Talk:1959 Okinawa F-100 crash

I was there

I was there, having been stationed at Naha Air Base at the time as a dental officer. We had emergency training and were rushed to Koza Hospital where we provided emergency care to injured children until told by the Okinawan doctors that we were no longer needed.

Facts reported shortly thereafter ( I believe in the "Stars & Stripes") brought out that the airplane in question was not on a training flight but on a test flight. It had just been returned from overhaul by a Japanese company in Nagoya. The pilot was quoted as saying that shortly after breaking ground four warning lights appear in the cockpit and he tried to return to base (Kadena). All takeoffs and landing from that facility occur over water. Within seconds all warning light were on, the cockpit was filling with smoke and the aircraft's hydraulc systems were not functioning and thus would not respond to controls That is why the pilot ejected; it was impossible to make the plane go where he wanted it to go. It made a curved flight path, clipped off a corner of a school building and crashed in the school yard. Yes,a pilot will normally stay with a disabled aircraft and endeavor to avoid populated areas, but since this was not possible he bailed out. He did NOT save himself at the expense of others. The military did everything possible to treat the injured. Donald E. Gutting. D.D.S. Captain, USAF (DC)

Photos

http://image.search.yahoo.co.jp/search?p=%E5%AE%AE%E6%A3%AE%E5%B0%8F%E5%AD%A6%E6%A0%A1&rkf=2&ei=UTF-8

Japanese article: http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%AE%AE%E6%A3%AE%E5%B0%8F%E5%AD%A6%E6%A0%A1%E7%B1%B3%E8%BB%8D%E6%A9%9F%E5%A2%9C%E8%90%BD%E4%BA%8B%E6%95%85 Johnvr4 (talk) 02:18, 14 September 2012 (UTC)