| 8 January 1964 | F-104G | MM6509 / 4-9 | 4St/9gr | AMI | written off | pilot killed |
| This Starfighter crashed near homebase Grosseto, into the Mare al Largo di Castiglione della Pescaia (GR). After completing the second closed-circuit night flight mission, the pilot made a TACAN-GCA approach with touch and go (around) followed by two circuits on sight. During the turn to reach the starting point of the 2nd circuit attempt, the aircaft touched the surface of the sea not far from the coast, followed by a complete disintegrating. The pilot, Capt. Carlo Di Laura was sadly killed. It was the first F-104G lost by the AMI. The cause was probably a compressor stall on low altitude. The aircraft had flown 86.55 hours. Beneath a picture of MM6509 with black code 4-9 in 1963, taken at Grosseto. |
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| 10 January 1964 | CF-104 | 12767 | 6STR-OTU | RCAF | written off | pilot ok |
| 10 January 1964 | CF-104 | 12779 | 6STR-OTU | RCAF | incident | pilot ok |
| Both Starfighters were involved in a mid-air collision. One of the aircraft crashed. The other Starfighters could land safely but was CAT3 damaged which could be repaired. The pilot of the crashed Starfighter, F/O B.L. Smith ejected safely. Beneath a nice photo showing 12767 in lucky days, likely around 1963, thanks to James Craik. |
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| 15 January 1964 | CF-104 | 12828 | 422sq | RCAF | incident | pilot ok |
| This Starfighter encountered an electrical failure during a standard mission while crossing Ramstein area. The pilot performed a successful emergency landing and the aircraft was repaired soon. |
| 16 January 1964 | F-104A | 56-830 | 319FiS | USAF | written off | pilot ok |
| This accident occurred after the aircraft departed Homestead AFB, Florida and flying a low-altitude intercept mission. It flew as wing man, 2,500 to 3,000 feet. 20 minutes after take-off and 5 minutes after the practice intercept at approximately altitude of 10,000 feet, when the pilot heard a bang of moderate loudness and a continuing roar. Engine RPM seemed to be decreasing. Pilot assumed he had a flame-out or compressor stall and stop-cocked the throttle and activated both start switches. RPM decreased to 45% and EGT steadily rose. Three additional start attempts were made with similar results. Generators went off line at approx 65% RPM and electrical power was lost. With engine RPM at 25% the pilot, Captain James "Jim" Milner, decided to eject. Ejection was safe and the pilot landed in open water and climbed into his life raft. He was rescued after approx 80 minutes. Location of the crash appears was 65 nautical miles NE of Homestead AFB. The aircraft was not recovered. Investigation showed that the engine failure was caused due to cracks in the nozzle diaphragm (turbine stator assembly just forward of the first stage turbine). The stator blades bent back into the first stage turbine causing compressor stall from which there was no recovery. The whole Starfighter fleet was inspected afterwards. The IFS owns a copy of the official USAF accident report. |
| 16 January 1964 | TF-104G | D-5807 | TDM | KLu | incident | pilot ok |
| While performing a test flight from Twenthe Air Base, test pilot Capt. Matje Janssen was ordered to test a new replaced nozzle-actuating pump. Immediately after takeoff from runway 06 there was an explosion inside the aircraft and blue smoke appeared in the cockpit. The instruments indicated "FIRE" and the pilot did also smell something burning. There was no opportunity to return back to Twenthe and the pilot was forced to fly around the town Enschede towards runway 06. A second explosion was heard and another pilot from Twenthe flying an F86K Sabre jet saw flames coming out of the exhaust-nozzle and advised the pilot to bail out immediately. At that moment the Starfighter flew above Enschede and the pilot believed the aircraft was still under control. He guided the aircraft between Enschede and Hengelo and managed to get it right on the centreline of runway 06. At that moment the pilot decided to he shut off the engine and to glide down to the runway. With a high speed the aircraft landed and by using the hook and barrier he was able to stop the aircraft. The pilot knew that the hydraulic-pressure was gone (engine not running) and the brake chute was already burned by the fire so he used his hook. On the runway the fire-brigade rescued the pilot out of the F-104 and extinguished the fire the plane. Sadly the aircraft was already severely damaged (CAT-4) and was transported to Fokker - Avio Diepen by road, without the engine, on February 28th, 1964. Repair took almost 2 years and finally the TF-104G arrived back at Twenthe on January 27th, 1966, with a brand new engine. Beneath two photos taken after the landing showing the damage to the aircraft. (Photos KLu). |
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| 17 January 1964 | CF-104 | 12854 | 1W | RCAF | incident | pilot ok |
| During a mission over Marville area this CF-104 encountered a small explosion inside its engine. Gladly the aircraft could land safely and returned back to operational service soon after. |
| 20 January 1964 | CF-104 | 12870 | 444sq | RCAF | incident | pilot ok |
| During a standard flight this Starfighter encountered loss of power on a certain moment. Gladly a restart was possible and it could make a successful emergency landing. |
| 22 January 1964 | F-104B | 57-1306 | 319FiS | USAF | written off | pilot ok |
| This two-seat F-104B crashed on the Eglin Air Force Base beach after the pilot, Captain Lucius "Ott" Evans, encountered an engine failure immediately after take off from runway 19. Ott Evans ejected safely and was the only pilot on board and was on a planned flight to Homestead AFB, Florida, in light rain, carrying full tip tanks only. After a normal afterburner take off the gear and flaps were retracted. As the pilot retarded the throttle to military power at approx 500 ft and 300 knots into a right turn a rumble or roar was heard from the back of the aircraft. EGT indicated 600 degrees, nozzle full open, and RPM dropping past 70%. Pilot straightened out to remain over water and jettisoned tip tanks. Stall clearing procedure was started at about 700-900 ft and 275 knots. RPM and EGT increased slowly after two stall clearing procedures but before a restart could be done the pilot forced to eject at 400 ft and 210 knots. Ejection safe but with excessive tumbling, pilot landed in water but was able to wade ashore. Aircraft continued in a slight descent and crashed into the ground and was destroyed 5 nautical miles SSW of Eglin. It apparently crashed on the beach on Santa Rosa Island or in very shallow water (20 feet of water) just past the highway. Investigation showed that the engine failed due to cracks in the nozzle diaphragm (turbine stator assembly just forward of the first stage turbine). The stator blades bent back into the first stage turbine causing compressor stall from which there was no recovery. All Starfighters were grounded and inspected from that moment because it was not the first crash due to this cause. The International F-104 Society owns a copy of the official accident report. Photo beneath was taken around 1960 when this aircraft flew with the Tenn. ANG. |
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| 27 January 1964 | CF-104 | 12858 | 430sq | RCAF | written off | pilot ok |
| This Grostenquin based Starfighter crashed after an engine-failure at low level near Metz, France. The pilot, FlLt. Van Vliet ejected safely. The cause was a nozzle closure problem. The report stated that it when on a routine training mission, the pilot realized that the afterburner nozzle had malfunctioned, remaining in an open position. After attempting an emergency closing (ENCS) which failed, the pilot set up a course for return to base above a low under cast. Following ENCS attempt, the nozzle went to full wide open and the oil low level light flashed on. A burner climb to 32,000 feet was followed by a glide toward base. During a second burner climb the pilot had an extended conversation with two other pilots and several persons on the ground. The pilot’s problem was whether to descend through the under cast and attempt a failed nozzle landing in weather of 2500 and 2½ with the possibility of oil starvation and engine seizure. The pilot elected not to attempt a landing. The ejection at 12,000 feet was successful. |
| 31 January 1964 | F-104G | 7091/VA+111 | MFG1 | GNavy | written off | pilot ok |
| 31 January 1964 | F-104G | 7092/VA+112 | MFG1 | GNavy | written off | pilot ok |
| Both aircraft crashed after a mid-air-collision near Stadesand and Leck. KptLt Harm Zander and KptLt Hans Joachim Buth both ejected safely. KptLt Zander was flying VA+111 which crashed near Stadestand (Sudtondern). KptLtButh was flying VA+112, which crashed near Waabs/Eckernforde. Beneath a photo of aircraft VA+111. |
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| 18 February 1964 | F-104B | 57-1308 | AFSC | USAF | written off | pilots ok |
| This two-seater Starfighter crashed shortly after take-off from Edwards Air Force Base. It happened during a Functional Check Flight after maintenance. Both pilots, Captain William T. Twinting (Experimental Flight Test Officer with AFFTC, Edwards AFB) and Co-Pilot Major Jimmy L. Nichols (Maintenance Officer with Det #2, 831 Air Division, assigned to Flight Test Operations at Edwards AFB) were injured after ejecting. Fuel on board was full internal and 60 gallons in each tip tank and pilot took off from Runway 04. After retracting the gear and flaps acceleration was continued in a shallow climb. At about 400 KIAS the airplane was put into a 20 degree pitch angle. Shortly after stabilizing at this climb attitude oscillatory pitching and rolling motion developed with a frequency of about one to two cycles per second and an amplitude of less than 5 degrees. The oscillation abruptly diverged into an extremely high-rate roll to the right when a large outboard section of the wing separated from the airplane. No feedback to the control stick was noted. Full left aileron had no diminishing effect on the roll rate. The pilot looked out and noted that the right tip tank was gone. Capt Twinting then ordered Major Nichols to eject. Major Nichols ejected immediately. Capt Twinting again applied left aileron which had no effect on the roll rate. He then prepared for his ejection. The roll was so violent that he was only able to reach theejection handle with his right hand but successfully pulled the handle. Both ejections were completed at about 2,000’ above the terrain at about 400 KIAS. Captain Twinting’s seat was above him after his parachute deployed then fell and struck him on the head. His helmet, with the oxygen mask still fastened had come off during the ejection or chute deployment. He hit the ground facing the wind and was dragged 300 yards before he could collapse his chute, incurring severe injuries to his face and hands. Major Nichol’s seat was hanging from his right foot after chute deployment. He successfully detached it by kicking at his right heel with his left foot. Both stirrup cables had been cut. He hit the ground facing downwind without falling but sustained two fractures of the right leg. His mask was torn out from under its retainer kit. The retainer, which was broken, was still in place and was responsible for several cuts and contusions on his face. The aircraft hit the ground about 2 miles past the point of ejection and was completely demolished. Crash location is 8.2 northeast of Edwards AFB, California. Aircraft was assigned to AFSC, AFFTC, 6515 OMS, Edwards AFB. William T. Twinting (Major General)later became commander of the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards AFB. The International F-104 Society owns a copy of the official accident report. Photo beneath shows the aircraft in better times, around 1960 when it served the Arizona ANG. |
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| 3 March 1964 | F-104D | 57-1329 | 476TFS | USAF | written off | pilots ok |
| This Europe deployed Starfighter crashed in Spain while based at Moron AFB following an in-flight fire as a result of inflight refueling. Both crew, Major James J. Thomas and Captain Robert J. Lenar (flight surgeon),ejected safely with no injuries. It was on a day-night refueling mission on KC-135 with a scheduled 4 hook-ups for each pilot and included a short cross-country and instrument letdowns and GCI intercepts in between refuels in a flight of three. The flight also consisted of No. 2 Lt. Beall in F-104C 56-919 and No. 3 Lt. Vivian in F-104C 57-915. The F-104D 57-1329 was flight leader and configured with tip tank; both F-104Cs in the flight were clean. The second tanker rendezvous was made at 1858 (20 minutes before official sunset). After being hooked up for approximately one minute, Lt Thomas in 57-1329 felt a mild thump. A check of the aircraft and instruments revealed nothing but 15-to-30 seconds later the tanker boom operator noticed the tip tanks siphoning fuel. 57-1329 then backed off the drogue after receiving 2,800 lbs. At the time the refueling boom disconnected from the drogue both occupants of 57-1329 felt the same intensity of thump. The boom operator noticed a flash. Major Thomas then noted a warning lightin the gear handle and reduced power and he recycled the gear. He then transmitted that he had a hung gear door and at 230 knots he recycled the gear again to re-engage the door up lock hooks. Lt. Vivian in No. 3 noted the right main gear door in the down position and the tips siphoning fuel. All aircraft were leaving contrails and it was difficult to distinguish a fuel overflow from a contrail. Then Lt Vivian in No. 3 saw a ball of fire erupt from the vicinity of the wheel well of 57-1329. A transmission was made to Major Thomas that he was on fire but then he was told the fire ball disappeared. 57-1329 was slowing down rapidly and Lt Beall and Lt Vivian could not pace him even with idle power, speed brakes out and maneuvering flaps down. As 57-1329 re-advanced the throttle the “SLOW” light started blinking on. Engine RPM remained at 70% and he noted EGT at 580 degrees C. Also, a series of thumps continued. Major Thomas believed he had a compressor stall and initiated stall clearing procedure. He stop cocked the throttle, hit the air start switches, and re-advanced the throttle to Military. RPM stayed at 70% EGT fuel flow (nozzle positions were not noted). Lt Vivian noticed balls of fire erupting from the underside of 57-1329 at about the gear well. Lt Vivian radioed Major Thomas that he was on fire and to bail out immediately. At this same time fire warning lights came on in 57-1329. The UHF radio went dead. No other lights were noted. The intensity of the fire increased and flames were trailing from the aircraft for 200 feet with the underside glowing red. Major Thomas ordered Capt Lenar to bail, and when he had safely ejected Major Thomas left the aircraft. The entire sequence of events from disconnect from the drogue to the bailout was one minute and eight seconds.After the pilots ejected, the aircraft rolled into a steep spiral and was seen to impact on the ground in a near vertical dive, approximately 58 nautical miles and 96 degrees magnetic from Moron Air Base, Spain.. Captain Lenar landed safely in an open pasture. Major Thomas came down in a small olive tree which cushioned his landing. They were returned to base some hours later by the car which was sent to pick them up. The F-104D crashed. The accident was caused by an over pressurization of the internal fuel cell bladder of the D which caused a fuel leak in the left intake near the generators, The leaking fuel was leaking through the inside aluminum panel, and was mixing in with the intake air and was being ignited by the generator. Eventually the aircraft caught on fire. The International F-104 Society owns a copy of the official accident report. |
| 5 March 1964 | CF-104 | 12752 | 6STR-OTU | RCAF | written off | pilot ok |
| This Cold-Lake starfighter crashed after an engine-failure on a low level bombing run, probably due to a bird strike. However it was never proved to be caused by a bird strike. The pilot, F/O. A. Doran ejected safe. The Starfighter crashed in the neighborhood of Cold Lake. Photos of aircraft 12752 are rare. Here the aircraft is seen on the Montreal Canadair platform on March 13rd, '62. |
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| 17 March 1964 | QF-104A | 56-746 | 3205DS | USAF | written off | no pilot |
| This day was the first time in 1964 that the Eglin based drone squadron lost again one of its drone Starfighters. The QF-104A was completely destroyed after it was successful shot down by a BOMARC missile. |
| 17 March 1964 | TF-104G | MM54226 | Lockheed | AMI | incident | pilots ok |
| (USAF serial 63-12685) During the first official acceptance flight this Italian two-seater was involved in a dual-headed flight incident. Together with Maj Hunt, test pilot Capt Jancauskas encountered an engine nozzle failure which was further complicated with an insidious failure of the pitot static (airspeed especially) system. Gladly the pilot was able to land the aircraft again and it could be repaired before acceptance and subsequent delivery in February 1965. Photo beneath shows this aircraft in 1965 still in factory bare metal scheme, thanks to Klaus Kropf. |
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| 24 March 1964 | F-104G | 2071/DC+101 | JBG33 | GAF | written off | pilot ok |
| The pilot of this Starfighter encountered a nose wheel shimmy during take off from home base Buchel. It became uncontrollable and ran off the runway, then it collided with a gully causing a broken main port side landing gear. The aircraft was severely damaged and had to be written off. The pilot Capt. Robert Dixon (USAF) was unhurt. After the withdrawal the aircraft became an instructional at Buchel but was scrapped later on. Beneath the unlucky aircraft from Buchel taken around 1964. |
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| 24 March 1964 | F-104D | 57-1324 | 435TFS | USAF | incident | pilots ok |
| On this day this F-104D was damaged during a high crosswind landing when it departed the runway collapsing the right main landing gear at George AFB. Both pilots, Captain Richard E. Quigley and Captain William A. Gorton (both 435 TFS) were unhurt. Upon returning to land from an Air Combat Tactics mission over Death Valley with Capt Quigley as IP and Capt Gorton in the front seat, this aircraft was instructed to delay their break and extend their downwind leg as they were number 5 in the pattern to land on Runway 21 at George AFB. The tower was reporting winds at 270 degrees and 20 knots gusting to 25 knots (representing a crosswind component of 17 knots, 3 knots under the maximum allowable). Landing approach was normal except the final approach was slightly low because of the extended downwind leg. Touchdown was normal 1,200 ft past the approach end. The right wing immediately came up and the aircraft started a left turn in a 40 degree bank with the left tip tank dragging the runway. The right wing came down as the aircraft crossed the stabilized runway shoulder to the left of the runway. The aircraft was in a moderate skid to the right. The F-104D continued in this skid until the right forward fuselage in front of the intake duct struck the 3,000 foot runway distance marker. The right main landing gear contacted the North corner of this distance marker and collapsed to the rear. The aircraft then began a sweeping right turn on the left main landing gear, nose gear and right tip tank continuing across the dirt area coming to rest on the north edge of taxiway 5 with the right tip tank barely touching the rear bumper of a parked truck. Capt Quigley had deployed the drag chute soon after the right gear collapsed and jettisoned his canopy. The International F-104 Society owns a copy of the official incident report. |
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| 1 April 1964 | F-104A | 4202 | 8TFS | RoCAF | written off | pilot ok |
| (USAF serial 56-828) This Starfighter crashed during the approach - GCA landing at Chiayi AFB. It encountered "split flap condition" which resulted in a roll to the left and aircraft nose went down after flaps were lowered. Full right stick did not control roll. Flap lever could not be returned to the up position. When the pilot Wang Chen-Chun determined that the aircraft was no longer controllable decided to eject at about 700 feet and the aircraft crashed and was written off. (date is confirmed by accident investigation team). |
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| 22 April 1964 | F-104G | 2049/DA+232 | JBG31 | GAF | incident | pilot ok |
| This F-104G made an emergency-net-barrier landing this at Norvenich due to a total brake and chute failure. Pilot Capt. Benning was not hurt, but the aircraft spend quite a time in the repair shop, before it was delivered to MTT for modifications. It finally returned to service with JBG31 again after more than 1 year, in June 1965. Photo shows the aircraft after the halt by the barrier. |
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| 1 May 1964 | CF-104 | 12809 | 3W | RCAF | written off | pilot ok |
| This aircraft crashed after a nozzle-failure on GCA-approach to home base Zweibrucken. The pilot, FlLt. D.E.Wilson ejected safely. It all happened when the pilot was flying downwind on GCA at 3th Wing when his oil low level light came on momentarily. He broke off the GCA and headed for base, however, after selection of Land Flap, the light reappeared and the nozzles opened fully. The pilot actuated his afterburner immediately and made an overshoot and climbed back to the circuit but suddenly the afterburner failed and was not able to relight.. The Emergency Nozzle Closure System was activated but failed, the nozzle stayed open.. After a while when the altitude and speed were below safe conditions the pilot ejected. He landed between some trees 1.5 miles away from the point of impact of his aircraft and did not sustain any injuries gladly. |
| 2 May 1964 | F-104G | 8018/JA+106 | JG71 | GAF | written off | pilot killed |
| This Starfighter crashed near Bremerhafen after touching the ground during a flying demonstration. The pilot, USAF Major Thomas E. Perfili (37) was killed instantly. |
| 8 May 1964 | TF-104G | 62-12272 | 335Mira | HAF | written off | pilots killed |
| It was written off when crashed and disintegrated at Inoi Viotias, which is 6km from the Tanagra AFB Runway 29L, while on finals, due to an engine flame out. Both pilots of 114PM/335Sqn Major Panayiotis Anagnostou (squadron commander) and Major Petros Marinos (Operations Commander) were killed. Only Major Marinos managed to eject but sadly he was killed because of low altitude for deploying his chute. Beneath the map and the route + crash location of the aircraft. |
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| 11 May 1964 | F-104F | BB+381 | WS10 | GAF | incident | pilots ok |
| While landing at Jever air base this F-104F struck the approach landing lights with its starboard main landing gear. During the touch down this damaged landing gear broke and the aircraft headed to the right, off the runway. The aircraft was damaged but gladly both pilots, Capt. Camille Goossens (BAF) and StUffz Peter Schraml could step out unhurt. The aircraft was repaired again. Beneath two photos showing the result of the accident with parts of the wiring which the aircraft took when it crashed (thanks to Glenn Goossens) |
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| 11 May 1964 | RF-104G | 8142/EA+233 | AKG51 | GAF | written off | pilot ok |
| This Starfighter crashed near Manching after an engine failure. Hptm Norbert Senger ejected safely. Aircraft was completely destroyed. |
| 11 May 1964 | F-104G | 8036/JA+232 | JG71 | GAF | written off | pilot killed |
| Crashed at Wittmundhafen after touching the ground during the landing approach. The pilot Lt. Gert Gollup (26) was sadly killed. Beneath a photo showing this Starfighter taking off from Wittmund, thanks to Klaus Kropf. |
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| 11 May 1964 | CF-104 | 12811 | 3W | RCAF | written off | pilot ok |
| This aircraft crashed after a disconnect of the rudder linkage during flight near Zweibrucken. The pilot, FlLt. L. S. Bentham ejected safely. The aircraft was on a low-level exercise when it suddenly yawed violently. The pilot immediately pulled up, switched off the yaw damper and tried the trim control but the yaw remained. By looking through the rear-view mirror he could see that the rudder was deflected fully to the left. He then went through all the prescribed procedures but to no avail, the rudder remained fully left, the ball fully right and although the rudder pedals would move, they had no effect whatsoever. The pilot declared an emergency, headed for base and requested technical advice from the tower. Finally, after about 40 minutes, a technical adviser arrived in the tower but he was able only to suggest procedures that had already been tried by the pilot. As it turned out, the long delay was of no consequence, the pilot could have done nothing to correct the rudder malfunction. The pilot was faced with a critical decision; attempt a landing or bail out. He found that he could retain control down to 190 kts but at this speed about 15 degrees of bank was required to hold its heading. An approach was attempted at home base where there was 90 degree crosswind. Just before touchdown at about 50 feet he found that excessive bank was required to keep on runway heading and had to overshoot. The pilot diverted to a nearby USAF base with a runway into the wind. However, when he picked up the runway visually at 1½ miles, a 150 degree turn would have been required to lineup. By this time fuel was down to 400 lbs and the area heavily populated. The pilot decided another approach under these circumstances would be unwise. He proceeded to the bail out area and with a fuel state of zero, ejected. Everything worked as advertised and the pilot landed in trees with only a few minor scratches and bruises. The aircraft crashed in open country and caused no damage. Inspection of the wreckage revealed that a cotter pin had not been installed (probably during manufacture) in a bolt in the rudder assembly. However, the missing cotter pin had escaped detection on two periodic inspections. The bolt had worked free and a spring had pushed the rudder to full left deflection. |
| 14 May 1964 | F-104A | 56-829 | 319FiS | USAF | incident | no pilot |
| This Starfighter was slightly damaged at McClellan Air Force Base due to an non-flying incident on the ground. The damage could be fixed soon and it was flown back to 319FIS at Homestead Air Base on May 18th. |
| 28 May 1964 | F-104D | 57-1325 | 479OMS | USAF | written off | pilot ok |
| This Starfighter crashed after it became uncontrollable in flight due to a lost rear canopy. The pilot on board was Major William “Bill” Burgan who was flying solo in the front seat on a long cross country. When at 30,000 feet there was is a violent explosion that rocked the aircraft. It became uncontrollable, severe wing roll and nose pitch up and down. The pilot recovered and thought he'd been struck by another aircraft or had lost a tip tank. When looking in his rear view mirror he noticed what he thought was the canvas cover from the glare shield in the rear cockpit flapping around. Also, a rope or string in the rear cockpit blowing about. He noticed his ears hurt slightly, but he did not experience rapid decompression. He radioed in that he may had lost the rear canopy and turned back to Kirtland Air Force Base. At 90 degrees into this turn the controls felt really sloppy. His engine RPM & EGT were falling out and suddenly it flamed out. Some performed restarts were not successful so he decided to eject at 11,000 ft. The rear ejection seat fired off when the aircraft impacted ground. The aircraft was assigned to the 479th TFW but was in the 479th OMS (is that the Operational Maintenance Squadron) at Kirtland where it was flying some long cross country flights that week. The cause of the accident was a non locked (forgotten) rear electronic hatch compartment causing the rear canopy not being correctly locked. Major William Bergan flew some Colonel to New Mexico and on the way back jumped out of F-104D tail number 57-1325 over New Mexico. He failed to completely close and lock the rear electronic hatch before closing the rear canopy. The small back hatch behind the rear canopy had a pin that stuck out so that the rear canopy could not be closed until the rear hatch had been closed and latched. With the rear hatch latched the pin would retract. This would allow the rear pilot to close the canopy with no hindrances. However, Major Bergan managed to close the rear canopy anyway, forgetting that the rear hatch had to be closed and latched. After that F-104D loss the 479th had a technical order to paint that latch on the rear electronic bay RED in hopes of alerting the pilot or electronics personnel to be sure to latch the bay. The rear canopy came off in flight. FOD entered the intake, and he was forced to eject. Col Darrell Crammer really got mad. He was the 479th TFW commander at the time.Major "Bill" Bergan retired from the Air Force shortly after that. The International F-104 Society owns a copy of the official accident report. Beneath a rough photo showing what was left from the engine, inside the report. |
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| May 1964 | F-104G | 237/FN-A | 331Skv | RNorAF | incident | pilot ok |
| (USAF 62-12237) During a visit of some Norwegian Air Force F-104s to Bentwaters in the UK, from 6 till 13 May 1964, this aircraft encountered an incident. It had to abort the take off due to stuck controls. The pilot selected its arresting hook and caught successfully the arresting wire at the end of the runway. The aircraft could be repaired at Bentwaters before its intended departure on May 13th. |
| 4 June 1964 | F-104G | FX-06 | 1W | BAF | incident | pilot ok |
| This Starfighter ran off the runway during difficult weather conditions. A combination of a heavy landing and wheel shimmy resulted in loss of control. Pilot Capt B. Bastiaens was ok and the aircraft could fly again soon. |
| 15 June 1964 | F-104A | 56-764 | AFFTC | USAF | written off | pilot ok |
| This Edwards based Starfighter crashed near its home base when the pilot, Lt. Patrick Henry, Jr., (US Navy, AFSC, AFFTC) encountered an uncontrollable spin during a zoom flight. While at the ARPS (Aerospace Research Pilot School) at Edwards AFB, California Lt. Henry was scheduled to fly two zoom-climb maneuvers as part of the curriculum. His first zoom-climb was routine at 08:30 hours in F-104A 56-764 and he landed in a normal manner. The second mission was scheduled for 10:20 hours (and it was to be his fifth zoom mission). This second zoom was routine in all respects except at the peak of the zoom. Radar plot showed Lt Henry’s initial climb angle at 45 degrees gradually increasing to 52 degrees near the peak of the maneuver. Entry ground speed recorded by Edwards radar plot was 1,090 knots and the ground speed at the top of the zoom 270 knots. Maximum altitude of 83,000’ was reached. As the nose fell through the peak of the zoom the aircraft yawed to the left approximately 135 degrees. The nose nearly leveled then yawed right and the aircraft entered a flat spin. Lt. Henry attempted spin recovery with the aircraft spinning at one revolution per every 6 seconds, nose about 10 degrees below the horizon, wings level. Several engine air-starts attempted passing through 65,000’ but were unsuccessful. At 35,000’ Lt. Henry selected take-off flaps with no effect. Spinning through 25,000’ the drag chute was deployed, also with negligible effect. Pilot ejected successfully at 4,000’ AGL. He was immediately rescued by helicopter.The aircraft impacted the ground still in a flat spin, contacting the ground slightly nose first and broke in two. The fuel tanks exploded and the aircraft burned from the front frame of the engine forward. Crash occurred 3 nautical miles North of Rogers Dry Lake, Edwards AFB; near Boron. The International F-104 Society owns a copy of the official accident report. Beneath a photo showing 56-764 at Edwards Air Force Base taken in 1961. Also some newpaper articles (by Chris Baird). |
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| 25 June 1964 | CF-104 | 12778 | 6STR-OTU | RCAF | written off | pilot ok |
| This Starfighter crashed after a compressor-stall on low level flight near Cold Lake. The pilot, FlLt. W.G.Baker ejected safely. No specific evidence of bird strike in spite of assumption. A T-33 went out for searching the aircraft crash location. |
| 26 June 1964 | CF-104 | 12823 | 427sq | RCAF | incident | pilot ok |
| Lt. N.A. MacSween landed his aircraft at home base Zweibrucken at a near full fuel load just after takeoff after he detected smoke in the cockpit. The pilot took the barrier and subsequent investigation proved the radar electronics to have caught fire. The aircraft could be repaired again. |
| 2 July 1964 | F-104G | 7102/VA+122 | MFG1 | GNavy | incident | pilot ok |
| This day this Navy Starfighter made a crash landing at home base Jagel where it run off the runway. The pilot was fine and the aircraft could be repaired. |
| 10 July 1964 | JF-104B | 57-1301 | AFSC | USAF | incident | pilots ok |
| This modified test Starfighter suffered an accident at Eglin Air Force Base during the landing. It happened at 13:35 CST. The aircraft belonged to the 3214th OMS located at the Air Proving Ground Center at Eglin Air Force Base. Coming back from a 1 hour uneventful training flight to their home base they requested an overhead pattern followed by a full stop. On base they reported “Three wheels”. The aircraft touched down slightly over 1,000 ft down the runway. At 1,400 ft the right tip tank fin struck the ground the first time. The tip tank scraped the runway several times until the aircraft departed the runway 2,300 ft from the approach end. Leaving the runway the pilot in the front ejected followed by the rear seat pilot. Both ejections were sadly fatal due to too low altitude. Shortly thereafter the aircraft came to a stop. The aircraft could be repaired again. It is strange that Capt. Richard E. Hockenberry and 1lt. Robert W. Sullivan both ejected while they were too low. Both sadly died due to the injuries. The International F-104 Society owns a copy of the official accident report. |
| 23 July 1964 | F-104G | MM6596/5-21 | 102gr | AMI | written off | pilot killed |
| This Starfighter crashed near Fossano, North West of Cuneo (CN), Italy. The pilot, Capt. Camillo Boschetti was sadly killed. Beneath a photo taken in the mid 60s and very likely the MM6596, thanks to Riccardo Vestuto. Cause was stated that the pilot made a wrong movement within the formation and could not recover in time. |
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| 27 July 1964 | F-104F | BB+380 | WS10 | GAF | written off | pilots ok |
| This Starfighter crashed between Hesel and Remels, Ost-Friesland. The aircraft became uncontrollable after encountering a broken off left landing-flap. The pilots Capt. Antonio Stura (AMI) and Capt. Mario Arpino (AMI) both ejected safely. Both pilots were the first Italian pilots which were forced to eject out of an F-104 when they crashed during their second training flight with WS10. Beneath a photo taken by Hub Groeneveld at Norvenich Air Base in May 1963. |
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| 7 August 1964 | CF-104 | 12844 | 422sq | RCAF | written off | pilot killed |
| This Starfighter struck a hill and exploded near Dijon, France in bad weather conditions while flying low-level mission. Pilot, FlLt. I.W. MacLean did not eject and was sadly killed. |
| 18 August 1964 | F-104G | FX66 | SABCA | BAF | written off | pilot killed |
| This Belgium Starfighter crashed at Gosselies near Charleroi during a demo on a low altitude (low-level aerobatics flight). The pilot, Capt. V.l. Pierre Tonet was sadly killed. It happened during a test flight for SABCA Gosselies. During a wrong maneuver it flew into a hangar at Gosselies also destroying a number of civil aircraft inside. Dramatic photos seen beneath were provided by Jacques Cobut. |
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| 3 September 1964 | F-104A | 56-803 | 9sq | PAK | written off | pilot killed |
| This Starfighter crashed during a low pull-out, F/L Tariq Majeed was sadly killed. Photo beneath, showing this unlucky aircraft, was achieved thanks to the Pakistan Air Force. |
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| 11 September 1964 | F-104G | MM6555/21-14 | 21gr | AMI | written off | pilot killed |
| This FIAT license built F-104G was written off during a high speed emergency-landing at Cameri AB. It run probably off the runway. The pilot, Capt. Antonio Andretta was sadly killed. The reason for the high speed emergency landing was a combination of an open nozzle failure and further fire on board caused by a broken fuel pipe. The aircraft had only flown 68.10 hrs total. The photo beneath, provided by Riccardo Vestuto, shows the aircraft at the FIAT factory platform during post-manufacturing testing, in 1964. |
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| 9 October 1964 | F-104J | 46-8583 | 202sq | JASDF | written off | pilot ok |
| This Japanese F-104J Eiko crashed into the sea 10km South South East of home base Nyutabaru due to flap-malfunctioning while performing an air to air firing training mission. It happened at 2:50PM. The pilot 2nd Lt. Kuroki Norihisa ejected safely. The aircraft was third of a flight of 4 aircraft which flew towards the sea near Hyuuga. Suddenly flaps and radio malfunctioned. Pilot signaled his other formation pilots using his hands and headed back to base accompanied by his wing man. While returning to base, the pilots was not able to solve the malfunction. Approaching the base, the air base command declared a landing without flaps would be too difficult, and at 14:45 the air base command authorized the wing man to order the pilot to ditch his aircraft by guiding him to the sea. At 14:50, aircraft flew above sea, and pilot ejected and was soon recovered by a rescue helicopter. The aircraft crashed into the sea about 5 km South East of Ichinose River mouth. |
| 10 October 1964 | F-104A | 4205 | 8TFS | RoCAF | written off | pilot killed |
| 10 October 1964 | F-104A | 4212 | 8TFS | RoCAF | incident | pilot ok |
| 10 October 1964 | F-104A | 4216 | 8TFS | RoCAF | written off | pilot killed |
| (USAF 56-842/4205, 56-780/4212 and 56-787/4216) Three Starfighters were involved in a big accident in Taipeh this day during a military in front of presidential palace to celebrate the National Day. Starfighters were found among over 150 military jets during the fly by. In total 16 Starfighters were planned to fly in diamond formation, however at the last moment they decided to fly 4 times a formation of 4 aircraft. All took off from CCK at 9:30 h, joined together over the sea near Dan Shui at 9:55 h and then headed to Teipeh. The change in formation plan was due to two Starfighters with problems which needed to be replaced by spare F-104s taking extra time. Due to poor weather the ceiling was only 2000 ft when the fly-by started. The lead plane was a T-33 which was flying at 2000 ft altitude, to avoid the turbulence caused by the aircraft in the front, each flight was ordered to fly lower than the flight in front of it. The F-104s were positioned as the last flight, behind a formation of F-100 aircraft, so by the time it reached the presidential palace, their altitude was lower than only 1000 ft. The F-104A 4212 suddenly hit a broadcasting antenna during the fly-by which caused its left drop tank and leading edge flap to be damaged and fuel was pouring out of the drop tank like a cut artery. A huge part of the tip tank was gone and with parts of the wing it hit the weather bureau building, killing 3 civilians. Its wing man "4205", went closer to 4212's left side to check for the damage after they flew over the presidential palace. The section leader worried that the formation was not maintained if "4205" moved out of its proposed slot, therefore, ordered "4205" to go back to its position. While doing this, "4205" did not realize that the front 2 aircraft in the formation slightly turned into a right corner and suddenly crashed into the back of the aircraft in front of him being 4216. It was reported that aircraft 4205 collided its cockpit into the aft fuselage section of 4216 and then went through 4216 wing section resulting in 4205 breaking up into half.. Pilot Major LIN Heh Sheng inside 4216 tried to steer the aircraft towards an area without people and for this reason was too late to eject. Captain WANG Chen Chun flew 4205 and was killed instantly. Captain HUANG Dong Rong flew an unknown F-104A and could land his aircraft safe again although his canopy got severely cracked by debris from the 4205/4216 collision. Finally Captain Zhang Jian Biao flew the aircraft 4212. He was able to control the damaged Starfighter and flew it to Tao Yuan Air Base for an emergency landing. But because a large formation of F-86s were landing at that time he decided not to confuse the pattern and decided to fly to Hsin Chu Air Base instead to land there. However at this base also a formation was landing, so finally he landed its damaged 4212 at CCK Air Base. Beneath a photo of aircraft 4216, a picture taken just after the dramatic collision and also a drawing explaining the way the aircraft collided over the public. |
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| 14 October 1964 | F-104G | 7136/DD+237 | JBG34 | GAF | written off | pilot killed |
| This Starfighter crashed near Unterschwartzach and Memmingen, Germany. The cause of the accident was spatial disorientation. Sadly Hptm. Gunther Klatt was killed. |
| 16 October 1964 | F-104C | 56-927 | 476TFS | USAF | written off | pilot ok |
| This Starfighter crashed near Miramar NAS at around 16:30 PDST due to an engine stall. Pilot Major Kenneth D. Burns 476TFS, ejected and was safe. The pilot was scheduled to fly F-104C 56-927 from George Air Force Base to Miramar Naval Air Station. He would be flight leader in a joined formation flight. The other pilots were Capt. R.B. Soltis, Capt. R.C. Billett and Capt. R. Holt. After takeoff, during climb out, the jaw damper failed on the 56-927 and was switched off. Turning off a failed yaw damper is a normal procedure and so Burns continued his flight. Approximately 15 minutes after takeoff Major Burns noticed that his tip tanks stopped feeding. He pulled his external tanks fuel transfer circuit breaker and the tanks commenced to feed. The formation continued and when GCA San Diego Approach Control was in contact with them the flight was split for one more approach prior to landing. A go around was initiated prior to GCA minimums at 1000 feet MSL. At the far end of the runway Major Burns felt a thud and noticed an immediate loss of thrust. An observer on the ground noticed a flame appear from the bottom of the exhaust nozzle. The wing man also a flame appear in the nozzle area which was of short duration. Major Burns attempted 3 stall clearing procedures but he noted no increase in rpm which was at that moment 45%. He did not receive any transmissions from his wing man due to the aircraft generators being “off the line”, thus supplying no power to the aircraft radio transmitter or receiver. Two and a half miles from the airfield and at 190 knots IAS, altitude 1000 feet MSL the pilot successfully ejected. The aircraft struck the ground and burned upon impact. The pilot was picked up by a NAVY helicopter. The only injury to the pilot was a sprained ankle. The International F-104 Society owns a copy of the official USAF accident report. Beneath a map photo showing the likely crash location and also a photo of the aircraft on the ramp of George AFB. |
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| 16 October 1964 | F-104G | 2085/DC+236 | JBG33 | GAF | written off | pilot ok |
| This German Starfighter crashed after the pilot Hptm Hans-Jürgen (Georg) Rentel experienced an engine-failure near Dolleren, Massevaux (Vosges), West from Mühlhausen, France. During this failure he encountered an explosion and subsequent fire alarm followed by the F-104 becoming uncontrollable. The pilot ejected safely and visited the crash site shortly after arriving on the ground as can be seen on the photo beneath. The other photo was shared by Hubert Peitzmeier, showing the aircraft in flight. |
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| 19 October 1964 | F-104G | 7065/DC+250 | JBG33 | GAF | incident | pilot ok |
| During squadron exchange at Ghedi in Italy this German F-104G had to make an emergency landing at Rimini Air Base during a mission. There it made a successful barrier hit which sadly damaged the aircraft. However it was repaired soon after. It happened South of Assisi when pilot Peter von Stackelberg encountered severe problems with the APC System. He decided to make an emergency landing at Rimini airbase. It was a heavy weight landing plus 25 kts X-wind on a wet runway with no anti-skid surface. Photos thanks to Nicola Malizia. |
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| 27 October 1964 | CF-104 | 12849 | 439sq | RCAF | written off | pilot ok |
| This Marville-based Starfighter crashed after an engine-failure due to a bird strike (likely aircraft ingested a crow) at 2000 feet near Troyes, France. The pilot, SL. Jack L. Frazer ejected safely. He was CO of 439 Sqn. Beneath a photo of the aircraft on the line-up at Canadair at Montreal prior delivery to the Air Force, thanks to Bob McIntyre. |
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| 29 October 1964 | F-104G | MM6597/5-22 | 102gr | AMI | written off | pilot ok |
| This AMI Starfighter crashed near its home base Rimini when the pilot, Ten. Mario Giammona, experienced a APC (Automatic Pitch Control) intervention after a low pass over the airbase. Because the aircraft was too low to recover normally the pilot ejected and was safe although he got injured. |
| 10 November 1964 | F-104A | 56-860 | 319FiS | USAF | written off | pilot ok |
| This Homestead Air Base operated Starfighter crashed into the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida following engine failure. Pilot Captain Paul Shook ejected safely and he survived after spending 39 hours in the water. He was finally rescued by the US Coast Guard, about 40 miles West of Sarasota, Florida. The Starfighter was on a 4-ship, supersonic air-to-air gunnery. Captain Shook encountered trouble just after firing 3 bursts into the target. He requested permission to close with the target to inspect the target for hits. He selected AB and when he obtained a good closure rate with the target he retarded the throttle to military. As he approached the target he extended speed brakes and retarded the throttle. Altitude was 25,000 ft and speed 300 knots. At the first movement of the throttle a loud bang was heard followed by rapid and repeated banging as he throttled back to idle. Assuming he had a compressor stall he began stall clearing procedures. He radioed that he had an engine stall and flame-out. This was his last transmission as alternators dropped off line leaving him without electrical power. Stall clearing procedures were unsuccessful. Each time he advanced the throttle the engine RPM hung at 52% and EGT climbed to 615 degrees. At 10,000 ft Captain Shook signaled his leader that he was going to eject. He slowed the aircraft to 220 knots, connected the Zero lanyard, lowered his visor, pinned his feet in the stirrups and lowered his head before jettisoning the canopy. After the canopy left he sat erect and pulled the seat D ring with both hands. The ejection was clean and seat separation good although there was a severe opening shock due to the Zero lanyard being connected. Captain Shook was unable to get the lid off his survival kit or deploy the dinghy as he descended. Reaching the water he had to untangle himself. He floated in the water for 39 hours with only his underarm preserver before he was rescued by the USCGC Ariadne. He had no survival kit or signaling gear. The aircraft crashed at about 155 nautical miles WNW of Homestead AFB, Florida. Newspaper articles give the location of the crash as 85 miles SW of Fort Myers. When rescued he was suffering from exposure and shock and a bad cut to his wrist. USCGC Ariadne put Captain Shook ashore where he was taken by helicopter to Homestead AFB. The International F-104 Society owns a rough copy of the official accident report. The photo beneath shows this F-104A when it operated with the Tenn. Air National Guard a few years earlier. Also attached some newspaper articles thanks to Chris Baird. |
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| 12 November 1964 | RF-104G | 8126/EA+115 | AKG51 | GAF | written off | pilot ok |
| This reconnaissance Starfighter crashed near home base Manching after Major Charles Learnard (USAF) experienced an engine failure and had to eject. He was safe. |
| 16 November 1964 | CF-104 | 12856 | 3W | RCAF | written off | pilot ok |
| This Zweibrucken based CF-104 crashed near Karlsruhe, Germany after pilot FlLt. Henry R. Stroud experienced an engine failure. The pilot, ejected safely. FlLt Stroud was on a penetration turn over Karlsruhe when the engine suddenly stalled. He steered his CF104 to the outskirts with the last bit of hydraulics available from his windmilling engine, and then bailed out at about 50 feet, barely making it, and injuring himself. He was feted in the Karlsruhe papers as a hero. The incident investigation showed the cause to be jamming of the inlet guide vane (IGV) feedback cable in the Teflon-lined conduit in a position corresponding to IGVs fully open. This resulted in the IGVs being commanded to the fully closed position where they remained until impact. The cause of the cable jamming was found to be the use of the improper lubricant during maintenance. Beneath a photo of CF-104 12856 taken by Bob McIntyre at Montreal prior delivery to the Air Force. |
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| 17 November 1964 | F-104G | D-8045 | 322sq | KLu | written off | pilot killed |
| This Starfighter crashed, after it run out of fuel, into the mountains near Trondheim, Norway some 25 km south-east of Kristiansund, near Straumsnes, Tingvoll. The pilot (322 squadron commander) Major Willem "Bill" Heitmeijer (39) was sadly killed. The cause was oxygen-mask poisoning which made the pilot unconscious. In the morning (09:21 zulu time) Major Bill Heitmeijer toke off (Mission 07) from Leeuwarden Air Base, together with Lt. Eric Dames, to the south for a navigation trip. Around 09:38 Z both returned back heading Leeuwarden. Reaching the Friesland county at approx. 30.000 ft, being on autopilot, something was wrong with Major Bill Heitmeijer. All radio contact was lost with him and the aircraft flew on heading the North-North-East in a straight line. Immediately wing man Lt. Dames attempted to awaken the pilot but after a while when he ran out of fuel he had to go back to Leeuwarden around 10:10 Z with only 1000 lbs fuel left. Around 12:00h local time his attempts were taken over by a Norwegian Air Force F-86 Sabre which had taken off from Rygge Air base around 10:45 Z. The F-86F pilot, Lt Col Arne Riegels, arrived with the D-8045 at 11:00 Z and flew very close to the Starfighter. He checked the pilot but the pilot was unconscious or maybe dead. He even brought the F-104 inside the jet-wash of his F-86 but also these tabulations did not have any effect any more. Suddenly the Starfighter dived vertical from 200 meter and finally crashed into the mountains. This was the moment that the aircraft ran out of fuel. Time was 11:17 Z, almost 2 hours after the Starfighter took off from Leeuwarden AB. As already mentioned, the official investigation showed that the accident was caused by oxygen mask poisoning, a reason to initiate a special treatment of oxygen mask cleaning and checking within the NATO Air Forces. Only half of the engine could be covered and the rest of the aircraft disintegrated. Currently still a lot of debris including a big part of the J-79 engine can be found at the memorial location. This location can be found at coordination N 62 59, 495 - E 008 03,161 and is just beneath the mountain Nipa, in Tingvoll Borough. The plate on the memorial shows a number of interesting radio conversation during the tragic ending mission. Beneath some photos of the aircraft, the memorial which includes parts of the aircraft, a map with given route and two newspaper articles regarding the accident. Thanks to Peter Rhebergen and Geir Lorentzen. See also: https://docplayer.me/106717409-1964-en-ukjent-grav-pa-vaernes.html. |
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