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| Date: | Tuesday 30 June 1959 |
| Time: | 10:40 LT |
| Type: |  North American F-100D Super Sabre |
| Owner/operator: | United States Air Force - USAF |
| Registration: | 55-3633 |
| MSN: | 223-315 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Other fatalities: | 18 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | near Ishikawa, Okinawa -
 Japan
|
| Phase: | Initial climb |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | Kadena Air Base (DNA/RODN), Okinawa |
| Kadena Air Base (DNA/RODN), Okinawa |
At 1000 feet in the initial climb from Kadena Air Base, the F-100D suffered an engine fire. The pilot dropped four 25-lb bombs over the sea, and initiated to return to the base. However, the Super Sabre became uncontrollable due to engine explosion while on the approach back to Kadena. The unmanned fighter jet crashed into the Miyamori elementary school building. Pilot Cap John Schmitt, Jr (34) ejected to safety. Eleven children in the school and six other people in the neighborhood died in the crash, and 210 people suffered injuries. One of the injured student lately died due to an aftereffect in the age of 23.
The cause of the accident was announced as an engine trouble at the time. However, 40 years after the accident, it has been revealed that the the root cause was a maintenance error.
Sources:
La Stampa 30 June 1959, p3
http://www.ufdl.udc.edu/AA00010883/02962/
http://english.ryukyushimpo.jp/2018/07/05/29003/
https://ishikawamiyamori630kai.cloud-line.com/gaiyou/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1959_Okinawa_F-100_crash
http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1955.html
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 21-Dec-2010 15:37 | Alpine Flight | Added |
| 20-Oct-2014 13:14 | TB | Updated [Date, Time, Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Operator, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Country, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Damage, Narrative, ] |
| 01-May-2016 19:51 | TB | Updated [Total occupants, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 05-Jul-2018 11:24 | gerard57 | Updated [Other fatalities, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 26-Apr-2020 06:31 | isamuel | Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Phase, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 28-Jul-2021 12:54 | TB | Updated [Other fatalities, Location, Narrative, ] |
| 02-Mar-2024 16:54 | Cobar | Updated [Registration, Cn, Source, ] |
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