1958 C-130 shootdown incident

Cold War event in Armenian SSR August 2026 1958 C-130 shootdown incident Incident C-130 60528 MiG.JPG 1.25 A large four-engined transport aircraft 1958 09 02 The gun-camera photo from Sr. Lieutenant Kucheryaev as his MiG-17 attacks the C-130C Shot down by four Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17 interceptors near Yerevan, Armenian SSR, Soviet Union 40 33 0 N 44 6 0 E type:event inline,title Lockheed C-130A-II-LM USA on behalf of the USAFSS 56-0528 Incirlik Air Base, Turkey Incirlik Air Base, Turkey 11 mission crew from the United States Air Force Security Service (USAFSS) 17 6 17 (presumed – only the six flight crew remains were repatriated at the time) 0 The 1958 C-130 shootdown incident was the shooting down of an American Lockheed C-130A-II-LM reconnaissance aircraft which entered Soviet airspace during a mission in the region of Armenian SSR. Incident left|thumb|130A-45-LM (57-0453), modified to represent 56-0528, on display at the National Cryptologic Museum, Fort Meade, MD On September 2, 1958, a Lockheed C-130A-II-LM (s/n 56-0528), from the 7406th Support Squadron, departed Incirlik Airbase in Turkey on a reconnaissance mission along the Turkish-Soviet border. It was to fly a course parallel to the frontier, but not approach the border closer than 100 mi km. The crew reported passing over Trabzon in Turkey at 25500 ft m and then acknowledged a weather report from Trabzon, but that was the last communication received from the flight. It was later intercepted and shot down by four Soviet MiG-17s 34 mi km nmi on north-west of Yerevan.NSA PDF file Aftermath The six flight crew were confirmed dead when their remains were repatriated to the United States, but the 11 intelligence-gathering personnel on board have never been acknowledged by Soviet / Russian authorities.http://www.nsa.gov/public_info/_files/c130_shootdown/60528s_Last_Flight.pdf nsa.gov National Security Agency 60528's Last Flight August 31, 2009 April 13, 2017 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20160410093512/https://www.nsa.gov/public_info/_files/c130_shootdown/60528s_Last_Flight.pdf April 10, 2016The Shootdown of Flight 60528 http://www.nsa.gov/about/cryptologic_heritage/vigilance_park/shootdown_flight60528.shtml NSA 25 April 2014 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20140601044753/http://www.nsa.gov/about/cryptologic_heritage/vigilance_park/shootdown_flight60528.shtml 1 June 2014 Criminal Occurrence description http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19580902-2 Aviation Safety network 25 April 2014Lockheed C-130A-II.... http://www.spyflight.co.uk/c130.htm 25 April 2014 https://web.archive.org/web/20130803013335/http://www.spyflight.co.uk/c130.htm 3 August 2013 dead In 1993, after the fall of the Soviet Union, a US excavation team working in newly-independent Armenia found hundreds of skeletal fragments; two remains were identified.Korea Cold war org Feb 2018 NewsletterNSA news relief of the incident naming those who perished A group burial of the 17 crew remains was held at Arlington National Cemetery.January 2021 See EL below, which is not RS left|thumb|The crash site of 60528 Reasons for entering Soviet airspace The exact cause of why the aircraft strayed into Soviet airspace is unknown, but according to the Aviation Safety Network, the crew may have confused a radio beacon in the USSR with similar frequencies to the Turkish beacons they were briefed to use, or it may have been a deliberate maneuver to obtain better data. When NSA cryptologists William Hamilton Martin and Bernon F. Mitchell defected to the Soviet Union in 1960, they listed the C-130 flight as one of their reasons. They contended that it was designed to gain an understanding of Soviet defenses, and that it therefore possibly represented an American interest in attacking the Soviets rather than defending against them.New York Times: "Text of Statements Read in Moscow by Former U.S. Security Agency Workers", September 7, 1960, accessed January 6, 2010 James Bamford, an investigative journalist and author, agreed that their assertions had merit.Bamford, The Puzzle Palace, 232ff. Memorial thumb|Joint US-Armenian memorial stone in Sasnashen, Armenia In 1993, Armenian sculptor Martin Kakosian unveiled a khachkar, a traditional Armenian cross stone, at the site of the aircraft's crash in the village of Nerkin Sasnashen. Kakosian had witnessed the crash as a college student on a field trip in 1958. This khachkar later fell over and cracked, and a joint US-Armenian memorial was built to commemorate the site.Mirror-Spectator The Armenian 2018-08-10 60th Anniversary of Shoot-Down of USAF Aircraft over Armenia https://mirrorspectator.com/2018/08/09/60th-anniversary-of-shoot-down-of-usaf-aircraft-over-armenia/ 2021-03-01 The Armenian Mirror-Spectator en-US In 2011, the US Army Office of Defense Cooperation renovated the village kindergarten in appreciation of the villagers' commemoration of the downed airmen.USACE, EUCOM team up to deliver kindergarten to Armenian community https://www.army.mil/article/65316/usace_eucom_team_up_to_deliver_kindergarten_to_armenian_community 2021-03-01 www.army.mil 12 September 2011 en Media The shootdown features in the British documentary "Spies in the Sky" (October 22, 1994), an edition in the BBC's Timewatch' series. It includes footage of the 1993 unveiling of the Nerkin Sasnashen memorial, attended by the sister of one of the USAF crewmen. BBC Timewatch episode "Spies in the Sky", 22 October 1994, Episode 3. See also 1960 RB-47 shootdown incident 1960 U-2 incident Air-to-air combat losses between the Soviet Union and the United States Martin and Mitchell defection References External links NSA website of C-130 shootdown Crew Of A United States Air Force https://web.archive.org/web/20150318175603/http://arlingtoncemetery.net/armenia.htm 2015-03-18 at ArlingtonCemetery.net, an unofficial websiteJanuary 2021 WP:SPS, provides pictures, but does not have attribution for the text collapsed Category:Violations of Soviet airspace Category:Soviet Union–United States military relations Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in the Soviet Union Category:Cold War military history of the United States C-130 shootdown incident C-130 shootdown incident C-130 shootdown incident Category:Aviation accidents and incidents involving the Lockheed C-130 Hercules Category:20th-century aircraft shootdown incidents Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in Armenia Category:1958 in Armenia Category:September 1958 in Turkey Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in 1958 Category:History of Yerevan