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| Date: | Wednesday 16 December 1970 |
| Time: | night |
| Type: |  Northrop T-38A Talon |
| Owner/operator: | United States Air Force - USAF |
| Registration: | 61-0901 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | ca 7 mi E of Williams AFB, AZ -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Unknown |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | Williams AFB, AZ |
| Rittenhouse Auxiliary AF |
Crashed near Rittenhouse AAF. 2°Lt Terry Nicholson (23). I believe this was a night solo mission. He departed to the north with good visual references of Phoenix skyline. He was in afterburner right turning climb to the upper downwind to burn off fuel for touch and go landings. As he turned downwind he lost his night time visual refernces and apparently did not confirm attitude with instruments. The night lights of Phonix were now scattered farm lights that appeared as stars. In aftervburner, accerlerating and turning combined with vertigo placed pilot in an inverted dive. Hit desert floor inverted at 450 knots I was student at the time. We formed detail to scour crash site. Saw fireball southeast of Willy as I returned from Phoenix.
Sources:
San Bernardino Sun 17 December 1970, p21
Joe Baugher 1961
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 28-Jan-2022 21:32 | TB | Added |
| 14-Nov-2023 14:19 | J155 | Updated [Registration, Source, ] |
| 06-Aug-2024 05:42 | Schvitski | Updated [Narrative, ] |
| 06-Aug-2024 12:25 | Anon. | Updated [Narrative, ] |
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