waianae Range, 15 miles NW of Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands, United States, at 0203 hrs., killing 57 passengers and nine crew, making this the worst heavier-than-air disaster in US Navy history.
• 14 April – Second prototype Lockheed XF-104A Starfighter, 53-7787, c/n 083-0002, lost when airframe lost an access panel during 20 mm gun firing. Test pilot Herman R. "Fish" Salmon ejected as aircraft broke up, injured landing in rough country.
• 13 May – On seventh and final flight of Northrop N-69A test vehicle for the XSM-62 Snark, only two of which were successful, mission was cut short when the missile collided with its T-33A photo plane.
• 14 July – Vought F7U-3 Cutlass, 'D 412', of VF-124, suffers ramp strike on landing aboard USS Hancock (CVA-19), disintegrating airframe spins off portside; pilot LCDR Jay Alkire, USNR, killed when airframe sinks, still strapped into ejection seat; also killed are two boatswain's mates, one photographers mate, in port catwalk by burning fuel. [1] .
• 8 August – Internal explosion aboard Bell X-1A, 48-1384, while being carried aloft by Boeing B-29 mothership, forces NACA pilot Joseph Walker to exit aircraft back into the Superfortress, which is then jettisoned due to the full fuel load it carries, the rocket-powered testcraft coming down on the Edwards AFB, California bombing range.
• 11 August – Two United States Air Force C-119s of the 10th Troop Carrier Squadron collided near Stuttgart, Germany shortly after takeoff from Stuttgart Army Airfield near Echterdingen. In all, 66 died, 44 on one Flying Boxcar, and 22 on the other. Troops aboard were of the Army's 499th Engineering Battalion.
• 30 September - First cruise for full-scale training exercises without operational restrictions for the Westland Wyvern S Mk. 4, deployed aboard HMS Eagle with Nos. 813 and 827 Squadrons, begins inauspiciously when on this date a Wyvern attempting a go-around after misjudged approach, strikes ship's funnel, forcing the carrier to return to Portsmouth to have Armstrong Siddeley Python turboprop engine extracted from funnel "in which it was stuck like a dart." Repairs delay cruise by a fortnight.
• 6 October – McDonnell company pilot George Mills bails out of F3H-1N Demon near St. Louis, Missouri after what appears to be a massive systems failure, including the J40 engine. Instead of crashing, fighter circles over two states for more than an hour sans canopy, ejection seat and pilot. It eventually impacts in cornfield near Monticello, Iowa, 250 miles from ejection.
• 14 October - A Strategic Air Command B-47E Stratojet crashes while attempting landing on 3,400 foot runway 27 at NAS Atlanta, Georgia, shearing off tail and coming to rest beside runway. This facility is now DeKalb-Peachtree Airport.
• 29 November – Royal Air Force Gloster Javelin FAW.1, XA561, on flight out of RAF Boscombe Down, entered spiral at 39,000 feet from which the pilot could not recover. He ejected and the aircraft came down, largely intact, at Ashley, Isle of Wight.
• December – Second Sud-Aviation (Sud-Ouest) SO-9050 Trident II -002, short-range interceptor, is destroyed on its first flight.
• 7 December – First prototype Martin XP6M-1 Seamaster, BuNo 138821, c/n XP-1, first flown July 14, 1955, disintegrates in flight at 5,000 feet due to horizontal tail going to full up in control malfunction, subjecting airframe to 9 G stress as it began an outside loop, crashing into Potomac River near junction of St. Mary's River, killing four crew, pilot Navy Lieutenant Commander Utgoff, and Martin employees, Morris Bernhard, assistant pilot, Herbert Scudder, flight engineer, and H.B. Coulon, flight test engineer.

1956

• 10 January – The most notorious incident of aircraft pitch-up known as the "Sabre dance (pitch-up)" was the loss of F-100C-20-NA Super Sabre 54-1907 during an attempted emergency landing at Edwards AFB, California which was caught by film cameras set up for an unrelated test. The pilot fought to retain control as he rode the edge of the flight envelope, but fell off on one wing, hit the ground, and exploded with fatal results. These scenes were inserted in the movie The Hunters, starring Robert Mitchum and Robert Wagner.
• 31 January – USAF TB-25N Mitchell, (built as B-25J-22-NC), 44-29125, on cross country flight from Nellis AFB, Nevada to Olmsted AFB, Pennsylvania, after departing Selfridge AFB, Michigan suffers fuel starvation NE of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in mid-afternoon, attempts to divert to Greater Pittsburgh AFB, ditches in the Monongahela River at the 4.9 mile marker, west of the Homestead High-Level Bridge, drifts ~1.5 miles downstream in 8–10 kt. current, remaining afloat for 10–15 minutes. All six crew evacuate but two are lost in the 35 degree F water before rescue. Search for sunken bomber suspended 14 February with no success – aircraft is thought to have possibly settled in submerged gravel pit area in 32 feet of water, ~150 feet from shore, possibly now covered by 10–15 feet of silt. This crash remains one of the Pittsburgh region's unsolved mysteries.
• 16 February – First crash of a Boeing B-52 Stratofortress when B-52B-30-BO, 53-0384, of the 93rd Bomb Wing, Castle Air Force Base, suffered an explosion of an electrical power panel located on the alternator deck blowing off the cover and causing a fire. The cover jammed the regulator valve of the left hand forward alternator disabling the over speed protection and resulting in an over speed failure. Wreckage comes down near Sacramento, California. Four crew eject, four KWF. The failure mode was determined later when another B-52 experienced a similar incident that blew off the rear right hand electrical power shield cover but did not cause a fire and Boeing pilot, Ed Hartz, landed safely at Boeing Field in Seattle.
• 17 February – Douglas R5D-2 Skymaster, BuNo 39116, on flight from MCAS El Toro, California to NAS Alameda, in low overcast and drizzle, strikes Sunol Ridge on ranch ~3.5 miles N of Niles, California at 1345 hrs. Aircraft broke up and burned, killing 35, all but one of them Marines.
• 24 February – USAF C-124C Globemaster II, 53-021, c/n 44316, en route from Goose Bay, Labrador to Upper Heyford in the United Kingdom, lost power in number one and four engines (port and starboard outer). Restricted data cargo was jettisoned over the North Atlantic, including nuclear weapon firing and maintenance sets from an altitude of 8,000 to 9,000 feet. The Air Force assumed that the cargo packaging ruptured and sank after impact with the sea. Impact area searched, nothing recovered. On its return flight to the U.S. on 2 March, the aircraft crashed in the Atlantic ~225 nmi. SW of Keflavik, Iceland. The aircraft and crew were lost in 3,000 feet of water.
• 10 March – One of four U.S. Air Force B-47Es out of MacDill AFB, Florida, misses tanker meet over the Mediterranean. Extensive search never turns up plane, crew, or two 210DE nuclear capsules.
• 25 March – First prototype Martin XB-51-MA, 46-0685, crashes in sand dunes near Biggs AFB, El Paso, Texas, killing both crew. The aircraft was staging to Eglin AFB, Florida at the time of its crash for filming of scenes for the motion picture Toward the Unknown.
• 8 May - A USAF B-57C-MA Canberra, 53-3858, crashes on the Ship Shole island bombing range near Langley AFB, Virginia, killing Maj. Henry J. McGee, 500th Bomb Squadron Commander, and instructor pilot, Lt. John S. White. From the accident report: "Cause of accident - Undetermined: The aircraft was observed to be flying in a northeasterly direction at an estimated 500 feet altitude and traveling at a high rate of speed. It was probable that the speed was 425 knots indicated, because this was the prebriefed airspeed since the aircraft was on the run-in route on the LABS bombing range. Witnesses observing the aircraft reported that everything appeared to be normal. The aircraft was then seen to abruptly dive and disappear; this was followed by an immediate explosion. The instructor pilot and the pilot of this dual control B-57C received fatal injuries."
• 15 May – A RCAF Avro CF-100 Mk. IVB Canuck, 18367, of 445 Squadron, out of CFB Uplands, falling from 33,000 feet crashed into Villa St. Louis, a convent of the Grey Nuns of the Cross in Orleans, Ontario, Canada at roughly 2300 hrs. (reports vary). 15 people were killed; both crewmen of the aircraft, pilot William J. Schmidt, and navigator Kenneth D. Thomas, a priest, 11 nuns and one other woman.
• 5 June – A USAF Northrop F-89 Scorpion fighter jet of the 18th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron armed with 104 live rockets, strikes an automobile during an aborted take-off at Wold-Chamberlain Field, Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, killing three of the five occupants of the vehicle; both F-89 crew members survive.
• 9 June – A Grumman F9F-4 Panther fighter jet of VMF-213, flown by a USMC Reserve pilot crashes into a row of houses near Wold-Chamberlain Field, striking the home at 5820 46th Avenue South, Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. In addition to killing the pilot, Maj. George Armstrong, the crash kills five and injures twelve on the ground, most of whom are young children. This is the second time in five days that a military jet operating from this airport crashes and kills multiple civilians on the ground.
• 16 June – A USAF MATS C-124A Globemaster II, 51-5183, c/n 43593, inbound to Eniwetok atoll, Pacific Ocean, carrying nuclear test device components (possibly for the EGG device fired during the Operation Redwing Mohawk test) crashed 421 feet short of, and eight feet below, the runway at Eniwetok Island, shearing off its landing gear and coming to rest 2,000 feet from the southeast end of the runway. Fire ensued, extinguished within three hours. No loss of life – most of the cargo, although damaged by water and foam, was recovered. The runway was cleared of wreckage and reopened to normal traffic before noon on 17 June. Salvage of certain aircraft components was accomplished by a team from Hickam AFB, Hawaii.
• 27 July – A U.S. Air Force B-47E-130-BW Stratojet, 53-4230, of the 307th Bomb Wing from Lincoln AFB, Nebraska, crashes while making touch-and-goes at RAF Lakenheath, skidding off runway and into nuclear weapons storage igloo holding three Mark 6 nuclear bombs, burns. No weapons in the facility go off and all are later repaired. Stratojet was unarmed.
• 31 July – In a high-speed flight, prototype Folland Gnat, G-39-2, suffers tailplane flutter which breaks away. Folland test pilot Teddy Tennant bails out, becoming first person to use the Folland/Saab ejection seat in action. Tennant descends safely.
• 6 August - Spanish Air Force F-86F-20-NH Sabre, C.5-4, ex-USAF 51-13086, delivered to Spain in September 1955, crashes this date.
• 10 September - During first flight of North American F-107A at Edwards AFB, California, prototype, 55-5118, experiences problem with engine gear box differential pressure during a dive, North American test pilot Bob Baker lands on dry lakebed at just under 200 knots, after rolling about a mile, aircraft hits a depression in the lakebed, nose gear collapses. Jet slides ~ three-tenths of a mile on its nose, but suffers limited damage, no fire. Total landing roll was 22,000 feet. Airframe repaired in under two weeks.
• 17 September - B-52B-35-BO Stratofortress, 53-393, of the 93rd Bomb Squadron, crashes near Madera, California after an in-flight fire. Five crew KWF, two bailed out safely.
• 21 September – Grumman company test pilot Tom Attridge shoots himself down in an F11F Tiger, BuNo 138260, during a Mach 1.0 20 degree dive from 22,000 feet to 7,000 feet. He empties the fighter's 20 mm cannon during the descent and as he reaches 7,000 feet the jet is struck multiple times, including one shell that is ingested by the engine, shredding the compressor blades. He limps the airframe back towards the Grumman airfield but comes down at almost the same spot where the first prototype impacted on 19 October 1954. Pilot gets clear before jet burns, suffers only minor injuries – investigation shows that he had overtaken and passed through his own gunfire!
• 27 September – Test pilot Mel Apt is killed on the 20th flight of the Bell X-2, 46-674, out of Edwards Air Force Base, California, when he attempts a turn at Mach 3.2 (nearly 2,100 mph), and the airframe goes into a vicious case of inertia coupling. Apt jettisons the escape capsule but runs out of height before he can bail out of the falling nose section.
• 1 October – The RAF's first Avro Vulcan B 1, XA897, which completed a fly-the-flag mission to New Zealand in September, approaches Heathrow in bad weather on GCA approach, crashing short of the runway. Two pilots eject, but four crew do not have ejection seats and are killed. Aircraft Captain Squadron Leader "Podge" Howard and co-pilot Air Marshal Sir Harry Broadhurst survive. Signal delays in the primitive Ground-Controlled Approach system of the time may have let the aircraft descend too low without being warned. Undercarriage damaged in contact short of runway with control lost during attempted go-around. Pathe News report
• 10 October – A United States Air Force C-118 lost at sea about 150 miles north of the Azores. 59 died.
• 25 October - First (of two) Bell XV-3s, 54-147, first flown 11 August 1955, crashes this date when pilot Dick Stansbury blacks out due to extremely high cockpit vibrations when the rotor shafts are moved 17 degrees forward from vertical. Pilot is seriously injured and airframe is damaged beyond repair. Design was initially designated XH-33.
• 9 November – Second prototype Martin XP6M-1 Seamaster, BuNo 138822, c/n XP-2, first flown May 18, 1956, crashes at 1536 hrs. near Odessa, Delaware due to faulty elevator jack. As seaplane noses up at ~21,000 feet and fails to respond to control inputs, crew of 4 ejects, pilot Robert S. Turner, co-pilot William Cunningham, and two crew all get good chutes. Airframe breaks up after falling to 6,000 feet before impact.
• 24 November - A B-47E-30-BW Stratojet, 51-5233, of the 341st Bomb Wing, runs off runway upon landing at Dyess AFB, Texas, tearing away the port inboard engine nacelle. Aircraft may have been also attempting a go-around. All crew survives.
• 5 December: An XSM-62 Snark, 53-8172, N-69D test model, fitted with new 24 hour stellar inertial guidance system, launches from Cape Canaveral Missile Test Annex, Florida, wanders off-course, ignores destruct command, disappears over Brazil. It is found by a farmer in January 1983.
• 31 December – A United States Air Force C-121C-LO, 54-165, c/n 1049F-4184, crashed on approach to Dhahran, Saudi Arabia while flying UN troops into the Suez Canal zone. It was also carrying Hungarian refugees back to Charleston AFB, South Carolina. 12 of 38 onboard killed.

1957

• 31 January – Mid-air collision between Douglas Aircraft Company non-commercial test flight of DC-7B airliner, N8210H, out of Santa Monica Municipal Airport (intended customer – Continental Airlines), struck by Northrop F-89J Scorpion, 52-1870A, out of Palmdale, California with companion "target" F-89J, 53-2516A too far ahead to witness incident, all at 25,000 feet. Scorpion, coming out of 90-degree turn, struck the DC-7B almost head-on at 1118 hrs., ~1-2 miles NE of the Hansen Dam spillway, severing transport's outer port wing. The aircraft broke up, 500 feet – 1,000 feet above the ground, and seconds later the wreckage impacted in the courtyard of the Pacoima Congregational Church near the corner of Laurel Canyon Boulevard and Terra Bella Street, near Sunland, California, killing all four crew. Airliner impacted across the street from Pacoima Junior High School – debris killed three students and injured some 74 others. Following collision, Curtiss Adams, radarman aboard the e.b. F-89J, ejected, despite incurring serious burns, and parachuted, landing in Burbank. Pilot Roland E. Owen died in the burning fighter which impacted into La Tuna Canyon in the Verdugo Mountains. All four Scorpion crew were Northrop employees. Co-pilot on the DC-7, veteran flier Archie R. Twitchell, 50, enjoyed a secondary career as an actor between flying stints and appeared in over 100 films, including Union Pacific, I Wanted Wings, Among the Living, Out of the Past, Fort Apache, I Shot Billy The Kid and Sunset Boulevard, among others. The other DC-7B crew were pilot William G. Carr, 36; flight engineer Waldo B. Adams, 42; and radio operator Roy T. Nakazawa, 28. Collision was blamed on pilot error: Failure of both aircraft crews to exercise proper "see and avoid" procedures regarding other aircraft while operating under visual flight rules (VFR). The catastrophe prompted the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) to set restrictions on all aircraft test flights, both military and civilian, requiring that they be made over open water or specifically approved sparsely populated areas.
• 5 March - A Blackburn Beverley of 53 Squadron Royal Air Force crashed on approach to RAF Abingdon, England following engine failure due to fuel starvation. Eighteen occupants killed and two on the ground.
• 17 March – The official plane of the President of the Philippines, a Philippine Air Force C-47 named "Mt. Pinatubo", crashes on the slopes of Mount Manunggal, Cebu, Philippines, killing Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay and 24 others. The crash is blamed on metal fatigue; one journalist on board survives. See also 1957 Cebu Douglas C-47 crash.
• 21 March or 22 March – A United States Air Force C-97C-35-BO Stratofreighter, 50-702, c/n 16246, lost at sea over Pacific Ocean near Japan without trace. 67 died. (Joe Baugher lists fatalities as 70.)
• 21 May – First Sud-Aviation (Sud-Ouest) SO-9050 Trident II -001, rocket-powered short-range interceptor, is destroyed during a test-flight out of Centre d'Essais en Vol (Flight Test Center) when its highly volatile fuels, Furaline and nitric acid, accidentally mix and explode, killing test pilot Charles Goujon. Project is discontinued following this accident.
• 22 May -A U.S. Air Force B-36J-5-CF Peacemaker, 52-2816, (c/n 372), ferrying a Mark 17 nuclear bomb from Biggs AFB, Texas to Kirtland AFB, New Mexico, accidentally drops it through closed bomb doors, impacting 4.5 miles south of Kirtland tower. High explosives detonate creating crater 25X12 feet, but no fuel capsule fitted, no injuries.
• 31 May – A Royal Canadian Navy McDonnell F2H-3 Banshee fighter jet, BuNo 126313, Sqn. No. 104 of VF-870, spirals out of control after its right wing breaks in half during a high-speed flyby at naval air station HMCS Shearwater, Nova Scotia, Canada. The canopy is observed to separate from the aircraft, but the pilot, Lt. Derek Prout, fails to eject and is killed when the plane slams into McNabs Island. The crash is attributed to improperly manufactured fittings in the folding wing mechanism, and most RCN and US Navy Banshees are grounded until improved fittings can be installed.
• 7 June - Chance Vought Aircraft pilot James P. Buckner is killed while performing a high-speed flyby of CVA's tower at NAS Dallas, Texas, while demonstrating an F8U-1 Crusader for a graduating class from the Navy Post Graduate School there. Executing a zoom climb after his low-altitude pass, he apparently overstresses the fighter and it disintegrates before he can eject.
• 28 June – In two separate accidents, two newly delivered Lockheed U-2s of the SAC's 4028th Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron (SRS) based at Laughlin Air Force Base, Del Rio, Texas, are lost on the same day. At 08:55 Lt. Lowcock is killed when his aircraft, U-2A 56-6699, Item 366, crashes while on the approach to Laughlin. Less than two hours later, Lt Leo Smith is also killed when his aircraft, U-2C 56-6702, Article 369, crashes in the New Mexico desert. At this time U-2s are not equipped with ejection seats to save weight, but at around this point this policy is reversed. Three months later on 26 September, the squadrons' Commanding Officer, Col. Jack Nole climbs out of his disabled U-2A, 56-6694, Article 361, near Del Rio, Texas, making the highest ever parachute escape to date.
• 28 July – Two Mark 5 nuclear bombs without nuclear capsules installed were jettisoned from a C-124 in the Atlantic Ocean ~100 miles SE of Naval Air Station Pomona, New Jersey, just outside Delaware Bay E of Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, and S of Wildwood and Cape May, New Jersey. The aircraft was carrying three weapons and one nuclear capsule; the weapons were in Complete Assembly for Ferry (CAF) condition. Nuclear components were not installed; power supplies were installed but not connected. The C-124 was en route from Dover AFB, Delaware, to Europe via the Azores islands when its two port engines lost power. Maximum power was applied to the two starboard engines, however, level flight could not be maintained. The crew decided to jettison one weapon at an altitude of 4,500 feet ~75 miles off the coast of New Jersey. The second weapon was jettisoned soon afterwards at an altitude of 2,500 feet at a distance of 50 miles from the New Jersey coast. No detonation was seen to occur from either weapon, and both bombs were presumed to have been damaged or destroyed on impact with the sea and to have sunk almost instantly. The C-124 landed at an airfield in the vicinity of Atlantic City, New Jersey, with the remaining weapon and the nuclear capsule aboard. After a three-month long search, neither the weapons nor any debris were located. By November 1957, the AEC was taking action to issue replacement weapons to the DOD. No public announcement of this incident was made at the time it happened.
• 27 August – A Royal Canadian Navy McDonnell F2H-3 Banshee fighter jet, BuNo 126306, Sqn. No. 103 of VF-870, collides on a runway with an RCN General Motors TBM-3E Avenger, BuNo 53358, of squadron VC-921, at naval air station HMCS Shearwater, Nova Scotia, Canada. A flight of 3 Avengers was cleared for a formation takeoff on Runway 20 while the Banshee was performing touch-and-go landings on intersecting Runway 16. Due to an inoperable radio, Lt. Ed Trzcinski, Banshee pilot and U.S. Navy exchange officer, did not hear instructions from the control tower to go around, and apparently did not see red flares launched from the control tower due to patchy fog over the airfield and a possible lack of situational awareness. The Banshee collided with the second Avenger, killing Trzcinski and SubLt. Julian Freeman, RCN, pilot and sole occupant of the Avenger.
• 1 October - Aborted takeoff at Homestead AFB, Florida, causes write-off of B-47B-50-BW Stratojet, 51-2317, of the 379th Bomb Wing. Gear collapses, aircraft burns, but base fire department is able to quench flames such that crew escapes - pilots blow canopy to get out, navigator egresses through his escape hatch.
• 9 November - A RB-36H-10-CF Peacemaker, 51-5745, of the 71st SRW, is destroyed by an explosion and groundfire at Ramey AFB, Puerto Rico, all crew members survive. This is the 32nd B-36 written-off in an accident of 385 built and will be the last operational loss before the type is retired.
• 15 November – USAF TB-29-75-BW Superfortress, 44-70039, c/n 10871, of the 5040th Radar Evaluation Flight, 5040th Consolidation Maintenance Group, Elmendorf AFB, Alaska, crashed 39 miles SE of Talkeetna, Alaska at ~1822 hrs. Mission departed Elmendorf on a ground radar calibration mission at 0954 under instrument flight rules on flight path to the Aircraft Control and Warning radar stations at Campion near Galena and then Murphy Dome, N of Fairbanks. Flight covered 1,800 nmi. with ~ten hours in the air. Superfortress had fourteen hours' fuel and a crew of eight plus an instructor pilot. On final leg of approach to Elmendorf, bomber came down on glacier now known as "Bomber Glacier", three crew with major injuries and one with a minor injury later upgraded to major, others KWF. Due to remoteness of crashsite, wreckage is still there.

• 12 December – A U.S. Air Force B-52D-75-BO Stratofortress, 56-0597, crashes on takeoff at Fairchild AFB near Spokane, Washington. All crew members are killed except the tail gunner. The incident is caused by trim motors that were hooked up backwards. The aircraft climbed straight up, stalled, fell over backwards and nosed straight down. Among the dead crewmen was the commanding officer of the SAC bomb wing to which the aircraft was assigned. Wreckage was strewn over a radius of more than 1,000 feet in a stubble field about a mile west of the airbase. Although the Air Force has never indicated whether or not nuclear weapons were aboard the aircraft, this crash was cited in a February 1991 EPA report as having involved nuclear materials

1958

• 31 January – During simulated Strategic take-off from Sidi Slimane air base, French Morocco, a USAF B-47 suffers failure of left-rear landing gear, tail strikes ground, rupturing fuel tank. Aircraft burns. Fortunately, nuclear weapon on board, in strike configuration, does not detonate, although weapon burns to slag within the confines of the wreckage.
• 1 February – A USAF Douglas C-118A Liftmaster military transport, 53-3277, c/n 44648, of the 1611th ATW, and a U.S. Navy P2V-5F Neptune patrol bomber, BuNo 127723, collided over Norwalk, California (a suburb of Los Angeles) at night. 47 servicemen were killed as well as a 23-year-old civilian woman on the ground who was hit by falling debris. Two crew on P2V-5F survive. A plaque commemorating the disaster was erected by the American Legion in 1961 at the location of the accident, the corner of Firestone Boulevard and Pioneer Boulevard.
• 5 February – A USAF B-47E-50-BW Stratojet, 51-2349, of the 19th Bomb Wing out of Homestead AFB, Florida has ~0200 hrs. mid-air collision with USAF F-86L Sabre on simulated combat mission near Sylvania, Georgia, jettisons Mark 15, Mod 0 nuclear bomb training weapon casing, No. 47782, from 7,200 feet over Wassaw Sound off Tybee Beach, Georgia. Stratojet recovers to Hunter AFB, Georgia, bomb is still missing. The Pentagon disputes reports that the plutonium trigger WAS on the weapon. See also Tybee Bomb. The B-47 was subsequently scrapped. Sabre pilot Clarence Stewart ejects safely, B-47 crew, pilot Howard Richardson, co-pilot Robert Lagerstrom, and navigator Leland Woolard (d. 1966) uninjured in emergency landing. Some accounts say pilot made three attempts to land, but Richardson has been quoted as saying he made a straight-in approach, as he wasn't about to risk additional flight time in the damaged bomber.
• 8 February – A nuclear weapon was inadvertently dropped from a B-52D Stratofortress bomber parked at a pad and ready to be unloaded at Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota. Preliminary reports indicated that an airman erred and pulled the manual release handle which released the weapon from the bomb bay and through the unopened bomb bay doors. Damage to the weapon included a dented afterbody, two smashed fins, and a displaced secondary. There was no capsule aboard the aircraft. The bomb was loaded aboard a trailer and removed to a weapons maintenance depot at Rushmore AFB, South Dakota. The damaged weapon was later exchanged for an operational weapon from stockpile.
• 11 February – A USAF B-52D-75-BO Stratofortress, 56‑0610, c/n 17293, of the 28th Bomb Wing, on a training mission that had originated at Larson AFB near Moses Lake, Washington, crashed at Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota during a landing attempt in a snowstorm, killing five aircrewmen and injuring six other persons. This was the first crash of a B-52 at Ellsworth.
• 4 March - Royal Navy de Havilland Sea Venom FAW.22, XG732, 'B 440', of 891 Squadron, piloted by a pair of exchange pilots from the U.S. Marine Corps, lands on HMS Bulwark sans nose gear which refuses to extend. Airframe is repaired, but is lost in a ditching off of the same carrier on 9 May 1958.
• 11 March – A USAF B-47E-60-LM Stratojet, 53-1876A, from Hunter AFB, Georgia, jettisons nuclear weapons casing from 15,000 feet over rural section of Florence, South Carolina, high-explosives detonate on impact causing property damage, several civilian injuries. No fuel capsule installed on bomb. Footage: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ci4_4jQ9sg
• 13 March - A B-47 Stratojet from Homestead AFB, Florida, crashes shortly after take-off, breaking into four parts while making a shallow turn at 1,500 feet. On the same date, a TB-47B-10-BW Stratojet, 50‑0013, c/n 450028, of the 3520th Combat Crew Training Wing, out of McConnell AFB breaks up in flight over Tulsa, Oklahoma. Student pilot, instructor eject, parachute to safety, but crewman occupying the navigator's position does not eject and is killed. Both accidents are due to unexpected fatigue issues in the B-47 fleet.
• 21 March - A B-47 Stratojet breaks up over the Avon Park, Florida bombing range.
• 27 March – A USAF C-124C Globemaster II, 52-0981, collides in midair with a USAF C-119C-17-FA Flying Boxcar, 49-0195, c/n 10432, over Bridgeport, Texas, United States, killing all 15 on the Globemaster and all three on the Flying Boxcar.
• 10 April - A USAF B-47E Stratojet crashes near Niagara Falls, New York.
• 15 April - Two more B-47 Stratojets of Strategic Air Command suffer crashes this date.
• 21 April – A United States Air Force North American F-100F Super Sabre, 56-3755 collided in mid-air with a United Airlines Douglas DC-7, registered N6328C, operating flight United 736, at 21,000 feet near Arden, Nevada – two F-100 crew died and all 46 on board the DC-7.
• 8 May – An Indian Air Force de Havilland Vampire crashed into the Delhi Flying Club hangar at Safdar Jung Airport, Delhi while attempting an emergency landing following an in-flight fire. Both Vampire crew died and four engineers working in the hangar and 11 aircraft were destroyed.
• 20 May – A United States Air Force Lockheed T-33A-LO 53-5966 operated by the Maryland Air National Guard collided in mid-air with a Capital Airlines Vickers Viscount, registered N7410 operating flight Capital 300 at 8,000ft four miles east of Brunswick, Maryland. All 11 on board the Viscount were killed and the T-33 co-pilot, the T-33 pilot ejected and survived.
• 25 May - USAF RC-121D-LO Warning Star, 55-123, of the 551st AEWCW, burns out on the ramp at Otis AFB, Massachusetts.
• 5 June – Second prototype Saunders-Roe SR.53, XD151, crashed during an abandoned take-off whilst testing at RAE Boscombe Down, killing its pilot, Squadron Leader John S. Booth DFC. Project cancelled.
• 9 July – A Lockheed U-2A, 56-6713, Article 380, of the SAC's 4028th Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron (SRS) based at Laughlin Air Force Base, Del Rio, Texas, is lost near Wayside, Texas, killing pilot RAF Sqn Ldr Christopher Walker. It is later revealed that Walker is one of four Britons undergoing flight training on the U-2 at Laughlin. The British authorities maintain a discrete silence about the matter, but it is later known that the USAF has close links with the RAF Central Reconnaissance Establishment. Joe Baugher cites crash date as 8 July.
• 10 July – A second Lockheed U-2A, 56-6698, Article 365, of the SAC's 4028th Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron (SRS) based at Laughlin Air Force Base, Del Rio, Texas, crashed SW of Tucumcari, New Mexico, killing its pilot, the second in two days. Joe Baugher cites date of 9 July for this accident.
• 26 July – Fabled USAF test-pilot Iven Carl Kincheloe, Jr. is killed in unsuccessful ejection attempt after the engine of his Lockheed F-104A-15-LO Starfighter jet, 56-0772, fails during takeoff at Edwards Air Force Base, California, United States. While flying a Bell X-2, Kincheloe became the first man to exceed 100,000 ft (30,500 m) of altitude, and he is often credited as the first man to enter outer space.
• 9 September – Two B-52s collide over the town of Airway Heights near Fairchild AFB, Washington. B-52D-30-BW Stratofortress, 56-661, c/n 464-032, and B-52D-40-BW, 56-681, c/n 464-052, both crash. Thirteen crew members are killed, while three survive. There were no casualties on the ground.
• 19 September - C-130A Hercules 56-0526, c/n 3134, of the 314th Troop Carrier Wing, has a mid-air collision with a French Armée de l'Air Dassault Super Mystère over France.
• 20 September – A Rolls-Royce test pilot flying an Avro Vulcan, VX770, in an airshow at RAF Syerston pulls up too hard after a high-speed flyby and exceeds the airframe's structural limits, collapsing the plane's right wing. The craft spirals out of control and crashes, killing the entire aircrew and 3 people on the ground.
• 10 October - Thunderbirds support aircraft, C-123B-12-FA Provider, 55-4521, en route from Hill AFB, Utah to McChord AFB, Washington, with five flight crew and 14 maintenance personnel, flies through a flock of birds, crashes into a hillside six miles E of Payette, Idaho, just before 1830 hrs., killing all on board. KWF are Captain James C. Wilson, Jr., 1st Lt. John N. Frisby, 1st Lt. Thomas C. Lampsa, S/Sgt. James M. Hauver and A1C James C. Miller, all of the 347th TCS, 464th TCW, Pope AFB, North Carolina; CWO Floyd L. Pulley, M/Sgt. Boyd O. Lambeth, S/Sgt. John H. Bishop, S/Sgt. George H. Blanchard, S/Sgt. Charles H. Hillhouse, S/Sgt. Robert L. Meyers, S/Sgt. George J. Stevens, Jr., A1C Elmer G Houseman, Jr., A1C Richard T. Lashley, A1C Don L. Seaney, A2C Jerry R. Adams and A2C Adrain C. Gayther, all of the 4520th Combat Crew Training Wing, Nellis AFB, Nevada (members of Thunderbird squadron support crew); and Stanley A. Shegda, North American Aviation Technical Rep, and Mr. Joseph Paul, North American Aviation Mechanic. This remains the worst accident in Thunderbirds team history.
• 4 November – A USAF B-47 catches fire during take-off from Dyess AFB, Texas, crashes from 1,500 feet altitude. Three crew eject, okay, one killed. Fire sets off single bomb casing on board, creating crater 35X6 feet. Some tritium contamination at crash site.
• 21 November - Fairey Gannet AS.1, WN345, fitted with Armstrong Siddeley ASMD.8 Double Mamba 112 coupled turboprop powerplant, suffers belly landing this date during test programme, caused by a partially retracted nosewheel. Pilot Harry Rayner tries unsuccessfully to get the gear to deploy. Lands gear-up on foam-covered runway 22 at Bitteswell, suffering minimal damage. Repaired, it is back in the air within weeks.
• 26 November – A USAF B-47 on Alert Status at Chennault AFB, Louisiana, accidentally ignites RATO assisted take-off bottles, is pushed off runway into tow vehicle, catches fire, completely destroying single nuclear weapon on board. Contamination limited to area within aircraft wreckage.

1959

• 6 May - B-47E-75-BW Stratojet, 51-7041, of the 306th Bomb Wing aborts takeoff at MacDill AFB, Florida, burns to right of runway. Three crew escape but co-pilot is killed.
• 30 June - A USAF F-100 Super Sabre from Kadena Air Base, Okinawa crashes into a nearby elementary school, killing 11 students plus six residents from the local neighborhood.
• July - Third production Avro Vulcan, XA891, fitted with revised wing leading edge and used as engine testbed for Bristol Olympus 200, crashes at Yorkshire, but crew escapes unhurt.
• 29 July - Royal Navy Fairey Gannet AS.4, XA465, 'C 234', cannot lower undercarriage, makes power-on deck belly landing into crash barrier on HMS Centaur. Crew okay but airframe written off, salvaged in Singapore, ending up on fire dump at Sembawang.
• 1 August - In what was intended to be a routine NACA flight but turns out to be the final flight ever of a North American F-107A, the second accident involving the type occurs when pilot Scott Crossfield cannot get 55-5120 to lift off of the dry lakebed at Edwards AFB, California due to improperly set stabilizer trim. Nosewheel tires blow, pilot aborts take-off, tries to taxi airframe into the wind when the left main gear catches fire, airframe suffers fire damage, F-107 flight program ends. Airframe of 55-5120 cut up at Edwards, fuselage shipped to Sheppard AFB, Texas, for use as fire training aid.
• 10 August – A Royal Canadian Air Force Canadair Sabre of the Golden Hawks aerobatic team overshot when landing at McCall Airfield, Alberta, with the rest of the team and collided with a Piper Pacer about 2 miles W of the field. Pilot of the Sabre and two occupants of the Pacer were killed.
• 24 September – A Lockheed U-2C, 56-6693, Article 360, of the SAC's 4028th Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron (SRS), Detachment C, out of Atsugi Air Force Base, Japan, and clandestinely operated by the CIA, runs out of fuel and pilot Tom Crull makes an emergency landing at the civilian airfield at Fujisawa. The black-painted aircraft with no identity markings attracts curious locals, and officials and Military Police are quickly dispatched to cordon-off the area. This they do at gunpoint, which attracts even more attention and pictures of the highly-secret U-2C soon appear in the Japanese press. This is the airframe that pilot Francis Gary Powers will be shot down in on 1 May 1960.
• 25 September – A United States Navy Martin P5M Marlin out of NAS Whidbey Island, Washington on Puget Sound, is forced to ditch in the Pacific Ocean, about 100 miles W of the Washington-Oregon border. A Betty depth bomb casing is lost and never recovered, but it was not fitted with a nuclear core. Coast Guard rescues all ten crew after ten hours in a raft. The press was not notified at the time.
• 1 October – English Electric test pilot Johnny W.C. Squier, flying prototype two-seat English Electric Lightning T.4, XL628, suffers structural failure, ejects at Mach 1.7, becoming first UK pilot to eject above the speed of sound. Radar tracks the descending fighter, but not the pilot as he landed in the Irish Sea, and despite an extensive search, Squier has to make his way ashore by himself after 28 hours in a dinghy. Squier passes away 30 January 2006, aged 85.
• 8 October – A USAF B-47E-65-BW Stratojet, 51-5248, of the 307th Bomb Wing at Lincoln AFB, Nebraska, crashes during RATO take-off, killing instructor pilot Maj. Paul R. Ecelbarger, aircraft commander 1st Lt. Joseph R. Morrisey, and navigators Capt. Lucian W. Nowlin and Capt. Theodore Tallmadge.
• 15 October – A USAF B-52F-100-BO Stratofortress, 57-036, collides with KC-135A-BN Stratotanker, 57-1513, over Hardinsberg, Kentucky, crashes with two nuclear weapons on board, killing four of eight on the bomber and all four tanker crew. One bomb partially burned in fire, but both are recovered intact. Bombs moved to the AEC's Clarksville, Tennessee storage site for inspection and dismantlement. Both aircraft deployed from Columbus AFB, Mississippi.
• 5 November – A small engine fire forces pilot Scott Crossfield to make an emergency landing on Rosamond Dry Lake, Edwards AFB, California, in X-15, 56-6671. Not designed to land with fuel on board, test craft comes down with a heavy load of propellants and breaks its back, grounding this particular X-15 for three months. Footage of this accident is later incorporated in The Outer Limits episode "The Premonition", first aired 9 January 1965.
• 4 December – On Friday, December 4, 1959, Ensign Hickman was practicing aircraft carrier landings as part of a training mission conducted from Naval Air Station Miramar. When his F3H Demon suddenly stalled, Hickman was still 2,000 feet above ground. He could easily have ejected from the cockpit in time to save his own life. Below him, however, and directly in the path of the crippled plane was Hawthorne Elementary School, where more than 700 children were playing in the schoolyard. Hickman chose to remain in the cockpit. He somehow maneuvered the descending plane away from the school, assuring the safety – and probably saving the lives – of several hundred people. Now at an altitude of only 60 feet, he no longer had the option to eject. The plane crashed into a nearby canyon, exploding on impact, and Albert J. Hickman was killed. A school in the San Diego community of Mira Mesa was later named after him.

1960

• 5 March – Late pre-production English Electric Lightning F.1, XG334, c/n 95023, of the Air Fighting Development Squadron, RAF Coltishall, Norfolk, aircraft 'A', lost near Wells-next-the-Sea when the aircraft suffered complete hydraulic failure over Norfolk, loss of all control-surface power, undercarriage failed to lower. Pilot, Sqn. Leader Harding, ejected safely, descending near Syderstone, in North Norfolk. Total flights 34, hours flown 23 h 35 min. This was the first loss of the type. Extensive sea search around Roaring Middle Light failed to find any trace of the missing Lightning.
• 4 April – A USAF North American F-100D-65-NA Super Sabre, 56-2994, of the 77th TFS, 20th TFW, based at Wethersfield, Essex, crashed into mud flats at the Holbeach Range in eastern England, killing pilot 1st Lt. Thomas R. Winsford. A cause was never clearly determined.
• 1 May – A CIA Lockheed U-2A, 56-6693, Article 360, flown by Francis Gary Powers is shot down by a SA-2 (Guideline) missile near Degtyarsk in the Soviet Union during an overflight codenamed Operation GRAND SLAM, the twenty-fourth and most ambitious deep-penetration flight of the U-2 program. Powers parachutes down and is captured. Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev announces on 7 May to the Supreme Soviet, and thus the world, that a "spyplane" has been shot down but intentionally makes no reference to the pilot. Powers is later produced in a 'show trial'. On 10 February 1962, twenty-one months after his capture, Powers is exchanged along with American student Frederic Pryor in a spy swap for Soviet KGB Colonel Vilyam Fisher (aka Rudolf Abel) at the Glienicke Bridge in Berlin, Germany.
• 8 June – During a ground test run at Edwards AFB, California, the XLR-99 rocket engine of North American X-15-3, 56-6672, exploded, destroying the aircraft aft of the wing, and throwing the forward fuselage with pilot Scott Crossfield in it 30 feet forward. Fortunately, Crossfield was not injured. Footage: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXpEPZ6ZZIs
• 6 July – Goodyear ZPG-3W, BuNo 144242, lost hull pressure, crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off of New Jersey, eighteen of twenty-one crew lost. This was the last U.S. Navy lighter-than-air loss as it leads to cancellation of airship operations on 28 June 1961. Contributing reason of suspension of airship operations is improved speed of Soviet subs.
• 7 July – A Royal Air Force Vickers Varsity T1 WJ914 collided at 1500ft near RAF Oakington, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom with a RAF de Havilland Vampire T11 XD549, all six occupants of the Varsity and two in the Vampire died.
• 19 July – In the wake of the Congo Crisis, a Belgian Air Force C-119 Flying Boxcar crashes into a mountain in Rushengo near Goma after an engine caught fire. 41 died.
• 12 August – RAF Vickers Valiant Bk.1 XD864 crashes at RAF Spanhoe 3 minutes after takeoff from RAF Wittering, Cambs. Five crew killed.
• 17 December – A United States Air Force C-131D Samaritan, 55-291, c/n 212, on take-off from München-Riem for a flight to Norfolk, England, comes down in Munich, Germany, hits a tramcar at Bereich Bayerstraße/Martin-Greif-Straße, 53 die.

1961

• 24 January: A USAF B-52G-95-BW Stratofortress, 58-0187, on airborne alert suffers structural failure, fuel leak, of starboard wing over Goldsboro, North Carolina, wing fails when flaps are engaged during emergency approach to Seymour Johnson AFB, two weapons on board break loose during airframe disintegration, one parachutes safely to ground, second impacts on marshy farm land, breaks apart, sinks into quagmire. Air Force excavates fifty feet down, finds no trace of bomb, forcing permanent digging easement on site. Five of eight crew survive.
• 4 February - During minimum interval takeoff (MITO) from Pease AFB, New Hampshire, B-47E-130-BW Stratojet, 53-4244, of the 100th Bomb Wing, number 2 in a three-ship cell, loses control, crashes into trees, burns. Killed are aircraft commander, Capt. Thomas C. Weller, co-pilot 1st Lt. Ronald Chapo, navigator 1st Lt. J. A. Wether, and crew chief S/Sgt. Stephen J. Mikva.
• 10 March: Douglas RB-66C Destroyer, 54-0471, of the 9th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, suffers explosion in starboard engine on climb-out from Shaw AFB, South Carolina, attempts emergency landing in zero-zero visibility weather at Donaldson AFB at Greenville, South Carolina. On second attempt, aircraft strikes embankment to right of runway threshold, slides onto airfield, burns. Crew escapes with only minor injuries.
• 14 March: Failure of a cabin pressurization system forces USAF B-52F-70-BW Stratofortress, 57-0166, c/n 464155, to fly low, accelerating fuel-burn, bomber has fuel starvation at 10,000 feet over Yuba City, California, crashes, killing aircraft commander. Two nuclear weapons on board tear loose on impact but no explosion or contamination takes place. See also 1961 Yuba City B-52 crash.
• 13 June: A United States Navy Grumman S-2 Tracker lost complete power in one engine and partial power in the other. Flying instructor Lt. J.G Loren Vern Page, 24, died 6 hours later at Iberia Parish Hospital, in New Iberia, Louisiana. He intentionally attempted ditching the aircraft in Spanish Lake, near the Naval Auxiliary Air Station New Iberia, after losing power. Students Lt. J.G. Donald L. Miller and a second unnamed student were both hospitalized with treatable injuries. Lt. J.G. Page was posthumously promoted to full Lieutenant status by the Secretary of the Navy, John B. Connally, for courage and valor. Also named for courage during the rescue of the pilot and the 2 students were LCDR Alvin E. Henke, who commanded the rescue mission, Dr. Lt. Donald E. Hines (MC), and hospital corpsman 3rd class Arthur J. Hoeny. Lt. J.G. Miller was also credited with assisting in the rescue. Lt. Page was survived by his wife Elsa and a daughter, Deborah Anne.
• 21 October – Vought F8U-1 Crusader, BuNo 145357, 'AB 12', of VF-11, arrestor hook and right landing gear broke during heavy landing on USS Franklin D. Roosevelt, with aircraft catching alight and going over port side. A series of nine photographs taken by Photographer's Mate L.J. Cera showed the crash sequence with pilot Lt. J.G Kryway ejecting in Martin-Baker Mk. F-5 seat just as the fighter leaves the deck. These images were widely distributed in the Navy to assure pilots that the seat could save them. Kryway escapes with minor injuries, being picked up by helicopter ten minutes later. Joe Baugher notes that date of 21 August 1961 has also been reported.
• 12 December – Mid-air collision of two Belgian Air Force C-119 Flying Boxcar at Chièvres Air Base, Belgium. 15 died.
• 14 December - Second prototype Hawker P.1127, XP836, crashes at RNAS Yeovilton.

1962

• 5 January – Three crew killed in crash of USAF B-47E-105-BW Stratojet, 52-615, at March AFB, California. This will be the last fatal crash at that base until 19 October 1978. Pilot was Major Clarence Weldon Garrett.
• 16 January - A Strategic Air Command B-47E Stratojet of the 380th Bomb Wing, Plattsburgh AFB, New York, on low-altitude bombing run training mission, is reported overdue at 0700 hrs. Last radio call was at ~0200 hrs. After four day search, wreckage is spotted in the Adirondack High Peaks. Bomber clipped the top of Wright Peak (16th tallest mountain in the Adirondacks, at 4580 feet) after veering 30 miles off course in inclement weather, high winds. Aircraft Commander 1st Lt. Rodney D. Bloomgren, of Jamestown, New York, copilot 1st Lt. Melvin Spencer, navigator 1st Lt. Albert W. Kandetski and observer A1C Kenneth R. Jensen KWF. Pilot, copilot remains found after ~a week, navigator found later. Observer's remains never recovered. A memorial plaque was erected on a rock near the summit by the 380th Bomb Wing.
• 15 May - During refuelling at Whiteman AFB, Missouri, B-47E-135-BW Stratojet, 53-6230, of 340th Bomb Wing catches fire, 10,000 gallons of fuel ignite. Four firemen are killed and 18 others injured when fireball engulfs all within 100 feet of burning aircraft.
• 27 September – A USAF Boeing RB-47K-BW Stratojet, either 53-4270, 4272 or 4279, of the 55th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing, loses number six engine during take-off from Forbes AFB, Kansas, crashes, killing all four crew, aircraft commander Lt. Col. James G. Woolbright, copilot 1st Lt. Paul R. Greenwalt (also reported as Greenawalt), navigator Capt. Bruce Kowol, and crewchief S/Sgt. Myron Curtis. Cause was contaminated water-alcohol in assisted takeoff system. This aircraft had spotted the Soviet freighter Grozny with missiles bound for Cuba on its deck earlier in the day.
• October 27: Major Rudolf Anderson, a Greenville, South Carolina native and 1948 graduate from Clemson University's cadet corps and pilot with the 4080th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing is tasked with an overflight of Cuba on mission 3128, in a CIA Lockheed U-2F spyplane, remarked with USAF insignia, to take photos of the Soviet SS-N-4 medium-range ballistic missiles (MRBMs) and SS-N-5 intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBMs) build-ups. Anderson had first qualified on the U-2 type on September 3, 1957. This would be his sixth Cuban overflight. He departed McCoy AFB, Florida at 0909 hrs ET. Contrary to Moscow orders to not engage reconnaissance flights, a single Soviet-manned SA-2 missile battery at Banes fired at Anderson's high-flying U-2F, 56-6676, (Article 343), at 1021 hrs, Havana time (1121 hrs. ET). Although not a direct hit, several pieces of shrapnel punctured the canopy and the pilot's partial pressure suit and helmet, resulting in Anderson's immediate death. A censored Central Intelligence Agency document dated October 28, 1962, 0200 hours, states "The loss of the U-2 over Banes was probably caused by intercept by an SA-2 from the Banes site, or pilot hypoxia, with the former appearing more likely on the basis of present information." Actually, it was both.
• 27 October – A USAF Boeing RB-47H-BW, 53-6248, of the 55th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing, experienced loss of thrust and crashed at Kindley AFB, Bermuda, killing all four crew, aircraft commander Maj. William A. Britton, copilot 1st Lt. Holt J. Rasmussen, navigator Capt. Robert A. Constable, and observer Capt. Robert C. Dennis. Cause was contaminated water-alcohol.
• 9 November – An engine failure forced Jack McKay, a NASA research pilot, to make an emergency landing at Mud Lake, Nevada, in the second X-15, 56-6671 on flight 2-31-52. The aircraft's landing gear collapsed and the X-15 flipped over on its back. McKay was promptly rescued by an Air Force medical team standing by near the launch site, and eventually recovered to fly the X-15 again. But his injuries, more serious than at first thought, eventually forced his retirement from NASA. The aircraft was sent back to the manufacturer, where it underwent extensive repairs and modifications. It returned to Edwards AFB in February 1964 as the X-15A-2, with a longer fuselage and external fuel tanks.
• 11 November – A USAF Boeing RB-47H-BW, 53-4297, of the 55th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing, crashes at MacDill AFB, Florida, when the Stratojet loses power on an outboard engine, rolls, and crashes within the confines of the base. All three crew KWF – aircraft commander Capt. William E. Wyatt, copilot Capt. William C. Maxwell, and navigator 1st Lt. Rawl.

1963

• 20 March – McDonnell F3H-2 Demon, BuNo 145281, of VF-14 suffers either cold catapult launch or failure of catapult harness before launch off USS Franklin D. Roosevelt, CV-42, and goes over the bow. Pilot Lt.j.g. Joseph Janiak, Jr. killed, body not recovered. Navy photo captured moment the Demon tipped over the bow.
• 24 May – Central Intelligence Agency pilot Ken Collins is forced to eject from Lockheed A-12, 60-6926, Article 123, during subsonic test flight when aircraft stalls due to inaccurate data being displayed to pilot. Airframe impacts 14 miles (22.5 km.) S of Wendover, Utah. Official cover story refers to it as a Republic F-105 Thunderchief. Cause was found to be pitot-static system failure due to icing. Airframe had made 79 flights for a total time of 136:10 hours.
• 26 June – A Belgian Air Force C-119 Flying Boxcar crashes near Detmold, Germany after being accidentally hit by a British mortar bomb. 5 crewmen and 33 paratroopers died, while 9 paratroopers managed to jump into safety using their parachutes.
• 7 July – Marine Corps Reserve pilot Capt. John W. Butler, 30, of Boiling Springs, Pennsylvania, suffers electrical failure in F-1E Fury BuNo 143609 during ground control intercept mission in a flight with three other aircraft, losing directional instruments, radio contact, at 36,000 feet. Ejects at low altitude after trying everything he can to regain control. Fury strikes ballfield at Green Hill Day Camp, Willow Grove, Pennsylvania, skids 500 yards through some trees, a high hedge, and strikes a bathhouse in which ~30 persons have taken shelter from a severe thunderstorm. Seven on ground are killed, 15 injured.
• 15 July – Two North American F-100 Super Sabres of the 492nd TFS, 48th TFW, based at RAF Lakenheath, Suffolk, suffer mid-air collision during routine gunnery exercise on the Holbeach Range, both aircraft coming down in the sea five miles off King's Lynn. Pilot 1st Lt. L.C. Marshall parachuted from F-100D-45-NH, 55-2792, c/n 224-59, rescued from his dinghy by helicopter, but 1st Lt. D.F. Ware rode F-100D-45-NH, 55-2786, c/n 224-53, to his death.
• 19 August – A USAF QB-47E Stratojet, of the 3205th Drone Director Group, veers off course on touchdown at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, crashing onto Eglin Parkway parallel to the runway. Two cars were crushed by the Stratojet, killing two occupants, Robert W. Glass and Dr. Robert Bundy, and injuring a third, Dorothy Phillips. Mr. Glass and Dr. Bundy both worked for the Minnesota Honeywell Corporation at the time, a firm which had just completed flight tests on an inertia guidance sub-system for the X-20 Dyna-Soar project at the base utilizing an NF-101B Voodoo. Mrs. Phillips was the wife of Master Sergeant James Phillips, a crew chief at the base. Mrs. Phillips was treated for moderate injuries and released later that day. Both vehicles were destroyed by fire. Four firefighters were treated for smoke inhalation while fighting the blaze which reignited several times. Fire crews had to lay over a mile of hose to reach the crash from the nearest hydrant, as well. The QB-47 was used for Bomarc Missile Program tests, which normally operated from Auxiliary Field Three (Duke Field), approximately 15 miles from the main base, but was diverted to Eglin Main after thunderstorms built up over Duke.
• 19 August – Two B-47 Stratojets from Schilling AFB,Salina, Kansas, collide in mid-air over Irwin, Iowa during a nine-hour navigation, air-refuelling and radar bomb scoring mission. Bombers depart Schilling at 1125 hrs. and 1126 hrs., then collide in overcast shortly after 1230 hrs., coming down on two farms ~2 miles apart. Two crew DOA at Harlan Hospital, Irwin, Iowa, three treated for injuries, one located alive. Strategic Air Command identifies three survivors as Capt. Richard M. Smiley, 29, of Arlington, Kansas, aircraft commander of one B-47; Capt. Allan M. Ramsey, Jr., 32, of Bainbridge, Georgia, Smiley's navigator; Capt. Richard M. Snowden, 29, navigator on second B-47. Listed as missing: Capt. Leonard A. Theis, 29, San Fernando, California, co-pilot on second B-47; dead is Capt. Peter J. Macchi, 29, Belleville, New Jersey, Smiley's co-pilot; second fatality not immediately identified. Smiley suffers head injuries, Ramsey, back injuries, and Snowden, burns and leg injuries.
• 19 August – Twin accidents aboard the USS Constellation kill three. First, an F-4B Phantom II snaps arresting cable during night landing, goes over the side, pilot Lt. Robert J. Craig, 31, of San Diego is lost with his unidentified RIO, three deck crew injured by whipping cable. Then several hours later, in unrelated accident, Missile Technician 2nd Class Robert William Negus, originally from Lompoc, California, is crushed by a missile, the Navy in San Diego reported.
• 29 August – Two KC-135 Stratotankers, assigned with the 19th Bomb Wing, collide over the Atlantic between Bermuda and Nassau, all eleven crew aboard the two jets lost. Debris and oil slicks found ~750 miles ENE of Miami, Florida. Aircraft were returning to Homestead AFB, Florida after mission to refuel two B-47 Stratojets from Schilling AFB, Kansas (both of which landed safely) when contact with them was lost. Search suspended Monday night, 2 September 1963, when wreckage recovered by the Air Rescue Service is positively identified as being from the missing tankers.
• 22 September – MATS C-133A-15-DL Cargomaster, 56-2002, c/n 45167, of the 1607th Air Transport Wing, with ten personnel of the 1st Air Transport Squadron on board, is lost in the Atlantic Ocean on a flight from Dover AFB, Delaware to the Azores when contact is lost some 57 minutes after a 0233 EDT take-off from Dover. Last reported position was ~30 miles off of Cape May, New Jersey.
• 2 October – Second of two Short SC.1 VTOL experimental testbeds, XG905, c/n SH. 1815, a compact tailless delta monoplane with five Rolls-Royce RB108 engines, one for propulsion and four for lift, crashes while attempting landing at Belfast, Ireland. Gyros failed, producing false references which caused the auto-stabiliser system to fly the aircraft into the ground. The failure occurred at less than 30 feet, giving pilot J.R. Green no time to revert to manual control. Airframe impacted inverted, killing pilot.
• 10 November - Strategic Air Command WB-47E Stratojet, 51-2420, making emergency landing at Lajes Air Base, Azores, skids into parking ramp , strikes Boeing C-97C Stratofreighter, 50-0690, loses port inner engine nacelle (numbers 2 and 3), starboard outer nacelle (number 6) and starboard wingtip. Fire damages port inner wing above lost nacelle. Crew survives.
• 10 December: Test pilot Charles Chuck Yeager, out of Edwards AFB, California, zoom climbs NF-104A Starfighter, 56-0762, modified with rocket engine in tail unit, to 106,300 feet (32,400 m), but aircraft enters flat spin when directional jets in nose run out of propellant, forcing him to eject. He suffers injuries when his helmet collides with the ejection seat. This mission was very loosely depicted in the film The Right Stuff. Aircraft was originally built as F-104A-10-LO. See also flying accident during a test flight.

1964

• 4 January – NRB-57D Canberra, 53-3973, of the Wright Air Development Center, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, suffers structural failure of both wings at 50,000 feet (15240 m), comes down in schoolyard at Dayton, Ohio, crew bails out. The USAF subsequently grounds all W/RB-57D aircraft.
• 10 January – The Dassault Balzac V crashes on its 125th sortie, during a low-altitude hover. During a vertical descent the aircraft experienced uncontrollable divergent wing oscillations, the port wing eventually striking the ground at an acute angle with the aircraft rolling over because of the continued lift engine thrust. The loss was attributed to loss of control because the stabilising limits of the three-axis autostabilisation system's 'puffer pipes' were exceeded in roll. Although airframe damage was relatively light, the Centre D'Essai en Vol test pilot, Jacques Pinier, did not eject and died in the crash.
• 13 January – United States Air Force B-52D-10-BW Stratofortress, 55-060, suffers structural failure in turbulence of winter storm, crashes approximately 17 miles SW of Cumberland, Maryland. Pilot, co-pilot, eject, survive. Navigator, tail gunner, eject, die of exposure. Radar nav fails to eject, rides airframe in with two nuclear weapons on board. Both bombs survive intact and are recovered.
• February - During an airpower demonstration, an B-26 Invader on a strafing pass over a range at Eglin AFB, Florida, loses a wing as it pulls up, with the loss of both crew. The USAF subsequently grounds all combat B-26s as the stress of operations now exceed the airframes' abilities. On Mark Engineering Company remanufactures 41 old airframes as one YB-26K and forty B-26Ks with new spars, larger engines and rudders, and new 1964 fiscal year serial numbers which see use in Southeast Asia, and which will be redesignated A-26As for political reasons.
• 23 March - Armstrong Whitworth Argosy C.1, XP413, of 105 Squadron, deployed to Khormaksar, Aden, ditches in the Aden harbour whilst on finals to the easterly runway at Khormaksar, when, during crew training, the number four (starboard outer) engine was shut down for practice. Due to confusion in the cockpit, the crew managed to shut down both starboard engines without feathering either and the Argosy comes down with remarkably little damage, settling on its undercarriage in about 5 feet (1.5 m.) of water. Hauled onto dry land, it is eventually shipped back to the UK by boat, refurbished by Hawker Siddeley, and returned to duty.
• 1 April - In an unusual accident, the Number Three deck elevator of the USS Randolph (CVS-15) tears loose from the ship during night operations and plunges into the Atlantic, taking with it an S-2D Tracker, five crewman, and a tractor. Three crew are rescued by the USS Holder (DD-819), but two are lost at sea.
• 9 May – A Republic F-105B-15-RE Thunderchief, 57-5801, Thunderbird 2, delivered to the Thunderbirds demonstration team in April 1964, suffers structural failure and disintegrates during 6G tactical pitch up for landing at airshow at Hamilton AFB, California, killing pilot Capt. Eugene J. Devlin. The failure of the fuselage's upper spine causes the USAF to ground all F-105s and retrofit the fleet with a structural brace, but the air demonstration team reverts to the F-100 Super Sabre and never flies another show in F-105s.
• 11 May – A United States Air Force C-135B-BN Stratolifter, 61-0332, c/n 18239, crashed on landing at Clark Air Force Base, Philippines, hitting a taxi. 84 on board, 5 survivors, passengers in taxi also killed. Date of 11 August 1964 cited by Joe Baugher. The crash occurred while attempting to land during a rainstorm at approximately 1920 hrs.
• 10 June – First Lockheed XV-4A Hummingbird, 62-4503, (originally designated VZ-10) crashes, killing civilian Army test pilot. Aircraft had just transitioned from conventional to vertical flight at 3,000 feet (914 m) when control was lost. Airframe came down between Dobbins AFB and Woodstock, Georgia, injuring one civilian on ground.
• 9 July – Lockheed test pilot Bill Park ejects safely from Lockheed A-12, 60-6939, Article 133, on approach to Groom Dry Lake, Nevada during test flight after total hydraulic failure. Park ejects laterally at 200 feet altitude on approach. The cause of the accident was temperature gradients in the outboard elevon serve valve. The aircraft had made ten flights for a total of 8.17 hours.
• 14 September – First prototype EWR VJ 101C, X-1, an experimental German jet fighter VTOL aircraft (VJ stood for "Vertikal Jäger" – German for "Vertical Fighter"), crashes after a normal horizontal take-off, but pilot escapes using Martin-Baker Mk. GA7 zero-zero ejection seat.
• 21 September – During delivery flight of XB-70A-1-NA Valkyrie, 62-0001, from Palmdale, California to Edwards AFB, California, on touchdown the brakes on the main gear lock up and the friction causes the eight tires and wheels to burn. The Valkyrie was otherwise undamaged.
• 31 October – NASA astronaut Theodore Freeman is killed when a goose smashes through the cockpit canopy of his T-38A Talon jet trainer, 63-8188, at Ellington AFB, Texas. Flying shards of Plexiglas enter the jet engine intake, causing the engine to flameout. Freeman ejects but is too close to the ground for his parachute to open properly. He is posthumously awarded the Purple Heart.
• 31 October – Tornado collapses hangar of 1° Gruppo Elicotteri (First Helicopter Group), Italian Navy, at the Naval Air Station at Maristaeli Catania, destroying five SH-34G Seabats: MM143899, c/n 58-599, '4-06'; MM143940, c/n 58-710, '4-07'; MM143949, c/n 58-745, '4-08'; MM80163, c/n 58-990, '21', '4-01', and MM80164, c/n 58-991, '22', '4-02'.
• 2 December - Strategic Air Command B-47E-125-BW Stratojet, 53-2398, of the 380th Bomb Wing, suffers collapse of forward main gear unit, skids off right side of runway at Plattsburgh AFB, New York, crew escapes safely. Airframe struck off charge 13 January 1965.
• 8 December – United States Air Force B-58A-15-CF Hustler, 60-1116, of the 305th Bomb Wing, taxiing for take-off on icy taxiway at Bunker Hill AFB, Indiana, is blown off the pavement by exhaust of another departing B-58, strikes concrete manhole box adjacent to the runway, landing gear collapses, burns. Navigator killed in failed ejection, two other crew okay. Four B43 nuclear bombs and either a W39 or W53 warhead are on board the weapons pod, but no explosion takes place and contamination is limited to crash site.

1965

• 16 January – A United States Air Force KC-135A-BN Stratotanker, 57-1442, c/n 17513, crashed after an engine failure shortly after take off from McConnell Air Force Base, Kansas, USA. The fuel laden plane crashed at the intersection of 20th and Piatt causing a huge fire. 30 were killed 23 on the ground and the 7 member crew.
• 26 February - USAF B-47E-25-DT Stratojet, 52-0171, collides with KC-135A-BN Stratotanker, 63-8882, during midair refuelling 410 mi. SSE of Harmon Air Base, Newfoundland, both aircraft lost.
• 21 March - Second (of five) Ling-Temco-Vought XC-142As, 62-5922, crashes at the Vought facility at NAS Dallas, Texas, while flying at 24 mph at an altitude of 10 to 20 feet, striking the ground first with the port wingtip, then with the starboard wingtip, before making a hard landing. The wing at the time was at an angle of 45 degrees with the flaps deflected at 60 degrees. Wingtips, ailerons and outboard engine tailpipes are damaged, but crew is uninjured. Recirculated propwash airflow caused by combination of wing tilt and flap deflection produced large erratic aerodynamic disturbances and loss of directional stability. Aircraft is repaired.
• 27 April – Ryan XV-5A Vertifan, 62-4505, noses over from 800 feet (244 m) and crashes at Edwards AFB, California, during a demonstration in front of several hundred reporters, military personnel, and civilians. Ryan test pilot Willis Louis "Lou" Everett, flying at 180 knots, prepares to transition from conventional flight to fan mode but the aircraft unexpectedly pitches down. Everett attempts low-altitude ejection but seat fails, his chute snags on the high tail, and he is killed.
• 18 June - On the very first Operation Arc Light mission flown by B-52 Stratofortresses of Strategic Air Command to hit a target in South Vietnam, a total of 30 B-52Fs depart Andersen AFB, Guam just after midnight, flying in ten cells of three aircraft, to hit a suspected Viet Cong stronghold in the Bến Cát District, 40 miles N of Saigon. Unexpected tailwinds from a typhoon cause the bombers to arrive seven minutes early at their refuelling point with KC-135 tankers over the South China Sea at a point between South Vietnam and the island of Luzon. The three planes of Green Cell, in the lead, begin a 360 degree turn to make their rendezvous, and in doing so cross the path of Blue Cell and directly towards oncoming Yellow Cell. In the darkness, B-52F-105-BO, 57-0047, and B-52F-70-BW, 57-0179, both of the 441st Bomb Squadron, 7th Bomb Wing, attached to the 3960th Strategic Wing, collide, killing eight crew, with four survivors, plus one body recovered. The four are located and picked up by an HU-16A-GR Albatross amphibian, 51-5287 (?), but it is damaged on take-off by a heavy sea state and those on board have to transfer to a Norwegian freighter and a Navy vessel, the Albatross sinking thereafter. Another B-52 loses a hydraulic pump and radar, cannot rendezvous with the tankers and aborts to Okinawa. Twenty-seven Stratofortresses drop on a one-mile by two-mile target box from between 19,000 and 22,000 feet, a little more than 50 percent of the bombs falling within the target zone. The force returns to Andersen except for one bomber with electrical problems that recovers to Clark AFB, the mission having lasted 13 hours. Post-strike assessment by teams of South Vietnamese troops with American advisors find evidence that the VC had departed the area before the raid, and it is suspected that infiltration of the south's forces have tipped off the north because of the ARVN troops involved in the post-strike inspection.
• 25 June – A United States Air Force C-135A-BN Stratolifter, 60-0373, c/n 18148, out of McGuire AFB, New Jersey, crashed after 0135 hrs. take off in fog and light drizzle from MCAS El Toro, California, USA. Pilot flew into Loma Ridge at 0146. 84 died. Aircraft was bound for Okinawa.
• 11 July 1965 - A USAF EC-121H-LO Warning Star, 55-136 , of the 551st AEWCW, out of Otis AFB, Massachusetts, develops a fire in the number three (starboard inner) engine, attempts ditching in the North Atlantic ~100 miles E of Nantucket, Massachusetts. Night touchdown in zero-zero weather, while on fire, proves difficult, aircraft crashes and breaks apart. Of the 19 people on board, three crew members survive, 16 die. Seven of the crew bodies are never recovered.
• 25 August – First Curtiss-Wright X-19A prototype, 62-12197, was destroyed in a crash at the FAA's National Aviation Facilities Experimental Center, Caldwell, New Jersey, (formerly NAS Atlantic City), when gearbox fails followed by loss of propellers at 0718:44 hrs EDT. Test pilot James V. Ryan and FAA copilot Hughes ejected in North American LW-2B seats as the now-ballistic airframe rolled inverted at 390 feet, chutes fully deployed in 2 seconds at ~230 feet. Elapsed time between prop separation and ejection was 2.5 seconds. Airframe impacted in dried out tidewater area after completing 3/4 of a roll at 0719. Crew suffers minor injuries from ejection through canopy. The program was subsequently cancelled. This will be the last airframe design from two of the most famous company names in aviation. Second prototype, reported in some sources to have been scrapped, survives at Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Maryland, and is later recovered by the National Museum of the United States Air Force for preservation.
• 19 October - Second (of five) Ling-Temco-Vought XC-142As, 62-5922, suffers second accident when the number one main propeller pitch actuator suffers a hydraulic fluid blow-by problem just prior to touchdown at the Vought facility at NAS Dallas, Texas. A ground loop results with substantial damage to the landing gear and wing. In 1966 the damaged wing is replaced with an undamaged unit from XC-142A No. 3, 62-5923, out-of-service since its own landing accident on 3 January 1966. 62-5922 returns to flight status on 23 July 1966.
• 5 December – A-4E Skyhawk of VA-56 on nuclear alert status, armed with either one B43 nuclear bomb or a B61 nuclear bomb (sources differ), rolls off of elevator of aircraft carrier USS Ticonderoga (CV-14), in the Pacific Ocean. Airframe, pilot Lt. D.M. Webster, and bomb are lost in 16,000 feet of water 80 miles from one of the Ryukyu Islands in Okinawa. No public mention was made of the incident at the time and it would not come to light until a 1981 Pentagon report revealed that a one-megaton bomb had been lost. Japan then asks for details of the incident.
• 28 December – CIA pilot Mele Vojvodich, Jr. takes Lockheed A-12, 60-6929, Article 126, for a functional check flight (FCF) after a period of deep maintenance, but seconds after take-off from Groom Dry Lake, Nevada, the aircraft yaws uncontrollably, pilot ejecting at 100 feet (30 m) after six seconds of flight, escaping serious injury. Investigation finds that the pitch stability augmentation system (SAS) had been connected to the yaw SAS actuators, and vice versa. SAS connectors are changed to make such wiring mistake impossible. Said Kelly Johnson in a history of the Oxcart program, "It was perfectly evident from movies taken of the takeoff, and from the pilot's description, that there were some miswired gyros in the aircraft. This turned out to be exactly what happened. In spite of color coding and every other normal precaution, the pitch and yaw gyro connections were interchanged in rigging."

1966

• 3 January - Third (of five) Ling-Temco-Vought XC-142As, 62-5923, suffers major landing gear and fuselage damage during landing on 14th Cat II flight at Edwards AFB, California, having logged only 14:12 hrs. Cat II flight time. Air Force decides to use wing from this airframe to repair XC-142A No. 2, 62-5922, which suffers major damage on 19 October 1965, other useful items are salvaged from airframe no. 3, and the cannibalized fuselage is scrapped in the summer of 1966.
• 8 January - A USAF Fairchild C-119C-25-FA Flying Boxcar, 51-2611, c/n 10600, en route from Windsor Locks-Bradley International Airport, Connecticut to Binghamton Airport, New York, suffers an uncontained engine failure. The crew decides to bail out. The first crew member gets out at an altitude of ~2000 feet. The captain and co-pilot were not able to exit in time. The airplane descends and crashes into a lakefront house near Scranton, Pennsylvania, also killing a boy on the ground.

XB-70 62-0207 following the midair collision on 8 June 1966 with Joe Walker's F-104N tumbling in flames in foreground.

• 17 January – A B-52G-115-BW Stratofortress, 58-0256, of the 68th Bomb Wing out of Seymour-Johnson AFB, North Carolina, collides with a KC-135A-BN Stratotanker, 61-0273, c/n 18180, flying boom during aerial refueling near Palomares, Almería in the 1966 Palomares B-52 crash, breaking bomber's back. Seven crew members are killed in the crash, two eject safely, and two of the B-52's Mark 28 nuclear bombs rupture, scattering radioactive material over the countryside. One bomb lands intact near the town, and another is lost at sea. It is later recovered intact 5 miles (8 km) offshore in deep trench. Two of the recovered weapons are exhibited at the National Museum of Nuclear Science & History, Albuquerque, New Mexico.
• 25 January – Lockheed SR-71A, 61-7952, Article 2003, crashes near Tucumcari, New Mexico during test flight out of Edwards Air Force Base, California. Pilot Bill Weaver survives, but RSO Jim Zwayer KWF.
• 28 February – NASA astronauts Elliot See and Charles Bassett, original Gemini 9 crew, are killed while attempting to land their T-38A Talon in bad weather at Lambert Field, St. Louis, Missouri. See makes an instrument landing approach at McDonnell Aircraft Corporation's plant. Comes in too low and slow, hits the afterburners and crashes into the roof of a building.
• 8 June – Second XB-70A-2-NA Valkyrie prototype, 62-0207, crashes at Edwards AFB, California, following a mid-air collision with a Lockheed F-104 Starfighter, NASA 813, previously 013, while the aircraft were in close formation for a photo shoot at the behest of General Electric. The pilot of the F-104N, Dr. Joseph A. Walker, late of the X-15 program, and Maj. Carl Cross, the copilot of the XB-70, are killed.
• 30 July – Lockheed A-12, 60-6941, Article 135, modified as an M-21, D-21 drone carrier for Project Tagboard, is lost during the fourth test over the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California when the D-21 drone, 504, suffers asymmetrical unstart as it passes through bow wake of the mothership during launch at Mach 3.25, strikes the Blackbird, destroying right rudder, engine nacelle and most of the outer wing during separation. Lockheed employees, pilot Bill Park and launch control officer Ray Torick, both successfully eject, but Torick tragically drowns in a feet-wet landing. Skunk Works head Clarence "Kelly" Johnson subsequently scrubs M-21 launch program, saying "I will not risk any more test pilots or Blackbirds. I don't have either to spare." D-21s are modified to D-21B standard for air launch from underwing pylons of a pair of mission-adapted B-52H Stratofortress bombers.
• 22 August - Second (of five) Ling-Temco-Vought XC-142As, 62-5922, returned to flight status on 23 July 1966 after wing replacement, is delivered to the U.S. Air Force at Edwards AFB, California for Cat II testing, but on this date during one the airframe's first flights at that base, a chip detector warning light for the number three propeller illuminates, so the engine is shut down and the prop feathered. Heavy braking during extended roll-out as a result of landing with the collective lever disengaged causes brake fires in the main gear pods. Damage takes until 2 September to repair.
• 2 September – A United States Navy Grumman F-11A Tiger of the Blue Angels aerobatic team crashes on the shore of Lake Ontario. The pilot, Lieutenant Commander Dick Oliver, 31 years old, of Fort Mill, South Carolina, is killed.
• 7 September - Second (of five) Ling-Temco-Vought XC-142As, 62-5922, suffers failure of idler gear in in number three engine gearbox during a pre-flight run-up at Edwards AFB, California. Entire gearbox has to be replaced. Investigation reveals problem with inadequately-supported aluminum pin that serves as an axle for this gear, making misalignment and eventual failure inevitable, so a fix is designed and the starboard gearboxes of all XC-142s are modified.
• 5 October – Ryan XV-5A Vertifan, 62-4506, crashes at Edwards AFB, California, killing Air Force test pilot Maj. David Tittle. During hover, the aircraft began uncontrolled roll to left, pilot ejected at 50 feet (15.24 m), but chute failed to deploy.
• 8 October - Lockheed U-2C, 56-6690, of the 349th Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron, 100th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing, develops technical problems while on high-altitude reconnaissance flight over North Vietnam, attempts to recover to base but crashes near Bien Hoa, South Vietnam. Pilot Maj. Leo J. Stewart ejects and survives. This is the only U.S. Air Force U-2 loss in theatre during the War in Southeast Asia.
• 26 October - A fire in a flare locker in Hangar Bay One of the USS Oriskany (CVA-34) beginning at 0728 hrs. spreads through the hangar deck and to the flight deck. Before the fires are extinguished two SH-2 Seasprite helicopters are lost, A-4E Skyhawk, BuNo 151075, is destroyed, and three others are damaged, as are Hangar Bays One and Two, the forward officer quarters and catapults, and 44 crew are killed.
• 11 November - A USAF EC-121H-LO Warning Star of the 551st AEWCW, out of Otis AFB, Massachusetts, crashes in the North Atlantic ~125 miles E of Nantucket, Massachusetts by unexplained circumstances, approximately the same general area as the one lost 11 July 1965. All 19 crew members are KWF, bodies never recovered.
• 28 November – Second prototype Dassault Mirage IIIV, an experimental VTOL fighter design, first flown 22 June 1966, crashes this date. Project, running several years behind schedule, is canceled and plans to build additional prototypes dropped.
• 7 December – Grumman Mohawk OV-1B on photo mission crashed after engine failure then fire. Pilot and crewman ejected. Hanau, Germany.

1967

• 5 January – Lockheed A-12, 60-6928, Article 125, lost during training/test flight. CIA pilot Walt Ray successfully ejects but is killed upon impact with terrain due to failed seat-separation sequence. The Air Force-issue seatbelt failed to release properly. The aircraft had run out of fuel for a variety of reasons.
• 5 January – Martin MGM-13 Mace, launched from Site A-15, Santa Rosa Island, Hurlburt Field, Florida, by the 4751st Air Defense Squadron at ~1021 hrs., fails to circle over Gulf of Mexico for test mission with two Eglin AFB F-4s, but heads south for Cuba. Third F-4 overtakes it, fires two test AAMs with limited success, then damages unarmed drone with cannon fire. Mace overflies western tip of Cuba before crashing in Caribbean 100 miles south of the island. International incident narrowly avoided. To forestall the possibility, the United States State Department asks the Swiss Ambassador in Havana to explain the circumstances of the wayward drone to the Cuban government. The Mace had been equipped with an "improved guidance system known as 'ASTRAN' which is considered unjammable." (This was apparently a typo for ATRAN – Automatic Terrain Recognition And Navigation terrain-matching radar navigation.)
• 7 January – U.S. Navy P-2 Neptune on training mission with nine Naval Reservists on board, on out-and-back flight from the Naval Air Facility, Andrews AFB, Maryland, crashes in light rainstorm near Upper Marlboro, Maryland, killing all crew. Neptune disappeared from radar at 1107 hrs., impacting in wooded area, digging crater 10 feet deep, 30 feet wide, 100 feet long. Airframe completely disintegrates, said Lt. Cmdr. Don Maunder.
• 10 January – Lockheed SR-71A, 61-7950, Item 2001, lost during anti-skid brake system evaluation at Edwards Air Force Base, California. Pilot Art Peterson survives.
• 27 January – Apollo 1 launchpad fire kills three U.S. astronauts. Apollo 1 is the official name that was later given to the never-flown Apollo/Saturn 204 (AS-204) mission. Its command module, CM-012, was destroyed by fire during a test and training exercise at Pad 34 (Launch Complex 34, Cape Canaveral, then known as Cape Kennedy) atop a Saturn IB rocket. The crew aboard were the astronauts selected for the first manned Apollo program mission: Command Pilot Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom, Senior Pilot Ed White and Pilot Roger B. Chaffee. Although the ignition source of the fire was never conclusively identified, the deaths were attributed to a wide range of lethal design hazards in the early Apollo command module. Among these were the use of a high-pressure 100 percent-oxygen atmosphere for the test, wiring and plumbing flaws, inflammable materials in the cockpit (such as Velcro), an inward-opening hatch that would not open in this kind of an emergency and the flight suits worn by the astronauts.
• 1 February – Rookie member of the Blue Angels U.S. Navy flight demonstration team, Lt. Frank Gallagher, of Flushing, New York, is KWF when his F-11A Tiger crashes during a practice flight ~16 miles NW of NAS El Centro, California. Fighter impacts in rugged desert terrain on a Navy test range. Assigned to the team only six weeks before, he is the fourth Blue Angels team member to die in an accident. Gallagher flew as the solo in the four-man formation and as number 6 in the full formation.
• 18 February – Second crash of a Blue Angels demonstration team jet in three weeks kills the newest team member, U.S. Marine Corps Capt. Ronald F. Thomsen, 28, when his F-11A Tiger impacts just 250 yards from the site of the accident on 1 February 1967. The Navy opened a crash investigation on 19 February into the crash ~16 miles NW of NAS El Centro, California, which killed the pilot only four days after he joined the demonstration team.
• 21 February - A U.S. Navy A-4 Skyhawk from the USS Franklin D. Roosevelt, newly returned from a tour off Vietnam, crashes into the home of Mr. and Mrs. Truxton Basnight near Virginia Beach, Virginia after the pilot ejects. The delta-winged attack jet cut a swath through trees and impacted the frame house, cartwheeled over the structure, throwing burning fuel into the home. Five civilians are injured, two critically.
• 23 March - Worst ground aviation accident of Vietnam War occurs at Da Nang Air Base, South Vietnam when traffic controller clears USMC A-6A Intruder, BuNo 152608, of VMA(AW)-242, MAG-11, for takeoff but also clears USAF C-141A-LM Starlifter, 65-9407, of the 62nd Military Airlift Wing, McChord AFB, Washington, to cross runway. A-6 crew sees Starlifter at last moment, veers off runway to try to avoid it, but port wing slices through C-141's nose, which immediately catches fire, load of 72 acetylene gas cylinders ignite and causes tremendous explosion, only loadmaster escaping through rear hatch. Intruder overturns, skids on down runway on back, but both crew, Capt. Frederick Cone and Capt. Doug Wilson, survive, crawl out of smashed canopy after jet stops. Some of ordnance load of 16 X 500 lb. bombs and six rocket packs go off in ensuing fire. Military Airlift Command crew killed are Capt. Harold Leland Hale, Capt. Leroy Edward Leonard, Capt. Max Paul Starkel, S/Sgt. Alanson Garland Bynum, and S/Sgt. Alfred Funck. This is the first of two C-141s lost during the conflict, and one of only three strategic airlifters written off during the Vietnam War.
• 27 March – A Douglas A-4 Skyhawk of VA-72 out of NAS Cecil Field, Florida, crashes into a wooded area W of Lake City, Florida after pilot Lt. Cmdr. Robert W. McKay, 34, ejects from the crippled jet. "He suffered no apparent injuries," a Navy spokesman said. "He was picked up by the Highway Patrol and will be returned to Cecil Field on a Navy helicopter."
• 13 April – Lockheed SR-71A, 61-7966, Article 2017, crashed near Las Vegas, New Mexico, after a night refuelling devolved into a subsonic high-speed stall. Pilot Boone and RSO Sheffield eject safely.
• 21 April – Fourth prototype F-111B, BuNo 151973, suffers flame-out of both engines at 200 feet after take-off, killing the project pilot Ralph Donnell and co-pilot Charles Wangeman.
• 24 April – Cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov dies during reentry of Soyuz 1 – parachute lines tangled during re-entry. Crashed to ground. First person to die while on a space mission.
• 25 April - A USAF EC-121H-LO Warning Star, 53-549, of the 551st AEWCW, out of Otis AFB, Massachusetts, ditches in the North Atlantic ~one mile off of Nantucket, Massachusetts, just after having taken off from that base. One survivor, 15 crew KWF. Five bodies were not recovered. Col. James P. Lyle, the Commander of the 551st AEW&C Wing to which all the aircraft and crew members were assigned, was the pilot. Colonel Lyle had been assigned to take over that command nine months earlier. It was he who presented each of the next of kin of the 11 November 1966 crash victims with the United States Flag during that memorial service.
• 10 May - First (of five) Ling-Temco-Vought XC-142As, 62-5921, crashes on 149th flight during simulated downed-pilot recovery mission test. Rapid descent from 8,000 feet to avoid ground-fire ends badly when aircraft pitches over violently at low altitude, impacting in heavily-wooded, marshy area at Mountain Creek Lake, near Dallas, Texas, killing three crew. Airframe destroyed by impact and post-crash fire. KWF are contract pilot Stuart Madison, co-pilot Charles Jester, and hoist operator John Omvig. Investigation finds cause to be failure of tail propeller control system, causing overspeed condition which generated unexpected and uncontrollable nose-down pitch.
• 10 May – Northrop M2-F2, NASA 803, during the 16th glide flight, crashes on landing at Edwards Air Force Base, California, due to a pilot-induced oscillation coupled with misjudged height and drift. Airframe rolls over six times, footage used for television program "The Six Million Dollar Man". Pilot Bruce Peterson survives.
• 29 July - A deckfire on the USS Forrestal caused by an unintentional firing of a Zuni rocket by an electrical short-circuit from the underwing rack of an F-4 Phantom II at 1051 hrs. holes the fuel tank of an A-4 Skyhawk. Spilled fuel ignites and ordnance on the ready jets is set off by the blaze. Twenty-six aircraft are destroyed or jettisoned, 31 others are damaged, 132 crewmen die, 62 are injured and two are missing. The last major fire is extinguished at 4 a.m. on 30 July. See: 1967 USS Forrestal fire. Among lost airframes are A-4E Skyhawks, BuNos 149996, 150064, 150068, 150084, 150115, 150118, 150129, 152018, 152024, 152036, 152040; F-4B Phantom IIs, 153046, 153054, 153060, 153061, 153066, 150069, 150912; and RA-5C Vigilantes of RVAH-11, 148932, 149284, and 149305.

C-7 Caribou 62-4161 plunges to earth after being struck by U.S. Army artillery, 3 August 1967. Photo by Hiromichi Mine.

• 3 August – A USAF de Havilland Canada C-7B Caribou, 62-4161, c/n 99, 'KE' tailcode, of the 459th TAS, 483th TAW, plunges to earth minus its tail from low altitude after being hit by US 155 mm artillery "friendly fire" on approach to Duc Pho Special Forces camp, Vietnam. Three crew killed, pilot Capt. Alan Eugene Hendrickson, co-pilot John Dudley Wiley, and loadmaster TSgt. Zane Aubry Carter. Dramatic photo of plunging aircraft taken by Japanese combat photographer Hiromichi Mine, who was himself killed in the line of duty several weeks later.
• 9 October - Second (of five) Ling-Temco-Vought XC-142As, 62-5922, suffers major landing gear and fuselage damage during STOL landing at Edwards AFB, California, following a 28-minute functional check flight after incorporation of modified control system components. Crew uninjured. This was the 488th test flight of the XC-142 program, and it turns out to be the last one before the program is cancelled. Airframe not repaired.
• 15 October – NASA astronaut Clifton Williams suffers control failure in the T-38 Talon he was flying while en route from Cape Canaveral, Florida to Mobile, Alabama to see his father who was dying of cancer. Jet went into an uncontrollable aileron roll, Williams ejected but he was traveling too fast and was at too low an altitude, comes down near Tallahassee, Florida. Williams served on the backup crew for Gemini X and had been assigned to the back-up crew for what would be the Apollo 9 mission. This crew placement would have most likely led to an assignment as Lunar Module pilot for Apollo 12. The Apollo 12 mission patch has four stars on it – one each for the three astronauts who flew the mission, and one for Williams.
• 15 November – On the 191st flight of the X-15 program out of Edwards AFB, California, the third of three, 56-6672, suffers problems during reentry from 266,000 foot altitude, 3,750 mph mission. Airframe has massive structural failure, killing pilot Michael J. Adams, the only fatality in X-15s.
• 8 December – The first African-American NASA astronaut, Maj. Robert Henry Lawrence, Jr., is killed in the crash of a Lockheed F-104B Starfighter while practicing zoom landings with Maj. Harvey Royer at Edwards AFB, California. Lawrence was flying backseat on the mission as the instructor pilot for a flight test trainee learning the steep-descent glide technique intended for the cancelled X-20 Dyna-Soar program. The pilot of the aircraft successfully ejected and survived the accident, but with major injuries. The F-104 they were flying came in too low and hit the runway. Royer ejected, but Lawrence was killed. He left behind a wife and one son.

1968

• 11 January – Lockheed SR-71B, 61-7957, Article 2008, one of only two dual control pilot trainers, is lost on approach to Beale Air Force Base, California, due to fuel cavitation induced engine failure. Instructor pilot Lt. Col. Robert G. Souers and student Capt. David E. Fruehauf eject safely.
• 21 January – A B-52G-100-BW Stratofortress, 58-0188, c.n. 4642256, of the 528th Bomb Squadron, 380th Bomb Wing, from Plattsburgh AFB, New York, carrying four hydrogen bombs crashes on the ice seven miles from Thule Air Base, Greenland at 1639 hrs. AST, 1 crew member killed; all four B-28 weapons are consumed in post-crash fire, however one bomb unaccounted for after debris is audited; extensive contamination of site and several relief workers exposed to radiation. See also 1968 Thule Air Base B-52 crash. This accident caused the Department of Defense to suspend Operation Chrome Dome, the carrying of nuclear weapons on non-combat missions.
• 27 March – While on a routine training flight out of Chkalovsky Air Base, Kosmonaut Yuri Gagarin and flight instructor Vladimir Seryogin (Seregin) die in a MiG-15UTI crash near the town of Kirzhach. Gagarin and Seryogin were buried in the walls of the Kremlin on Red Square. It is not certain what caused the crash, but a 1986 inquest suggests that the turbulence from a Su-11 'Fishpot-C' interceptor using its afterburners may have caused Gagarin's plane to go out of control. Russian documents declassified in March 2003 showed that the KGB had conducted their own investigation of the accident, in addition to one government and two military investigations. The KGB's report dismissed various conspiracy theories, instead indicating that the actions of air base personnel contributed to the crash. The report states that an air traffic controller provided Gagarin with outdated weather information, and that when Gagarin flew, conditions had deteriorated significantly. Ground crew also left external fuel tanks attached to the aircraft. His planned flight activities needed clear weather and no outboard tanks. The investigation concluded that Gagarin's aircraft entered a spin, either due to a bird strike or because of a sudden move to avoid another aircraft. Because of the out-of-date weather report, the crew believed their altitude to be higher than it actually was, and could not properly react to bring the MiG-15 out of its spin.
• May - RAF Armstrong Whitworth Argosy C.1, XP444, of 70 Squadron, departing a successful deployment in Libya, makes a pointless "flypast" at a small airstrip called Gott-el-Afraq, hits water tower, crashes, killing all 22 on board.
• 6 May – Astronaut Neil Armstrong ejects from Bell Aerospace Lunar Landing Research Vehicle No. 1, known as the "Flying Bedstead", at NASA's Manned Spacecraft Center, Ellington AFB, Houston, Texas, as it goes out of control. Had he ejected 1/2 second later, his chute would not have deployed fully. Armstrong suffers a bit tongue.
• 31 May - JQF-104A Starfighter drone, 56-0733, 'QFG-733', (so modified and designated on November 29, 1961), of the 3205th Drone Squadron, suffers a severe class A landing accident at Eglin AFB, Florida. Repaired.
• 5 June – Lockheed A-12, 60-6932, Article 129, lost off of Okinawa during a FCF following an engine change after deployment to Kadena Air Base in support of Operation Black Shield. Pilot Jack Weeks KWF. One source gives date as 2 June.
• 19 August – Handley Page Victor K1 XH646 of No. 214 Squadron RAF collided in mid-air near Holt, Norfolk, United Kingdom in bad weather with a 213 Squadron English Electric Canberra WT325, all four crew members of the Victor died.
• 11 September – Second prototype F-111B, BuNo 151971, crashes into the Pacific Ocean killing Hughes pilot Barton Warren and his RIO Anthony Byland.
• 10 October – Lockheed SR-71A, 61-7977, Article 2028, lost at end of runway, Beale Air Force Base, California after tire explosion and runway abort. Pilot Maj. Gabriel A. Kardong rode airframe to a standstill. RSO James A. Kogler ejected safely. Both survived.
• 11 October – Fifth prototype U.S. Navy F-111B BuNo 151974 crash landed at Point Mugu, California. Scrapped. Navy abandons the F-111B program completely and both houses of Congress refuse to fund production order in May 1968.
• 1 November – Força Aérea Brasileira Aerotec A-122 Uirapuru pre-production two-place trainer crashes, killing Centro Técnico Aeroespacial test pilot José Mariotto Ferreira, one of the Centre's most experienced pilots.
• 8 December – Lunar Landing Training Vehicle No. 1 crashes at Ellington AFB, Texas. NASA Manned Spaceflight Center test pilot Joseph Algranti ejects safely.
• 13 December – USAF B-57E Canberra 54-4284 of the 8th TBS, 35th TFW, has mid-air collision with C-123B-5-FA Provider 54-0600 over Xieng Khovang, southern Laos, all three crew of the B-57 KWF, pilot of C-123 survives bail-out, lands in tree, rescued by an HH-3, but six others are KWF.

1969

• 14 January - During an Operational Readiness Inspection aboard the USS Enterprise (CVAN-65) off Hawaii, a MK-32 Zuni rocket warhead attached to an F-4 Phantom II is overheated by exhaust from an aircraft starting unit and detonates, setting off fires and additional explosions across the carrier. The fire is brought under control promptly when compared with previous carrier flight deck fires, but 27 lives are lost, and an additional 314 personnel are injured. The fire destroys 15 aircraft.
• 10 March or 14 March – Lockheed XV-4B Hummingbird, 62-5404, on conventional test flight out of Dobbins AFB, Georgia, suddenly entered rapid roll while climbing through 8,000 feet (2438 m), pilot Harlan Quamme, unable to recover, ejects, suffering minor injuries. One civilian on ground receives minor injuries as well.
• 11 April – Lockheed SR-71A, 61-7954, Item 2005, crashes on runway during take off from Edwards Air Force Base, California. Pilot Lt. Col. Bill Skliar and RSO Maj. Noel Warner escape without injury.
• 15 April – North Korean MiG-17s shoot down a Navy EC-121M Warning Star, BuNo 135749, 'PR 21', c/n 4316, of VQ-1, call sign "Deep Sea 129", over the Sea of Japan, killing all 31 aboard. See EC-121 shootdown incident. KWF are pilot L/Cdr. James H. Overstreet; Lt. John N. Dzema; Lt. Dennis B. Gleason; Lt. Peter P. Perrottet; Lt. John H. Singer; Lt. Robert F. Taylor; Lt.JG Joseph R. Ribar; Lt.JG Robert J. Sykora; Louis F. Balderman, ADR2; Stephen C. Chartier, AT1; Bernie J. Colgin, AT1; Ballard F. Connors, Jr, ADR1; Gary R. DuCharme, CT3; Gene K. Graham, ATN3; LaVerne A. Greiner, AEC; Dennis J. Horrigan, ATR2; Richard H. Kincaid, ATN2; Marshall H. McNamara, ADRC; Timothy H. McNeil, ATR2; John A. Miller, CT3; John H. Potts, CT1; Richard T. Prindle, AMS3; Richard E. Smith, CTC; Philip D. Sundby, CT3; Richard E. Sweeney, AT1; Stephen J. Tesmer, CT2; David M. Willis, ATN3; and S/Sgt. Hugh M. Lynch, USMC.
• 5 May – USAF F-100D-70-NA Super Sabre, 56-3214, one of two 452nd TFS, 81st TFW, RAF Lakenheath, Super Sabres on gunnery mission over Holbeach Range, Cambs., UK, suffers engine failure, forcing pilot Capt. R.E. Riggs to eject. Fighter impacts into farmland, missing group of workers by 400 yards (370 m), airframe demolished in explosion, only fin and rudder assembly intact.
• 18 May – USMC KC-130F Hercules BuNo 149814, c/n 3723, of VMGR-352, collided head-on with F-4B BuNo 151001 of VMFA-542, MAG-13, from Chu Lai (both crew killed), while refuelling two F-4Bs of VMFA-314 over South Vietnam near Phu Bai. Two crew of F-4B BuNo 151450, survived after jettisoning bombs and ejecting, while the second F-4B recovered safely to Chu Lai. Lars Olausson states that the KC-130F was from VMGR-352, while Chris Hobson claims it was assigned to VMGR-152.
• 23 May – A drunken U.S. Air Force assistant crew chief, Sgt. Paul Adams Meyer, 23, of Poquoson, Virginia, suffering anxiety over marital problems, starts up a C-130E Hercules, 63-7789, c/n 3856, of the 36th Tactical Airlift Squadron, 316th Tactical Airlift Wing, on hardstand 21 at RAF Mildenhall and takes off in it at 0655 hrs. CET, headed for Langley AFB, Virginia. At least two F-100 Super Sabres from RAF Lakenheath, a C-130 from Mildenhall, and two RAF English Electric Lightnings are sent aloft to try to make contact with the stolen aircraft. The Hercules crashes into the English Channel off Alderney (5000N, 0205W) ~90 minutes later. In the last transmission from Meyer, to his wife, in a link-up over the side-band radio, he stated "Leave me alone for about five minutes, I've got trouble." There is speculation whether the Hercules was shot down. Some wreckage was recovered but the pilot's body was never found. Meyer had been arrested for being drunk and disorderly earlier in the morning in the village of Freckenham and had been remanded to quarters, but snuck out to steal the Hercules.
• 5 June – Crash of Rivet Amber, the U.S. Air Force's sole Boeing RC-135E, 62-4137, c/n 18477, lost over the Bering Sea near Alaska. Nothing was ever found of the aircraft or the 19 on board.
• 20 September – An Air Vietnam Douglas DC-4 (C-54D-10-DC Skymaster), XV-NUG, c/n 10860, collided on approach to landing with an American United States Air Force F-4 Phantom II near Da Nang, Vietnam. 77 died.
• 9 October – A USAF B-52F-70-BW Stratofortress, 57-0172, of the 329th Bomb Squadron, crashed about 1,000 feet beyond end of runway while doing touch-and-goes at Castle AFB, California. All six crew died in the 2345 hrs. accident as the Stratofortress exploded on impact.
• 25 October – Two United States Air Force Academy faculty are killed when their T-33A crashed and burned in a meadow near the main runway while landing at Peterson Field, Colorado. Pilot was Maj. Donald J. Usry, 32, of the academy faculty, and back-seater was Capt. Martin Bezyack, of the academy's athletic department.
• 16 December - U.S. Navy RF-8G Crusader, BuNo 145611, of Detachment 19, VFP-63, crashes into the Gulf of Tonkin ~60 miles E of Dong Hoi, killing pilot Lt. Victor Patrick Buckley, of Falls Church, Virginia, while returning to the USS Hancock from a photographic reconnaissance mission. Cause of loss thought to be accidental.
• 18 December – Lockheed SR-71A, 61-7953, Article 2004, crashes near Shoshone, California during test flight out of Edwards Air Force Base, California. Pilot Lt. Col. Joe Rogers and RSO Lt. Col. Gary Heidelbaugh eject safely.
• 22 December – A United States Navy F-8 Crusader of VF-194 crashes into hangar at NAS Miramar, California during emergency landing, killing 14 and injuring 30. Pilot ejected safely. Five other fighters, including two F-4s, are damaged in the repair facility fire that ensues. Helicopters and military and civilian ambulances were used to transport the injured to Balboa Naval Hospital, San Diego.
• 22 December – A USAF F-111A, 67-0049, c/n A-94, crashes near Nellis AFB, Nevada, killing both crew, when starboard wing fails in flight, wing carry-through box failure, resulting in the fifth grounding order since the type entered service. Fifteen F-111s have crashed to this point.

1970

• 10 January - Developmental prototype Indian Air Force HAL HF-24 Marut Mk. IR HF 032, equipped with reheat, crashes just after takeoff, killing India's finest test pilot, Suranjan Das. Failure of one engine and partial failure of the second was rumored, but official inquiry attributes loss to a malfunctioning canopy locking system. Reheat trials do not resume until 1972, using second prototype BD 884. Reheat upgrades are subsequently abandoned.
• 3 April – A USAF B-52D-60-BO Stratofortress, 55-089, c/n 464-17205, of the 26th Bomb Wing caught fire and crashed during landing at Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota, skidding into a brick storage building containing 25,000 gallons of jet fuel. Heroic efforts by crash crew save all nine on board, although one suffered broken limbs, and three firefighters were injured. One of the eight jet engines ran for forty minutes following crash.
• 16 April – US Navy TA-4F Skyhawk from NAS Oceana, Virginia, and USAF T-39A-1-NA Sabreliner, 61-0640, c/n 265-43, en route from Shaw AFB, South Carolina to Langley AFB, Virginia, collided in mid-air, the T-39 coming down over residential area of Weldon, North Carolina, but no one on the ground was injured and wreckage missed homes. Skyhawk crew, Lts. George D. Green, 27, and Walter G. Young, 27, both of Virginia Beach, Virginia, were killed as it came down in a swamp area ~20 miles away, near Enfield, North Carolina. Pilot Col. Francis G. Halturewicz, of the Sabreliner, was credited with minimizing ground damage as he jettisoned most of its fuel before impact. Killed were Col. Ivey J. Lewis, Stockton, California, Halturewicz, Maj. Ronald L. Edwards, and T. Sgt. Joseph R. Brown, all of MacDill AFB, Florida.
• 28 April – A USAF F-4 Phantom II being ferried from Robins AFB, Georgia to Torrejon Air Base, Spain, was disabled by a severe thunderstorm, forcing the crew to eject at 36,000 feet 150 miles E of Charleston, South Carolina, suffering minor injuries from hail while descending. Pilot Capt. Daniel Heitz, 25, of Grand Rapids, Michigan, and navigator Lt. MacArthur Weston, 28, of Jacksonville, North Carolina are spotted by rescue aircraft, and are recovered after two hours in the water by the oil tanker Texaco Illinois, diverted from 8 miles away.
• 10 May – Lockheed SR-71A, 61-7969, Article 2020, crashed near Korat RTAFB, Thailand, after a refuelling resulted in a subsonic high-speed stall. Pilot Lawson and RSO Martinez eject safely.
• 12 May - Indian Air Force prototype HAL HF-24 Marut HF 001, BR 461, is lost due to unknown circumstances in the sea off of Goa while on routine ferry flight. Squadron Leader K. L. Narayan is lost with aircraft.
• 22 May – A USAF T-33A of the 1st Composite Wing, Andrews AFB, Maryland, crashes just short of the north runway on approach to that base, killing pilot Maj. Jerry H. McDowell, 36, Clinton, Maryland, and Lt. Edwin D. Billmeyer, 24, of Baltimore, Maryland, and injuring three motorists on the ground.
• 24 May – A USAF C-5A Galaxy makes an emergency landing at Dobbins AFB, Georgia, suffering an electrical malfunction that knocks out landing lights, causes minor damage to the nosegear and flattens four of 28 tires.
• 27 May: A USAF C-5A Galaxy, 67-0172, c/n 500-0011, catches fire while taxiing at Air Force Plant 42, Palmdale, California, due to an electrical fire in the cargo compartment. Five crew escape, but seven firefighters suffer minor injuries fighting blaze. Aircraft destroyed.
• June - RAF Armstrong Whitworth Argosy C.1, XP441, of 114 Squadron, written off during training accident at RAF Benson, when aircraft bounces heavily during three-engine approach, attempts a go-around, but pilot inexpertly retracts the flaps, stalls, comes down in Mr. Passey's junk yard in the village of Benson. Crew, remarkably, is uninjured.
• 6 June: A USAF C-5A Galaxy, 68-0212, c/n 500-0015, fifteenth off the production line, but first to be delivered to any operational Military Airlift Command wing, loses one tire and blows another on landing at Charleston AFB, South Carolina for the 437th MAW.
• 17 June – Lockheed SR-71A, 61-7970, Item 2021, collides with KC-135Q tanker 20 miles E of El Paso, New Mexico. Pilot Buddy Brown and RSO Mort Jarvis eject safely. Tanker limps back to Beale Air Force Base, California.

Lt. (j.g.) William Belden, ejects from an A-4E Skyhawk on the deck of the USS Shangri-La circa 29 July 1970. Photo by Photographers Mate Keith Guthrie of Palatka, Florida. Both pilot and Skyhawk recovered.

• 27 June – Rawalpindi, Pakistan, L-19 Bird Dog of No.4 Army Aviation Squadron, Dhamial Air Base, piloted by Major Tahir Mahmood Jilani, with Observer Captain Noor Mohammed, went missing, while on search and recovery mission to locate a drowned military officer Captain Bahadur's body, over the mighty river Indus near Kalabagh-Khushal Garh area. No debris or bodies were located, in the very extensive ground and aerial search that followed, however.
• Circa 29 July – Lt. (j.g.) William Belden, 23, of Racine, Wisconsin, ejects from an A-4E Skyhawk on the deck of the USS Shangri-La in the western Pacific. Pilot recovered shaken but unhurt by helicopter; Skyhawk later recovered from carrier catwalk.
• 30 July – USMC KC-130F Hercules, BuNo 150685, c/n 3728, of VMGR-152, crashed at Marine Corps Air Station El Toro, Lake Forest, California during misjudged maximum effort landing – wings broke, fuselage ended up overturned, burned.
• 5 August – A USAF F-4 Phantom II of the 36th TFW, Bitburg, Germany, TDY to Zaragoza Air Base, Spain, crashes on a gunnery range 25 miles from Zaragoza, killing pilot Capt. Charles A. Baldwin, 28, of Charleston, West Virginia, and navigator Capt. Stephen N. Smith, 27, of Pinebrook, New Jersey.
• 25 August - A TF-104G Starfighter, 27+30, c/n 5732, of MFG 1, Marineflieger, downed by engine failure due to FOD, shortly after take-off from Jagel Air Base at Glücksburg in northern West Germany, both crew ejecting safely. Although the cause of the crash was not immediately known, a spokesman said it might have been struck by a bird in flight. This was the 122nd West German Starfighter crash since the type entered service in 1961.
• 11 November -A USAF F-4 Phantom II crashes in the North Sea after an engine fire. Both crew eject. Capt. Johnny Jones, 28, of Snow Hill, North Carolina, and Capt. David Allen, 27, of Darien, Connecticut are rescued by helicopter, officials at Ruislip, England said.
• 15 November – US Navy S-2 Tracker crashes at Fort Dix, New Jersey killing four. Wreckage found on 16 November in wooded area off Range Road. Killed were pilot Navy Lt. J.G. James K. Larson, 24, of Milltown, New Jersey, co-pilot 1st Lt. (USMC) Carleton C. Perine, 25, of Orange, New Jersey, and passengers Navy Airman Apprentice Robert Suttle, 20, of Bricktown, New Jersey, and Navy Airman Apprentice Gary B. Warner, 19, of Central Bridge, New York.
• 16 November – A U.S. Navy F-4 Phantom II crashed in the Atlantic Ocean 30 miles E of the Virginia Capes shortly after launch from the carrier USS Forrestal, CVA-59. Two crew, out of NAS Oceana, Virginia, are lost, the Navy reported 17 November. Pilot was Lt.j.g. John Dale O'Connor, and RSO was Lt.j.g. Thomas F. Hanagan, both of Virginia Beach, Virginia. They were attached to a fighter squadron based at NAS Oceana at Virginia Beach.
• 30 December - Prototype Tomcat, F-14-01-GR, 157980, suffers hydraulic fluid leak on second flight, crew attempts return to Grumman plant at Calverton, New York, but loses flight controls just before crossing airfield threshold, both crew eject as airframe plunges into woods short of runway. Footage: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfM5FxnWPm4

1971

• 7 January – An unarmed USAF B-52C-45-BO Stratofortress, 54-2666, of the 99th BW, Westover AFB, Massachusetts, crashed into Lake Michigan near Charlevoix, Michigan during a practice bomb run, exploding on impact. Only a small amount of wreckage, two life vests, and some spilled fuel was found in Little Traverse Bay. Bomber went down six nautical miles from the Bay Shore Air Force Radar Site. Nine crew KWF.

Test pilot Stuart Present ejects safely from crashing LLTV (NASA), 29 January 1971.

• 29 January – A Lunar Landing Training Vehicle crashes at Ellington AFB, Texas. NASA test pilot Stuart Present ejects safely.
• 2 February – Two USAF crew are found dead in the escape module after their F-111 crashes near Mandeville, Louisiana three weeks earlier. A parachute was found hanging from a nearby tree, but it did not deploy in time to save the airmen.
• 26 February - A Luftwaffe F-104G Starfighter, 22+64, c/n 7145, of Detachment Deci, crashes during a gunnery training flight on the Fransca range over the Italian island of Sardinia after its pilot parachutes to safety, the defense ministry said, making it the 128th crash of the type since entering German service in 1961. Engine failure due to FOD.
• 23 April – A USAF F-111E, 67-0117, c/n A1-162/E-3, out of Edwards AFB, California, crashes in a rocky area of the Mojave Desert 12 miles S of Death Valley National Monument during test flight, both crew, pilot Maj. James W. Hurt, 34, of Indianapolis, Indiana, and WSO Maj. Robert J. Furman, 31, of New York City, killed when parachute on escape module fails to open until just before ground impact. Both bodies were inside the escape module when it is found on Saturday, 24 April. Aircraft experienced trouble at 6,000 feet. This was the 18th crash of the type since entering service and the second fatal accident this year when the module chute failed to properly deploy. All F-111s are grounded on Thursday 30 April after it is determined that the recovery chute compartment door failed to separate making crew escape impossible. This was the sixth grounding order for the type since it entered operation. Grounding order lifted 8 June 1971 during which time the panel that failed in this accident was replaced.
• 6 June – USMC F-4B-18-MC Phantom II, BuNo 151458, en route from NAS Fallon, Nevada to MCAS El Toro, California, has mid-air collision with Hughes Airwest Flight 706, DC-9-31, N9345, out of Los Angeles International Airport, at 1811 hrs. over the San Gabriel Mountains, N of Duarte, California. Collision at 15,150 feet altitude killed F-4 pilot 1st Lt. James R. Phillips, 28, of Denver, Colorado (inoperable canopy release), the RIO ejecting and landing near Azusa, California. All 44 passengers and five crew members were killed aboard the DC-9, which impacted into a remote canyon of Mt. Bliss approximately three miles N of the city of Duarte. The wreckage of the F-4B fighter landed in another canyon approximately .75 miles SE of the DC-9's crash site. Although visibility was good, with no clouds, both crews failed to see and avoid each other. The Airwest DC-9 jetliner was under radar control, but the F-4B fighter was flying with an inoperable transponder that made it invisible on air traffic control radar screens. The RIO, Lt. Christopher E. Schiess, 24, of Salem, Oregon, admitted to inquiry board that the F-4B had performed a 360-degree slow roll about a minute before the collision. One of the early leaders of campus antiwar activism, Prof. Arnold Saul Kaufman, at the University of Michigan in 1965, now Philosophy professor at UCLA, was killed aboard the DC-9.
• 30 June – The crew of Soyuz 11, Georgi Dobrovolski, Viktor Patsayev and Vladislav Volkov, are killed after undocking from space station Salyut 1 after a three-week stay. A valve on their spacecraft accidentally opens when the service module separates, letting their air leak out into space. The capsule reenters and lands normally, and their deaths are only discovered when it is opened by the recovery team. Technically the only fatalities in space (above 100 km).
• 27 July - Indian Air Force production HAL HF-24 Marut Mk. 1, flown by Wing Commander J. K. Mohlah, crashes just after takeoff at Bangalore, pilot KWF.
• 30 July - At ~1400 hrs., a Japanese Air Self Defense Force F-86F Sabre, 92-7932, collides in mid-air at FL280 with All Nippon Airways Boeing 727-281, JA8329, on regional flight between Sapporo and Tokyo-Haneda. Student pilot was not watching out for other traffic in the training area, and when the instructor warns him to break away from approaching jetliner, it is too late, the Sabre's right wing striking the 727's left horizontal stabilizer, all seven crew and 155 passengers on the Boeing are killed, wreckage coming down near Shizukuishi. F-86F crew ejects. All Japanese military aircraft are immediately grounded while investigation takes place.
• 11 September – Lockheed C-121 of the West Virginia Air National Guard, carrying five state governors to a conference in Puerto Rico, experiences engine problems, force-lands at Homestead AFB, Florida. Governors of Connecticut, Minnesota, Montana, Texas and Utah, transfer to another aircraft to continue flight.
• 28 September – A United States Navy P-3 Orion, on patrol over the Sea of Japan, is fired on by a Soviet Sverdlov class cruiser in international waters. The P-3 was checking a group of Soviet Navy ships cruising off the shore of Japan when crew members reported seeing tracer rounds fired well ahead of the Orion. Immediately following the incident, authorities recalled the P-3 to its base at MCAS Iwakuni, and all surveillance craft were pulled back five miles.
• 29 September – A USAF C-5A Galaxy of the 443rd Military Airlift Wing, Altus AFB, Oklahoma, one of six used for training, had its number one (port outer) engine tear off the pylon while advancing take-off power before brake release, setting the wing on fire. The crew evacuated safely within 90 seconds and the fire was extinguished by emergency equipment. The engine had flown up and behind the Galaxy, landing some 250 yards to the rear. The Air Force subsequently grounded six other C-5s with similar flight hours and cycles. Further investigation found cracks in younger C-5s and the entire fleet was grounded.
• 12 October – A Royal Air Force F-4K Phantom II on a training mission crashes into a farm house near Holstebro, Denmark, killing a woman and her child. Police and rescuers who rushed to the scene could do nothing to save them from the burning house. The fighter crew of two parachutes to safety.
• 19 October – Grumman E-2B Hawkeye and Ling-Temco-Vought A-7B Corsair II, both from the USS Midway, CVA-41, collide over the Sea of Japan, with E-2 crashing near the stern of the carrier, all five crew lost. A-7 pilot ejected safely, picked up by helicopter from MCAS Iwakuni in good condition.
• 29 October – A USAF T-33A crashes near Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, both crew ejecting before the airframe impacted in a sugar cane field; one seriously injured, one with minor injuries.
• November – Two ex-U.S. Navy Sikorsky SH-34J Seabats, BuNos. 143934, c/n 58-698, and 143941, c/n 58-722, obtained by Uruguay's Aviación Naval (Naval Aviation) in October 1971 as A-061 and A-062, collide in midair during a public demonstration over a crowded beach, killing eight, over thirty injured, both airframes destroyed.
• 7 November – A USAF F-4 Phantom II and a USAF F-106A-130-CO Delta Dart, 59-0125, of the 84th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, Hamilton AFB, California, suffer mid-air and crash in isolated areas near Nellis AFB, Nevada. All three crew eject and survive. F-4 crew, Maj. Henry J. Viccellio and Maj. James A. Robertson, okay. Phantom comes down 35 miles from Caliente, Nevada, Delta Dart attempts recovery to Nellis but pilot Maj. Clifford L. Lowrey ejects eight miles NE of base.

1972

• 19 February – C-130E 62-1813, c.n. 3775, of the 16th Tactical Airlift Training Squadron, mid-air collision with Cessna T-37 from Biggs AFB, Texas, 6 km NE of Little Rock, Arkansas – four killed on Hercules. Two Tweet pilots eject safely.
• 14 March – Two F-4 Phantom IIs have mid-air collision over the town of El Buste, Spain, about 30 miles from the joint US-Spanish base at Zaragoza. All four crewmen are KWF. Debris showered down onto the town, damaging communications and starting several roof fires, but no injuries to townspeople. Aircraft were returning to base in strong winds and broken clouds after a routine gunnery mission.
• 31 March – Twenty minutes after take-off from McCoy AFB, Florida, a USAF B-52D-80-BO Stratofortress, 56-0625, of the 306th Bomb Wing, suffers in-flight fire in engine number seven which spreads to starboard wing; attempts emergency landing at McCoy, crashes one quarter mile short of runway, killing seven on board, injuring eight civilians on the ground, destroys four houses.
• 8 April – Hawker-Siddeley Andover C.1, XS609, c/n Set 16, bound for the United Kingdom, carrying 18-man paratroop exhibition team, crashes on take-off at Siena, Italy, digging in starboard wingtip before skidding 300 yards across airfield and catching fire. Four killed, four injured, of 21 on board, most escaping before fuel tank ignited. Dramatic photo, distributed worldwide, showed aircraft at almost 90 degree angle from ground with wingtip digging in.
• 14 April – Marine reserve pilot Capt. Anthony McCarthy is killed in Friday night accident when he ejects from his A-4 Skyhawk after tire failure on landing at MCAS El Toro, California after flight from homebase at NAS Alameda, California. Although he clears the airframe before it veers off the runway and into a fuel truck, "authorities said the pilot bounced several times on the runway after ejecting."
• 15 April or 16 April – A Marine Corps Reserve pilot, Maj. Edward Townley, 40, of Alameda, California, ejects safely from his A-4 Skyhawk as it exploded over the surf at Newport Beach, California in front of hundreds of beachgoers during the weekend, a spokesman at MCAS El Toro, California said. The pilot was based at NAS Alameda.
• 10 May – Vietnam People's Air Force MiG-19 (Shenyang J-6) of the 925th Fighter Regiment, piloted by Nguyen Manh Tung, runs out of fuel after CAP mission, deadsticks from altitude of 1,400 meters, descends too rapidly, and overruns runway at Yen Bai airfield, North Vietnam, overturning and exploding, killing pilot instantly.
• 4 June – United States Air Force Thunderbirds suffer their first fatal crash at an air show during Transpo 72 at Dulles International Airport. Major Joe Howard flying Thunderbird 3, F-4E-32-MC Phantom II, 66-0321, experiences a loss of power during a vertical maneuver. Pilot breaks out of the formation just after it completes a wedge roll and was ascending at ~2,500 feet AGL. The aircraft staggers and then descends in a flat attitude with little forward speed. Although Major Howard ejects as the aircraft falls back to earth from ~ 1,500 feet slightly nose low, and descends under a good C-9 canopy, winds blow him into the ascending fireball. The parachute melts and the pilot plummets 200 feet, sustaining fatal injuries in fall.
• 20 July – Lockheed SR-71A, 61-7978, Article 2029, lost in landing accident at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa. Pilot Capt. Dennis K. Bush and RSO Jimmy Fagg are unhurt.
• 13 October – Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, a Fairchild FH-227D, T-571, c/n 572, carrying a rugby union team from Montevideo to a match in Santiago, Chile, crashes in a remote region of the Andes on the Chile-Argentina border. Of the 45 on board, 12 died in the crash, five died by the following morning, and one died from his injuries a week later. The survivors were eventually forced to resort to cannibalism to live, feeding off the bodies of the dead that had been preserved by the freezing temperatures. On 12 December, the remaining survivors sent three of their own to find help. After sending one of the party back to the crash site to preserve rations, the remaining two found help. The 14 survivors remaining at the crash site were rescued in a mission that ended on 23 December. The story would spawn a critically-acclaimed book in 1974, along with several film adaptations.
• 30 October - First developmental model Hawker P.1127, XP972, crashes at RAF Tangmere.
• 24 November – Two USAF RF-4C Phantom IIs of the 363rd Tactical Reconnaissance Wing, Shaw AFB, South Carolina, suffer mid-air collision over the Atlantic Ocean about 30 miles off of Pawley's Island at ~1450 hrs. Two crew from one Phantom recovered 27 miles out to sea by UH-1N Huey, Save 53, of Detachment 8, 44th ARRSq, out of Myrtle Beach AFB, but two others including one officer of HQ 9th Air Force, Shaw AFB, are lost.
• 5 December – During an Aerospace Defense Command night training mission, F-102A-80-CO Delta Dagger, 56-1517, of the 157th FIS, South Carolina ANG, McEntire Air National Guard Base, South Carolina, collided with C-130E Hercules, 64-0558, of the 318th SOS, out of Pope AFB, North Carolina, during a simulated interception, over the Bayboro area of Horry County, east of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. One killed in the Delta Dagger, Capt. Thomas C. Hagood, Jr. of Lexington, South Carolina, and all twelve aboard the Hercules perish. They were Lt. Col. Donald E. Martin, of White Oak, Texas; Maj. Keith L. Van Note, of Mason City, Iowa; Capt. John R. Cole, of Tulsa, Oklahoma; Capt. Louis R. Sert, of St. Louis, Missouri; Capt. Marshall K. Dickerson, of Chicago, Illinois; Lt. Douglas L. Theirer, address unavailable; T.Sgt. Robert E. Doyle, of South Hill, Virginia; T.Sgt. Claude L. Abbot, of Adel, Georgia; S.Sgt. Gilmore A. Minkley, Jr., of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania; Sgt. Billy M. Warr, Sr., of Sylmar, California; Sgt. Gerald K. Faust, of Oregon, Wiscconsin; and Capt. Douglas S. Peterson, of Harvard, Illinois. Some press reports list Conway, South Carolina, west of the crash site, as the location.

1973

• 7 February – A US Navy A-7 Corsair II piloted by Lt. Robert Lee Ward, 28, one of two on a routine training flight to Sacramento, California from NAS Lemoore near Fresno, California, crashes in Alameda, after breaking formation at 28,000 feet for unexplained reasons. Fighter strikes four-story Tahoe Apartments building at 1814 Central Avenue in the city center with fire spreading to other structures, killing pilot and ten civilians, 26 injured. Navy inquiry found evidence of a cockpit fire involving the pilot's oxygen hose, and that the in-flight blaze was "very near" Ward's oxygen mask. Speculation that smoking could have caused it, but no proof. Lawsuits for more than $700,000 were filed in connection with the disaster, including a $500,000 damage action filed in Alameda County Superior Court by owner of the demolished 36-unit Tahoe Apartments.
• 12 April – A United States Navy P-3C-125-LO Orion, BuNo 157332, c/n 185-5547, of VP-47 and a Convair 990, N711NA, '711', "Galileo", (formerly N5601G), belonging to NASA, collided while on final approach to NAS Moffett Field in Sunnyvale, California and crashed short of the runway. The planes fell on the Sunnyvale Municipal Golf Course and 16 of the 17 people aboard the two planes were killed.
• 4 August – First of two prototype Boeing YQM-94A Compass Cope B long-range remotely-piloted vehicle (RPV)s, possibly serial 70-1839, crashed during its second test flight. The United States Air Force decides not to order the Compass Copes into production. Second prototype is now on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force, Dayton, Ohio.

1974

• 8 February – A USAF B-52G-95-BW Stratofortress, 58-0174, of the 744th BS, 456th BW, veered off the runway during night take-off from Beale AFB, California, skidded 1,500 feet through a muddy field before overturning, destroyed by four massive explosions and fire. One crew, the first pilot, was thrown free with severe burns, but seven others perished.
• 9 February – Two USAF F-105s of the 457th TFS (TH tailcode), 506th TFG, 301st Reserve TFW, Carswell AFB, Texas, suffer mid-air collision, downing one Thud ~1 mile from Holliday, Texas, pilot Capt. Frank E. Peck ejecting, suffering broken right leg on landing, recovered by helicopter. Second F-105 recovers to Carswell despite damage, pilot Lt. Hays C. Kirby uninjured.
• 9 February: A USAF T-39A Sabreliner, 60-3506, c/n 265-34, returning to McClellan AFB, California collides with a USAF NKC-135A Stratotanker at 23,000 feet, over Peterson Field, Colorado, killing all seven on board T-39. Sabreliner had experienced landing gear trouble, rendezvoused with NKC-135 for look-over, accidentally strikes rear fuselage and fin of Boeing. NKC-135 lands safely, was en route from Seattle, Washington to Kirtland AFB, New Mexico.
• 4 March – A USAF CIM-10 Bomarc missile of the 4751st ADS, Hurlburt Field, Florida, explodes on Santa Rosa Island due to a malfunction shortly after launch from Site A-15, impacting on government property adjacent to the launchsite. Eglin AFB authorities confirmed that there were no personnel injuries, and local law enforcement agencies had received no damage reports.
• 5 March – A United States Navy RA-5C Vigilante crashes in the Gulf of Mexico 35 miles W of Tampa, Florida. Both crew eject, two chutes observed, but only the navigator is recovered, by a fishing boat.
• 5 March – A USAF KC-135A, 57-1500, c/n 17571, of the 91st Air Refuelling Squadron, 384th Air Refuelling Wing, crashed and burned shortly after take-off from McConnell AFB, Kansas, killing two of seven crew. Air Force spokesmen reported that the aircraft was carrying 136,000 pounds of fuel when it crashed 3,000 feet from the main runway, after it apparently lost power.
• 5 March – A USAF KC-135A of the 7th Air Refuelling Squadron, 7th Bomb Wing, en route from Eielson AFB, Alaska to its homebase at Carswell AFB, Texas, suffered explosive decompression when a small window blew out at 35,000 feet at 1630 hrs. EST about 40 miles SE of Fort Nelson, British Columbia. One passenger of the 25 aboard died from the effects of the rapid decompression; others and eight crew okay. The tanker made an emergency landing at a Canadian Armed Forces Base at Edmonton, Alberta.
• 29 April – A USAF Martin MGM-13 Mace of the 4751st ADS, crashed in a wooded area of Eglin AFB, Florida, approximately ~1.5 miles north of Auxiliary Field 4 after launch from Eglin Site A-10 on Santa Rosa Island about 1200 hrs. for a routine Air National Guard training mission. There were no injuries or property damage although a small brushfire was ignited, quickly extinguished. The okay to launch the nine remaining Maces during June for air-to-air missile tests was given on 29 May 1974. "Officials noted that 154 mace [sic] target missiles had been fired prior to this failure, with none failing due to a similar problem."
• 31 July – A United States Navy E-2 Hawkeye based at NAS Norfolk, Virginia, crashed on take-off from CGAS Elizabeth City, North Carolina during a touch-and-go, striking a maintenance facility, triggering a fire in a fibreglass and upholstery shop. Instructor pilot, three civilians killed, student pilot, and 12–18 others injured.
• 18 August – Lockheed C-141A Starlifter, 65-0274, c.n. 300-6126, of the 437th MAW, Charleston AFB, South Carolina, hits Mount Potosi at the 19,000 foot level, ~17 miles from destination, John F. Kennedy International Airport, La Paz, Bolivia, killing seven crew.
• 1 September – The Sikorski S-67 Blackhawk company demonstrator N671SA crashed while attempting to recover from a roll at too low an altitude during its display at the Farnborough Air Show, United Kingdom, killing its two crew, Kurt Cannon and Stu Craig.
• 15 September - On third day of Naval Preliminary Evaluation (NPE-1) testing, first prototype Sikorsky YCH-53E Sea Stallion, BuNo 159121, is destroyed at the Sikorsky plant at Stratford, Connecticut when it rolls onto its side and burns after one of the main rotor blades detaches during a ground run. It had first flown on 1 March 1974. Second prototype is grounded while accident is investigated, flight testing resuming on 24 January 1975.

See also

• List of accidents and incidents involving military aircraft, pre–1950
• List of accidents and incidents involving military aircraft, 1975–1999
• List of accidents and incidents involving military aircraft, 2000–
• List of C-130 Hercules crashes

External links

• AVIATION WEEK
• PlaneCrashInfo.com