Date:	Friday 9 December 1955
Time:	c. 17:05 LT
Type:	Republic F-84F-45-RE Thunderstreak
Owner/operator:	55th FBSqn /20th FBWg USAF
Registration:	52-6692
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Other fatalities:	1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Lodge Moor Hospital, Sheffield, South Yorkshire -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Scuthorpe, Norfolk
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
The F-84F ran low on fuel and the engine flamed out.The pilot, Lt Roy G. Evans USAF, bailed out at 3,500 feet and landed uninjured near Hathersage, Derbyshire.

The plane came down some six miles away at Lodge Moor Hospital in Sheffield, South Yorkshire. It struck the roof of Ward North Two and ploughed through Ward North One before finally coming to rest in two main sections in front of the garage and mortuary. The accident was also extensively reported in both local newspapers the Sheffield Star and the Sheffield Telegraph. These are the additional details of the crash that were omitted in The Times report of Saturday 10th December 1955:

The Aircraft was a Republic F-84 Thunderstreak from the Third US Air Force. A photograph of the crashed plane shows airframe serial number of 26692 (=52-6692). It was attached to the 55th Fighter Bomber Squadron (FBS) of the USAF 20th Fighter Bomber Wing (FBW)

The pilot, Lt. Roy G. Evans, 24 was from Polaski, Tennessee but attached to RAF Weathersfield. Having ejected from the Thunderstreak, 1st Lt Evans parachuted down to a spot in the Peak District (east of Hathersage) - although the Daily Mirror of 10/12/55 has it he landed on Mam Tor.

Colonel Harold Bailer, base operations commander at USAF Burtonwood (Lancs.) arrived at crash site and said trouble started when the flight was over Derbyshire. The controllers at Burtonwood were only people with contact with pilot at the time by radio. The base could faintly hear the pilot, but the pilot could not hear them. Pilot reported "I have a flame-out...leaving the aircraft". Pilot ejected in cloud after several attempts to re-start his engine over the Peak District at what was believed to be 2,500ft and was recovered on the moors east of Hathersage. Lt. Roy G. Evans suffered an injured ankle and was returned to USAF Burtonwood. The impact speed was estimated at 300 mph

The blazing wreckage of the aircraft was tackled by the local fire brigade. It was eventually brought under control by 7.30pm

The only fatality Mrs. Elsie Murdoch of South Road, Walkley, Sheffield was convalescing and due for a discharge on the following Monday (12th December 1955). After the crash, nurse Margaret Schofield, 20, ironically of Hathersage, stayed with her until she died.

The other persons injured in the crash were all patients:
Florence Stanton, 67, of Wickersley, Rotherham (shock)
John Wilson, 12, of Manor, Sheffield (injury to left hand)
Patrick Handley, 13, of Upperthorpe, Sheffield (slight foot injury)
Sandra Williams, 10, of Rotherham (superficial injuries to legs, right hand and scalp)
Dorothy Corrill, 30, of Dalton, Rotherham (superficial injuries to scalp, face and hands)
Florence Burcoyne, 45, of Tinsley, Sheffield (slight Shock)
Harold Wilcockson, 47, of Woodhouse, Sheffield (cut finger and bruising).

19 year old nurse Nita Richardson was a convalescing patient and had left her cubicle for a cup of tea when the crash occurred. The crash shattered her cubicle and she would almost certainly have died had she not gone for a cuppa

Lodge Moor Hospital was closed in September 1994; infectious diseases were moved to the Royal Hallamshire Hospital, while the chest and spinal injuries units were moved to the Northern General Hospital. The main hospital building including the tower has now been integrated into private residential accommodation built by the developers David Wilson Homes

In a sad post-script to the above events, 1st Lt Evans again bailed out of an aircraft (this time an RF-84 Thunderflash, a photo recon version of the F-84 Thunderstreak, serial number 52-7349) shortly after take-off from Nouasseur, South of Casablanca, Morocco, on 21 August 1958 but did not survive.First Lieutenant Evans was buried at Pulaski, Tennessee with USAF personnel from Sewart Air Base attending on 3 September 1958.

1. The Times Saturday 10 December 1955
2. La Nacion 10 December 1955, p24
3. Daily Mirror Saturday 10 December 1955 (front page)
4. Sheffield Sat 10 December 1955 (front page)
5. Sculthorpe Secrecy and Stealth: A Norfolk Airfield in the Cold War By Peter B. Gunn
6. https://www.chrishobbs.com/lodgemoor1955.htm
7. http://forgottenjets.warbirdsresourcegroup.org/F-84F.html
8. http://aircrashsites.co.uk/post-war-crash-sites/4-50-3/
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_F-84F_Thunderstreak#Accidents_and_incidents
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_accidents_and_incidents_involving_military_aircraft_(1955%E2%80%931959)#1955
11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lodge_Moor_Hospital#1955_jet_crash

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
05-Oct-2011 19:07	angels one five	Added
30-Nov-2016 18:35	TB	Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Nature, Source, Narrative]
06-Jun-2020 16:20	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
07-Jun-2020 14:58	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]
11-Jun-2020 08:10	Digger	Updated [Operator, Operator]