| 28 January 1982 | F-104G | 26+54 | JBG34 | GAF | written off | pilot ok |
| After encountering an engine failure due to ricochets, after a rocket pass on Grafenwöhr Range, this Starfighter touched tree-tops and crashed North-West of Salzbach and Rosenberg, near Eckenricht. The pilot OTL Dieter Kall ejected safely. The wreck of the aircraft was seen for many years at the Memmingen dump. Picture beneath was taken by Peter Doll, likely at Deci. |
 |
| 8 February 1982 | F-104J | 76-8702 | 5W204sq | JASDF | written off | pilot ok |
| This Starfighter hit some trees during the landing at Nyutabaru AB and crashed near the runway. Gladly the pilot was safe. Beneath a photo showing the aircraft during the ACM meet one-and-a-half year before the accident. |
 |
| 9 February 1982 | F-104S | MM6780/36-35 | 36St156gr | AMI | written off | pilot killed |
| This F-104S crashed at Masseria Capo Iazzo, 6 km from home base Gioia del Colle, during a night flight in bad weather together with another F-104S. The pilot, Capt. Alberto Paolucci was sadly killed. It happened during the landing preparations. When approaching the main base in less than optimal weather conditions, shortly before starting the procedure the GCA, the aircraft slipped out of the formation and impacted the ground due to possible aerospace disorientation, 6:21 PM local time, tip/pylon tanks configuration. The picture beneath shows the aircraft taxiing at its homebase Gioia on 23 July 1980 (by Helmut Baumann). |
 |
| 17 February 1982 | F-104G | 8288/4-288 | 142filo | THK | written off | pilot ok |
| (USAF serial 64-8288) This former Dutch Air Force Starfighter crashed near homebase Murted AB (Akinci AB) during a training mission. The pilot could eject in time using his C2 ejection seat and was safe. |
| 18 February 1982 | TF-104G | 5964/4-964 | 142filo | THK | written off | pilots killed |
| (USAF serial 67-5964) It crashed near the Kazan settlement which is not far from its homebase Murted. Sadly both pilots Yzb (Capt) Ibrahim Gürbasli (born 1947) and Ütgm (Lt) Erdal Hamamci (born 1956) were killed. Beneath a photo showing the aircraft at homebase Murted a year before in 1981 (Marcel te Slaa) |
 |
| 30 March 1982 | F-104G | 4356 | 28TFS | RoCAF | written off | pilot ok |
| (USAF serial 64-17794) Just after takeoff from CCK Air Base in Northern direction, the engine flamed out at the moment the pilot selected changed full afterburner to military power. Due to the low altitude the pilot, Li Yuan-Fu, immediately ejected and landed on a farm, but gladly was safe. The aircraft crashed at or close to Da An Xiang (now Da An District, Tai Chung City) beach, West of Da Jia Town (now Da Jia District, Tai Chung City), Tai Zhong County (Tai Chung County). Beneath a photo of this aircraft taken at CCK. |
 |
| 1 April 1982 | F-104G | MM6572/6-24 | 6St154gr | AMI | written off | pilot ok |
| This Starfighter crashed during a simulated attack near the Ghedi Airbase, together with 3 other Starfighters. In the final turn while achieving the correct angle of attack, the aircraft hit a concrete pole of a powerline. The pilot was able to gain altitude but soon after the aircraft went into flames completely. At about 500 feet and with a very low speed the pilot Major Antonio Rochelli ejected and was safe. The aircraft crashed without causing damage to property or persons. Beneath a few photos published in the Italian military safety magazine, showing the aircraft falling down in flames and the remains of the aircraft and the concrete pole. Two crash pictures were provided by Giuseppe Maffioli. Finally also a picture taken of the aircraft landing at Villafranca in August 1981. (Adriano Agnoli picture). |
   |
| @ |
   |
| @ |
   |
| @ |
  |
| 21 April 1982 | F-104G | 25+54 | JBG32 | GAF | written off | pilot ok |
| After encountering an engine stall due to a birdstrike at lowlevel, this Starfighter crashed into sea near the Capo-Frasca range, Sardinia. Gladly Pilot Olt Peter Heidmann ejected safely. Beneath a photo showing this aircraft (JBG32) back in 1976 during the Tactical Air Meet at Twenthe Air Base. |
 |
| 30 April 1982 | CF-104 | 104732 | 417sq | RCAF | written off | pilot ok |
| This starfighter crashed after a loss of control during air-combat training on the Primrose Lake Weapons Range. The pilot, Capt. Dave Ghyselincks (441 squadron) ejected safely after his 104 entered an upright spin during a Fighter Weapons Instructor course air combat training mission against a CF5 from 419squadron. After ejection he got injured when he engaged a tree. It happened when the pilot wanted to dive towards Primrose lake by remaining full left aileron + full left rudder and remaining unloaded to get the nose to drop. However the CF-104 responded differently and soon went out of control, in an upright spin. While bringing the power to idle and the stick forward and right together with pushing hard with the left foot, the jaw rate stabilized but also before the trim motor could run its course full down. The nose was up slightly (2 or 3 degrees) and the wings were dead level. The horizon was going around and there was no time to deploy the drag chute which could get the nose down. After a few more attempts by centering the controls and then bringing them back to their full deflection to see if the 104's attitude would change, the pilot did not have any choice anymore and ejected. Investigation showed the cause: the clean F-104 with only 1700 pounds of fuel + an empty canon ammunition-bin, resulted in an aft centre of gravity which made the spin irrecoverable. Beneath a photo showing CF-104 104732 landing somewhere 1981 or 1982. |
 |
| 7 May 1982 | TF-104G | 27+92 | MFG2 | GNavy | written off | pilots killed |
| This two-seat Starfighter crashed into the 'Kattegat' (Ostsee) near Lasoe, Denmark, during a low-level-sortie when it hit the water. Sadly both pilots had no time to eject and were killed. They were KorvKpt Karsten Wichert (35) and ResMaj Fritz Pohl (52), at that time director of a well-known German newspaper. Photo, showing the aircraft landing, was provided by Hubert Peitzmeier. Also a local newspaper article. |
  |
| 10 May 1982 | F-104S | MM6718/36-07 | 36St12gr | AMI | written off | pilot ok |
| The aircraft, carrying tiptanks, was damaged when it overran the runway of Gioia after a rough landing. The pilot, Lt. Luigi Telesca, decided to select his ejection seat and was safe. The aircraft stayed damaged at Gioia del Colle for a while until investigation showed that the aircraft was damaged beyond economical repair. The wreck was seen at Gioia for the last time in March 1986 and was finally scrapped with 2223 flying hours. Below a picture taken by unknown photographer at Gioia in July 1982, showing the wreck of the MM6718. (thanks to Claudio Carretta) |
 |
| 14 May 1982 | F-104S | MM6757/5-11 | 5St102gr | AMI | written off | pilot killed |
| This Starfighter crashed at Mezzano, 8km from Comacchio (FE) due to an unknown reason. It flew in a formation of four aircraft and returned from a shooting exercise at the Maniago range. During a certain turn in formation he left the formation and hit the ground. The pilot, Capt. Angelo Mirasole was sadly killed. The aircraft was configures with tip/pylon tanks and also BL.104 dispenser. |
| 25 May 1982 | TF-104G | 4146 | 12SMS | RoCAF | written off | pilots killed |
| (USAF serial 62-12271) During a training mission this two seat Starfighter crashed into sea sadly killing both pilots Li Shen-Hsin and Wang Tai-Hsin. |
| 1 June 1982 | F-104G | 21+93 | JBG32 | GAF | <>written off | pilot ok |
| This Starfighter run-off the runway at Decomomannu after the pilot Olt Kurt Esch (JBG31) noticed heavy engine vibration and decided to do a high speed approach into the base. During landing he ran off the runway, but remained unhurt. It was declared written-off due to the substantial structural damage. The aircraft was under control of the Decimammanu Kdo and owned by JBG32. Photos beneath show the aircraft at Deci after the accident (Both unknown source). |
  |
| 2 June 1982 | F-104S | MM6917/36-37 | 36St156gr | AMI | written off | pilot killed |
| Having been taken off from Gioia del Colle, this Starfighter encountered a broken forward flap linkage during gunnery mission at Punta della Contessa, Brindisi and it crashed into the sea sadly killing pilot Capt. Stefano Serafini (28). The pilots body was recovered by divers of the navy. It flew at very low altitude about 10km off coast, South of Brindisi. The aircraft flew in a tip/pylon tanks configuration with also BL.104 dispenser. |
| 3 June 1982 | F-104S | 6853/9-853 | 191filo | THK | written off | pilot killed |
| (USAF serial 74-6853) This F-104S crashed while performing a ground attack training mission at the Catalkaya Radar Site, near Catalkaya, Izmir during an exercise. The pilot, 1st Lt. Ahmed Ugur Karyagdi hit a hill and was sadly killed. |
| 4 June 1982 | CF-104 | 104892 | 417sq | RCAF | written off | pilot ok |
| During an air-to-ground range mission it crashed near Cold Lake after an in-flight fire due to a broken afterburner fuel line which caused a massive engine fire occurred. The pilot, Capt. Kerry Cranfield ejected safely. The aircraft was ex 1 CAG and camouflaged. The tail was seen at the dump of ColdLake at least till july 1994. Beneath a photo taken of this aircraft at Cold Lake. |
 |
| 24 June 1982 | F-104G | 22+32 | JBG34 | GAF | written off | pilot killed |
| This Starfighter crashed near Passau, Bayern, 100nmls of Malgersdorf. The pilot, Hptm Bernd Reefman ejected too late and was sadly killed. During a low-level ACM mission the aircraft went out of control due to asymmetric loading caused by an uneven external fuel-load. The left hand tiptank could not give its fuel. The pilot went down to a simulated target, pulled the stick in order to climb but the left tiptank was 100% filled with fuel while the right one was nearly empty. The aircraft rolled fast and the pilot had no change to eject in time. Photo beneath (by Peter Doll) shows the aircraft in 1978. |
 |
| 3 July 1982 | F-104G | MM6582/3-35 | 3St28gr | AMI | written off | pilot killed |
| It crashed at Bonde di Salizzole (VR) about 40km from its homebase Villafranca. It was temporary used by 155 Gruppo. To avoid the aircraft crashing on a village the pilot, Lt Marco Pizzicaroli (25, living in Rome) sadly ejected too late and was killed. Cause was a flame-out due to a failure in the fuel transfer system. It flew in a tip-tanks configuration. Until 1985, the wreck of the aircraft has been seen lying on the dump of Verona-Villafranca. Photo beneath was taken in April 1981. |
 |
| 7 July 1982 | F-104G | 26+62 | MFG2 | GNavy | written off | pilots ok |
| While stationed at Decimomannu it crashed near the Capo Frasca range, Italy during shooting-excercises. Pilot, OltzS Frank Genge lost control while rolling in for a simulated bomb delivery and ejected safely. The aircraft crashed into the sea. |
 |
| 28 July 1982 | F-104G | 23+65 | JBG33 | GAF | incident | pilot ok |
| It landed on Gutersloh after a mid-air collision with a Bruggen based Jaguar (RAF) which could land safely on Bruggen. The F104 landed at Gutersloh being damaged and with its pitot-tube missing! it could be repaired. Beneath a photo showing 23+65 at Norvenich in 1981, operated by JBG33 but without badges. |
 |
| 29 July 1982 | CF-104 | 104827 | 439sq | RCAF | written off | pilot ok |
| This Starfighter crashed due to a mid-air collision with a civil Piper PA-32 Cherokee Six aircraft, while on a training mission. The N-registered Piper crashed also killing both 2 German persons inside. On the ground also 1 person was killed. The CF104-pilot, Col. John .L. "Jack" Frazer used his ejection seat successfully. Both aircraft came down on fire. It happened in northern Germany, possibly in the Flensburg area. "Jack" Frazer stated later: "A civilian light aircraft collided with me head on with me taking his left wing and tailplane off and his wing taking one and a half feet of my left wing off. My aircraft began rolling out of control and I ejected just past the inverted position at about 700 feet above ground a good system and a large depression in the ground under my ejection point saved my life. Unhappily, my aircraft impacted a house on the ground, killing the 19 year old occupant and both people in the other aircraft were killed. In the collision, my left hand became jammed on the throttle and my elbow was turned inside out when the seat rose up the rails. Since the ejection was at over 500 MPH I suffered some other damage as well but all in all was very fortunate." Beneath a very nice photo showing the aircraft taking off from Bruggen on 14 July 1982, 15 days before it was lost. (Frans Lukassen). Also a local newspaper article. |
  |
| 3 August 1982 | F-104S | MM6765/53-21 | 53St21gr | AMI | written off | pilot killed |
| This F-104 crashed on mountain Bisalta near Cuneo. Pilot Capt. Claudio Negrin was sadly killed on impact. At the moment of the accident the weather was very bad (heavy storm). Flames were all around the area and the inhabitants of a nearby farm alarmed the authorities when they saw the flames while milking their cows. Beneath a picture showing the aircraft 2 months before the accident at the airshow at Toul, France on June 6th (taken by Eric Tammer) and also a picture from an Italian safety magazine showing the crash site and its directions. |
  |
| 4 August 1982 | F-104G | 22+48 | JBG34 | GAF | written off | pilot ok |
| This Starfighter crashed near near Breitenbrunn, county Neumarkt/Oberpfalz (Hohenfels Range) after an engine stall at lowlevel caused by a lost maintenance door on the left forward fuselage which collided to the airframe/inlet and parts of it entered the engine area. Pilot Hptm Helmut Renger ejected safely. Beneath a photo showing the aircraft at Memmingen in 1981 (Hubert Peitzmeier Collection) and a local newspaper article. |
  |
| 18 August 1982 | CF-104 | 104887/R-887 | 723Esk | RDAF | written off | pilot ok |
| This starfighter crashed near Fjerritslev, north of Kollerup/Jutland, due to total instrument failure in bad weather. The pilot Hav. Lt. C.T. Pedersen ejected safely. The aircraft flew during an exercise south of Laesoe in bad weather when the pilot discovered that the altimeter was not working correctly, and the aircraft was flying in heavy cloud circumstances without visibility. At that moment, flying around 1000m high, the Master Caution, APC OUT and the Inertial Nav Fault light for the LN-3 inertial navigation system started to illuminate. The pilot tried to correct this by turning on generator 2 and 1, but without result. When the plane was still in the cloud and the pilot did not have the necessary instruments to fly under the circumstances, he decided to eject. The pilot was picked up by SAR 33 minutes later. Beneath a nice photo taken by Erik Frikke at Aalborg in 1978. |
 |
| 26 August 1982 | F-104G | 26+10 | JBG33 | GAF | written off | pilot ok |
| This Starfighter crashed near Thalheim (not far from Erding) after pilot Olt Eckhardt Südmeyer reported an engine failure after an explosion caused by a birdstrike just after takeoff from Erding. He ejected in time and was safe. |
 |
| August 1982 | F-104S | MM6810/36-06 |
36St12gr | AMI | incident | pilot ok |
| During a nightflight this F-104S landed back at home base Gioia, but encountered a landing accident. The front wheel strut broke off and the aircraft stopped at the end of the runway with damaged nose wheel compartment en nosewheel doors. It was sent to Caselle for IRAN + repair and returned back in 1983, transferred to 21 gruppo at Cameri. Photos beneath are from the photographic department at Gioia del Colle / AMI. |
   |
| 19 October 1982 | F-104G | D-8052 | 306sq | KLu | incident | pilot ok |
| This Starfighter encountered a bird strike damaging the aircraft behind its radome at starboard side. Happily no metal parts came loose, entering the engine via the inlet, otherwise the aircraft could have been fatally damaged in flight. Pilot was, very likely but not yet confirmed, Pieter Enzerink. It happened 10 minutes after takeoff, near the small village Zeeland. The aircraft was fully loaded with external fueltanks and Orpheus pod. The pilot decided to burn his fuel nearby the airbase and make an emergency landing right away. The aircraft could be repaired soon. Beneath a photo thanks to Ton van Soest (http://www.the306sqn.com/) showing the damage on the aircraft. |
 |
| 20 October 1982 | F-104G | 22+37 | JBG31 | GAF | written off | pilot ok |
| This F-104 crashed during shooting-exercises near Capo-Frasca, Sardinia, after a compresso-stall. Pilot Maj Dietmar Fetzer (JBG34) ejected safely. On that moment the aircraft was under control of the Decimomannu Kdo and flown by a non-JBG31 pilot while the aircraft belonged to JBG31. Photo beneath shows aircraft 22+37 at Honington in October 1979. |
 |
| 26 October 1982 | F-104G | 21+80 | JBG31 | GAF | written off | pilot killed |
| During a night mission this aircraft crashed into the IJsselmeer, near the 'Afsluitdijk' and 'Breezanddijk’ (7km south of the little harbor of Breezanddijk) at 9PM local time. It was on its way to the Vliehors-range with callsign 'mission 1335'. The pilot Hptm Reinhard Schroder was sadly killed on impact when the aircraft hit the water, likely due to desorientation. Beneath photo shows the aircraft in 1980 at Ramstein where it participated in the Tactical Air Meet and a photo some of the tragic remains. Finally also a number of local newspaper articles about the accident. |
      |
| @ |
  |
| 3 November 1982 | F-104G | 26+55 | MFG2 | GNavy | written off | pilot ok |
| During a simulated attack mission this Starfighter crashed near Lasoe Island, Denmark into the 'Kattegat' (Ostsee) after encountering an engine-stall. FKpt Harmund Muller could eject in time as was safe. beneath a photo of this Starfighter and a local newspaper article. |
  |
| 11 November 1982 | F-104G | 4350 | 12SMS | RoCAF | written off | pilot killed |
| (USAF serial 64-17776) This Starfighter crashed in Nantou after it encountered a mechanical malfunction. Pilot Chao Tse-Chun ejected but was tragically killed by the parachute string around his neck. |
| 3 December 1982 | CF-104D | 104640 | 417sq | RCAF | written off | pilot killed |
| 3 December 1982 | CF-104D | 104647 | 417sq | RCAF | written off | pilot killed |
| These aircraft both crashed after a possible mid-air-collision with each other while on a formation proficiency mission. Both pilots, Capt. D.R.Owen (104640) and Capt. J.L.A.Tremblay (104647) did not eject and were declared missing. The aircraft, both with only 1 pilot on board, took off from Cold Lake and crashed north of this base. Beneath photos of both aircraft taken at Cold Lake. |
  |
| 7 December 1982 | F-104G | 62-12326/4-326 | 141filo | THK | written off | pilot ok |
| This Sttarfighter crashed at or near home base Murted. The pilot was safe. Photos of this Starfighter are extremely rare, beneath a photo taken at Murted by Hans Koning during a visit on July 20th, 1974. |
 |
| 7 December 1982 | F-104G | 24+97 | JBG32 | GAF | written off | pilot ok |
| On 6 December this Starfighter, flown by Oblt Martin Dötzer, together with a collegue and leader Hptm Wolfgang Leuthner (both JBG32 - 2nd Staffel) scheduled a cross country route from Lechfeld to RAF Brawdy, to Aalborg and back to Lechfeld. That 6th December the flight went perfect and both landed at Brawdy for the night. The next day the weather was bad with fog and heavy clouds. As soon as the weather was good enough to depart, both aircraft took off. Soon after the pilot of 24+97 encountered problems with the undercarriage, the doors wouldn’t close entirely, even after a few attempts. Then when also his collegue could confirm the problems with the doors, the pilot decided to divert to Cottesmore. Sadly at that moment he encountered also problems with the engine which became soon fatal making the pilot to eject. The ejection went fine and the pilot was picked up from the sea by a Royal Navy helicopter (Sea King HAR3 of B-flight 202 squadron). Investigation showed that the problems were caused by a collision with a lot of gulls during the takeoff from Brawdy. These damaged the microswitch in the undercarriage retraction mechanism and also damaged the compressor section of its engine. Indeed at the end of the runway a lot of dead seegulls were found all over, which confirmed this. The aircraft crashed into the Irish Sea, around 30 minutes after take off. |
 |
##
| Back to accidents overview |
Copyright © 2025 I-F-S.NL Protected by U.S. and International law for the F-104 Society Inc. The Netherlands | Developed by Media4ever and Ralphdesign