Movements December 1958
| Soesterberg AB | 03/12/1958 | ||
| F-100C | USAF | 32 TFS | 41861 , 41865, 41911 and 41915 left Soesterberg AB for a flight to Wheelus AB, Lybia - 861 and 865 crashed close to Wheelus AB see story below * Click here for the accident report |
| Soesterberg AB | 15/12/1958 | ||
| RF-84F | RNowAF | T3-C 51-17049 "Magpie Red 2" crashed at the end of the runway ; into the barrier | |
| Harvard T-6 | RNethAF | B-115 (baseflight Soesterberg) crashed on the runway during take-off (the pilot had choosen for wheels up in stead of flaps up ; the damage was minor , TT 1812.51 - info provided by B.Goethals ) |
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On 03 Dec 1958 four F-100C left Soesterberg AB for Wheelus AB, Lybia.
Two , 54-1861 and 54-1865, left at 1507Z with call sign “Haircut Blue 1” and “2”.
The other two , 54-1911 and 54-1915 left a few minutes later.
Time enroute, 1231 nautical miles, was estimated as 2 hrs and 40 minutes with 3 hrs fuel.
The flight was over Chaumont, Paris, Nice and then over Corsica and the island Pantelleria to Wheelus AB.
Due to bad communication between Pantelleria and Wheelus AB the first two diverted from flight plan and ran out of fuel.
Both pilots made succesful ejections and descended in their parachutes.
Lt. Higgins (54-1861) landed in the water and survived for approximately forty-four hours.
He was rescued uninjured by a HU-16 AirRescue aircraft at a point approx 85 nautical miles East N.E. of Wheelus AB, at 0945Z, 5 December 1958.
Capt Brandy (54-1865) landed uninjured on the ground approximately forty yards from a highway and caught a ride to the main gate of Wheelus AB.
The aircraft crashed close by, 38 miles from the field. (Read the complete story here)
credit for story : Super Sabre Society via G.H.J. Scharringa
last update 31/08/2018