ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 255302
This information is added by users of ASN. Neither ASN nor the Flight Safety Foundation are responsible for the completeness or correctness of this information.
If you feel this information is incomplete or incorrect, you can submit corrected information.
| Date: | Saturday 30 April 1949 |
| Time: | 15:21 |
| Type: |  Republic F-84C Thunderjet |
| Owner/operator: | 58th FISqn /33rd FIGp USAF |
| Registration: | 47-1493 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Layden Farm, North of Table Rock, Pawnee County, Nebraska -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | Offut AFB, Omaha, Nebraska (OFF/KOFF) |
| Selfridge AFB, Harrison Township, Michigan (MRC/KMTC) |
Republic F-84C-6-RE Thunderjet 47-1493, 58th FIS, 33rd FIG, USAF: Written off (damaged beyond repair) April 30 1949 when crashed at Layden Farm, North of Table Rock, Pawnee County, Nebraska. Pilot - Captain James N Oates USAF - was killed. According to a local history website and the Official USAF accident report file (see links #3 & 4):
"APRIL 30, 1949 - F-84 THUNDERJET CRASH NORTH OF TABLE ROCK
Two Thunderjets were traveling from Michigan to Nevada. They had just stopped at Offutt Airforce base in Omaha to refuel. They met with a storm so violent that they attempted to turn around and return to Omaha. One plane, piloted by by Lt. Marcell Webb, made it back. The other, piloted by 30-year-old Captain James Cates, crashed in mid-turn, ending up in a field between Elk Creek and Table Rock.
This crash happened on my Grandpa, J.C. Layden's, farm at that time. Unsure, but that might be my dad & Grandpa & Grandma Layden in the first picture. Grandpa told how they found only a couple very small body parts of the pilot at the site.
Grandpa dealt & fought with the Federal Gov. to get assistance to clean up his farm. He recovered remnants of the wreckage for years thereafter, scattered across his farm. The pilot's widow asked to view the crash site much later and Grandpa humbly accommodated her. This was such a sobering situation for all concerned.
I remember Dad & Grandpa discussing this many times over the years & seeing a few pieces they recovered from the jet.
It happened on April 30, 1949 at 3:21 p.m. according to the pilot's wrist watch found at the scene. He & another jet left Offut AFB at 3:12 p.m. & got into a bad storm & through radio contact decided to turn back to Omaha. Pilot Captain James Oates was in apparent trouble & dropped his storage tanks from the wings leaving 2 large holes in the Knippelmeyer pasture, adjacent to the Layden farm just before crashing on the Layden wheat field. It left a hole 20' in diameter & 8' deep. Plane wreckage was in tiny pieces scattered over a 15 to 20 acre area
We lived in the same section where it happened. Thought we heard the crash and explosion. In the middle of a thunderstorm one boom was really loud. The next morning someone stopped and asked if we knew a plane crashed east over the hill from us. We walked up the hill and there were cars and people everywhere. Later we did find some pieces of the plane when we were hunting".
The same aircraft had been involved in an earlier accident on February 8 1949 when it was one of two aircraft in a mid-air collision with another F-84B (#47-1485) over Otis AFB, Cape Cod, Barnstable County, Massachusetts. Both aircraft was with the 58th FIS, 33rd FIG, USAF at the time. F-84B 47-1493 made an emergency landing at Otis AFB, was repaired and put back into service, only to crash a second time as per the above.
Sources:
1. http://forgottenjets.warbirdsresourcegroup.org/F-84.html
2. http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1946.html
3. Official USAF Accident Report File: https://www.tablerockhistoricalsociety.com/uploads/3/7/9/3/37937631/1949_thunderjet_crash_full_file_booklet.pdf
4. https://www.tablerockhistoricalsociety.com/airplanes.html
5. Crash February 8 1949: https://www.aviationarchaeology.com/rptAF55.asp?RecID=108781
6. Crash April 30 1949: https://www.aviationarchaeology.com/rptAF55.asp?RecID=107455
7. Crash April 30 1949: http://www.accident-report.com/Yearly/1949/4904.html
8. Crash February 8 1949: http://www.accident-report.com/Yearly/1949/4902.html
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_Rock,_Nebraska
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 02-May-2021 08:49 | ASN archive | Added |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
The Aviation Safety Network is an exclusive service provided by:
Quick Links:
| ASN Home | Send Correction / Feedback |
| FSF Home | Disclaimer | Copyright |
| Contact Us | Privacy Policy |
| Press / Media |
CONNECT WITH US:
©2024 Flight Safety Foundation