ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 47336
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| Date: | Saturday 26 July 1958 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  Lockheed F-104A-15-LO Starfighter |
| Owner/operator: | United States Air Force (USAF) |
| Registration: | 56-0772 |
| MSN: | 183-1060 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | SE of Rosamond Dry Lake -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Take off |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
Lockheed F-104A (56-0772) was the 43rd F-104A built, and the ninth of the Block 15 series. After acceptance by the Air Force, it served as a test and support aircraft at the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards AFB, California.
On 26 July 1958, Capt. Iven C. Kincheloe was scheduled to fly F-104A (56-0772) to A. F. Plant 42 at Palmdale to support a test flight. Shortly after takeoff, the inlet guide vane (IGV) position feedback cable broke, allowing the IGVs to go to the full-closed position. The failure was not readily apparent to the pilot, as the J79 engine was still getting 100-percent RPM and there was no indication of an overtemp condition. Unfortunately, the engine was now only providing 80-percent thrust, and the pilot could not light the afterburner because of reduced airflow through the engine.
The aircraft began to lose altitude, quickly dropping below 2,000 feet above ground level. Since he had a downward ejection seat, and was descending rapidly, Kincheloe apparently felt he had to invert the aircraft to bail out. The pilot made a final radio call to the base: "Hello, Edwards. Mayday, Seven-Seventy-Two. Bailing out."
Kincheloe rolled the aircraft, pulled the hatch jettison handle, and then pulled the seat jettison handle. By this time the F-104 had lost a frightful amount of altitude. Since the seat was designed to fall out using gravity an inverted ejection was not recommended. The seat slid out slowly and skated along the fuselage after separation from the airframe. Kincheloe separated from the seat less than 500 feet above the ground. His parachute deployed at extremely low altitude, and he was killed on impact. The aircraft struck the ground south east of Rosamond Dry Lake and was completely destroyed.
Sources:
http://www.ejection-history.org.uk/PROJECT/YEAR_Pages/1958.htm
http://www.thexhunters.com/xpeditions/f-104a_aircraft.html
Correia da Manhã 29 July 1958, p5 (2°Caderno)
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 04-Nov-2008 10:35 | ASN archive | Added |
| 30-Oct-2012 13:18 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Phase, Source, Narrative] |
| 30-Oct-2012 13:55 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Location, Country, Narrative] |
| 03-Oct-2014 11:19 | Anon. | Updated [Aircraft type, Cn, Operator] |
| 28-Sep-2015 18:24 | TB | Updated [Operator, Location, Source] |
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