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| Date: | Wednesday 15 December 1965 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  Republic RF-84F Thunderflash |
| Owner/operator: | Air National Guard (ANG) |
| Registration: | |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Tampa, FL -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Take off |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | MacDill AFB |
| Offutt AFB |
Pilot Major Sturgeon J. Armbrust (45) with the Nebraska ANG, was on a cross country flight from Lincoln AFB, NE. Halfway down the runway on take-off, the pilot jettisoned his drop tanks, which caught on fire and slid down the runway and into auto traffic entering the base. One of the flaming tanks hit a civilian employee's car. The RF-84 had become slightly airborne about 75 feet, and disappeared into the trees and crashed into off-base houses, resulting in a huge black smoke fireball.
Sources:
The Evening Independet 16 December1965, p20A
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 26-Jan-2017 20:20 | TB | Added |
| 14-Mar-2020 11:06 | nicholas_williams | Updated [Operator, Phase, Destination airport, Narrative, ] |
| 17-Jan-2022 11:10 | TB | Updated [Operator, Total fatalities, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 17-Jan-2022 11:28 | TB | Updated [Other fatalities, ] |
| 18-Feb-2022 18:39 | TB | Updated [Operator, Narrative, ] |
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