1964 T-39 shootdown incident

Cold War incident involving an American T-39 being shot down by a Soviet MiG-19 August 2026 March 2020 1964 T-39 shootdown incident the Cold War North American T-39A Sabre Liner USAF.jpg 300px A white-and blue twin-engined training jet A T-39 Sabreliner of the U.S. Air Force 28 January 1964 Vogelsberg, East Germany East Germany 51 07 10 N 11 14 00 E type:event inline,title 300px One aircraft shot down United States Soviet Union 1955 3 USAF officers killed None On 28 January 1964, an unarmed T-39 Sabreliner aircraft of the United States Air Force (USAF) was shot down while on a training mission over Erfurt, East Germany, by a MiG-19 jet fighter of the Soviet Air Force.http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=573 https://web.archive.org/web/20150710195808/http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=573 dead 10 July 2015 Factsheets : North American T-39A Sabreliner Nationalmuseum.af.mil 13 April 2010http://www.western-allies-berlin.com/units/military-liaison-mission/usmlm/detail/t-39-crash T-39 Aircraft Incident Western-allies-berlin.com 28 January 1964 13 April 2010Aviation Safety Network Retrieved on 27 October 2011 The occupants of the aircraft were Lieutenant Colonel Gerald K. Hannaford, Captain Donald Grant Millard, and Captain John F. Lorraine. All three died,http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,870650,00.html https://web.archive.org/web/20111213234454/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,870650,00.html dead 13 December 2011 Cold War: Cold Blooded Murder Time 7 February 1964 17 April 2010 becoming direct casualties of the Cold War in Europe. Background Cold War The Cold War developed between the Soviet bloc and the United States, Canada, and Western European nations.Blainey 2005 274–277 Tensions were highest between the United States and the Soviet Union in the regions bordering the Iron Curtain, notably West Germany and East Germany, and relations between the two superpowers were characterized by hostile attitudes, spying, and numerous incidents resulting in loss of life and equipment. One of the most famous of these is the 1960 U-2 incident when the Soviets shot down a Lockheed U-2 spy plane piloted by Francis Gary Powers over the Soviet Union in May 1960.Blainey 2005 344–345 Event On 28 January 1964, an unarmed USAF North American T-39A Sabreliner twin engine jet trainer, 62-4448,http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19640128-0 ASN Aircraft accident North American CT-39A Sabreliner 62-4448 Vogelsberg village, Thüringen Aviation-safety.net 28 January 2014http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1962.html 1962 USAF Serial Numbers Joebaugher.com 28 January 2014 18 September 2023 https://web.archive.org/web/20230918040020/http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1962.html dead of the 7101st Air Base Wing, departed Wiesbaden Air Base, West Germany, at 14:10 hours on a routine three-hour training flight. On board the trainer were three men, Captain John F. Lorraine and students Lieutenant Colonel Gerald K. Hannaford and Captain Donald G. Millard. Lorraine was the qualified instructor, while Hannaford and Millard, both pilots with experience on other types, were being trained in order to qualify on the T-39. The flight proceeded uneventfully until, 47 minutes after takeoff, radar at two U.S. air defense stations noticed that the trainer was heading toward East Germany at 500 mph. Hoping to divert the T-39 back on course, each station began hailing the plane on USAF frequencies and a Soviet-monitored international distress band. Repeated calls to the T-39 went unanswered. It appeared that the T-39's radio systems malfunctioned and the crew were unable to respond. The T-39 crossed the border into East Germany. Within five minutes, two blips appeared near the American jet. For 11 minutes, radar blips indicated the three planes were moving eastward, then two blips suddenly veered west and the third blip disappeared. American personnel monitoring the T-39's flight could not determine what had happened, although it was later reported that residents in Vogelsberg, 50 mi km us from the border, had heard machine-gun and cannon fire and had witnessed the plane crash. The incident is believed to have occurred at 15:14 hours. At 17:00 hours on 28 January the United States Military Liaison Mission (USMLM), in Berlin, received a warning to stand by for possible search and rescue of American airmen. By 18:00 hours, a search team left Berlin for the Erfurt area of East Germany. At 19:15 hours, the chief of the USMLM met with his Soviet counterpart to request help in finding the plane and rescuing survivors (in accordance with the Huebner–Malinin Agreement). At 20:00 hours, a second search team left Berlin. About this same time, the first team arrived at the crash site, 20 km mi us north of Erfurt. The first team received a report from an East German civilian that a U.S. plane had crashed and burned, and that the crew was dead. Throughout the night, the American teams tried to approach the aircraft and were repeatedly sent away by the armed Soviet forces on site. These forces denied that any aircraft had crashed, and the two American search teams were detained briefly before being released at 14:00 hours on 29 January. left|thumb|Memorial to the three aircrew, near Vogelsberg (Thuringia) Aftermath By 29 January, the United States State Department charged that the Soviet Union shot down an unarmed plane and caused the needless deaths of three officers. Secretary of State Dean Rusk called the action a "shocking and senseless act."https://www.newspapers.com/image/569746426 Newspapers.com Rusk Lashes Red Attack on U.S. Jet: Three Americans Killed in Unarmed Trainer Crash The Spokesman Review 30 January 1964 1 Associated Press Through the Soviet press agency, Tass, Moscow claimed that the plane had intruded over East German territory and failed to react to signals, and then a warning shot. The Soviets said they were compelled to take the measure that brought down the U.S. plane. On 30 January, the Soviets agreed to allow US personnel access to the crash site. This occurred the following day and later the bodies of all three servicemen were returned to the United States through Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland. General Curtis E. LeMay met the plane and participated in an honors ceremony. https://www.newspapers.com/image/245093412/ Newspapers.com Tallahassee Democrat Associated Press 6 February 1964 1 U.S. Tribute for 3 Fliers Dead in Jet The aircraft wreckage was also recovered and was taken to Berlin, arriving there on 1 February 1964. thumb|Memorial at the crash site near Vogelsberg Memorial Residents from the nearby town of Vogelsberg in Thuringia erected a memorial to the three downed pilots, in 1998, once the Iron Curtain had been lifted.https://www.usafe.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/749105/german-village-remembers-downed-american-pilots/ German village remembers downed American pilots U.S. Air Forces in Europe & Air Forces Africa 2017-06-18 en-UShttp://www.usmlm.org/home/coldwar/shootdowns/1964t39shootdown.htm A Cold Night in Erfurt usmlm.org 17 April 2010 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20100518123138/http://www.usmlm.org/home/coldwar/shootdowns/1964t39shootdown.htm 18 May 2010 See also 1961 F-84 Thunderstreak incident References Notes References Blainey Geoffrey A Short History of the 20th century 2005 Viking Camberwell, Victoria 0-670-04273-0 Further reading Olsen, Arthur J., "U.S. Jet Lost in East Germany; It May Have Been Shot Down", The New York Times, 28 January 1964. Raymond, Jack, "U.S. Says Soviet Shot Down Jet", The New York Times, 29 January 1964. Category:1964 in international relations Category:1964 in East Germany Category:1964 in military history Category:20th-century aircraft shootdown incidents Category:20th century in Thuringia Category:January 1964 in Europe Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in 1964 Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in Germany Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in East Germany Category:Accidents and incidents involving United States Air Force aircraft Category:Air-to-air combat operations and battles Category:Cold War military history of the Soviet Union Category:Combat incidents Category:Inner German border Category:Presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson Category:East Germany–Soviet Union relations Category:East Germany–United States relations Category:Soviet Union–United States relations