ASN Aircraft accident Lockheed RB-69A Neptune 54-4040 Kunsan
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Status:
Date:Friday 25 March 1960
Type:Silhouette image of generic P2 model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different
Lockheed RB-69A Neptune
Operator:Republic of China Air Force - ROCAF
Registration: 54-4040
MSN: 726-7101
First flight:
Crew:Fatalities: 14 / Occupants: 14
Passengers:Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 0
Total:Fatalities: 14 / Occupants: 14
Aircraft damage: Damaged beyond repair
Location:near Kunsan (   South Korea)
Phase: Unknown (UNK)
Nature:Military
Departure airport:Hsinchu Airport (HSZ/RCPO), Taiwan
Destination airport:Gunsan (Kunsan) Airport (KUV/RKJK), South Korea
Narrative:
The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) acquired seven Neptunes in 1954 and configured them with cameras and electronics intelligence gear. Five of those were stationed in Taiwan and operated by the Republic of China Air Force.
They were reportedly used to conduct intrusion ELINT missions over mainland China, dropping and supplying agents, and dropping propaganda leaflets. Missions were usually flown at night.
The Neptune crashed into a hill near Kunsan, South Korea, during a low level ferry flight from Hsinchu, Taiwan to staging area in Kunsan, South Korea.

Sources:
» Intrusions, Overflights, Shootdowns and Defections During the Cold War and Thereafter
» The Growth of China’s Air Defenses: Responding to Covert Overflights, 1949–1974 / Bob Bergin
» USAAS-USAAC-USAAF-USAF Aircraft Serial Numbers--1908 to Present / Joe Baugher


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Map
This map shows the airport of departure and the intended destination of the flight. The line between the airports does not display the exact flight path.
Distance from Hsinchu Airport to Gunsan (Kunsan) Airport as the crow flies is 1339 km (837 miles).

This information is not presented as the Flight Safety Foundation or the Aviation Safety Network’s opinion as to the cause of the accident. It is preliminary and is based on the facts as they are known at this time.
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Lockheed P-2

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  • 81st loss
  • 43rd fatal accident
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 South Korea
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