BuNo

Modex

Type

Command

date

fatal

SOC code

Comments

039632

R50-6

NOTS?

09 Mar 1944

No history card.

takeoff accident at NOTS Inyokern

F6F

NOTS

20 Jun 1944

Innis

LT Donald A. Innis, after whom Innis Road at Harvey Field is named, was over the Salton Sea in Southern CA on a rocket firing flight when a rocket body exploded prematurely on his starboard wing. His F6F Hellcat fighter which was in a 15-degree dive at the time went into a slow spin and crashed into the sea.

 TBM

VC-82

25 Jun 1944

Walthall
Keller

LT Douglas J. Walthall and Radioman 2^nd class Wilson M. Keller of Composite Squadron 82, a torpedo bomber unit temporarily attached to the Air Facility for rocket training, lost their lives when their Torpedo Bomber crashed during a rocket firing test on the B-2 range. A five-inch rocket exploded as it was fired, blowing off eight feet of LT Walthall's starboard wing. A board of inquiry found the rocket was improperly assembled and that the propellant had ignited the warhead.

018248

SB2C-1C

NOTS

21 Aug 1944

Armitage

LT John "Jack" Armitage lost his life when his SB2C Helldiver, crashed at NOTS Inyokern. Immediately after he fired an 11.75" Tiny Tim in a 20-degree dive at a range of 1500 yards his plane nosed over, passed through the rocket's blast cone and crashed. The board of inquiry found the firing had forced an outboard elevator tab up, keeping his plane in the dive  and that passing through the blast cone had increased the effect. China Lake's Armitage Field is named for Lt. Armitage

F6F

NOTS

29 Aug 1944

Dibbs

LT Robert A. Dibb, after whom Dibb Road on the Station is named, was killed when a five-inch AR rocket with a dummy head, fired for a rocket night calibration, ricocheted 500 feet into the air and took off one wing of his F6F Hellcat.

024516

TBF-1C

NOTS

11 Dec 1944

crashed 3 miles west of Highway 6 on Leona Valley Road, 100 yds. NE of bridge B452, Palmdale, CA  10/11/44 - LINGE, H., Lt. Sr. Grade, USN Inyokern Navy Base - Report

078980

F6F-5

NAF

24 Jul 1947

Wheels up landing

45-21847

B-29A

USAF

21 Jul 1948

0

The aircraft had taken off from NOTS/NAF Inyokern on a scientific mission to study variations in solar radiation with altitude as part of the Upper Air Research Project  and was on one of its final runs of the day. After completing a run to 30,000 feet east of Lake Mead, the crew began their descent and leveled out just 300 feet above the lake's surface.The B-29 struck the water at nearly 250 miles per hour which ripped 3 of the 4 engines from their mounts, set fire to the fourth and severely damaged the left wing and horizontal stabilizer.The pilots were able to pull up and get the plane airborne again, skipping it like a stone across a calm pond.

090550

JRB-4

NAF

03 Feb 1949

7

CDR A. Minvielle (pilot), LTjg  Charles Matus (co-pilot), Civil Service Dr. J.K.L. McDonald, Civil Service Dr. John McKinley, Civil Service employee Mr. Myron G. Kellogg, Civil Service employee Mr. Rodney Morrin and Civil Service employee Mr. Joseph Vargus lost their lives when their JRB-4 Expeditor crashed in the Sierras. The wreckage was found 21 April 1949 near Owens Peak. SOC 4-7-Z CAT I

097061

F4U-4

NAF

17 Jan 1952

0

Pilot Joel Premselaar made a forced landing on the B-1 range emergency strip 7 mi. NW Armitage Field after a 2.75" FFAR misfired from an experimental launcher. The rocket tore a 15" x 4" piece from one prop blade and damaged two others causing severe engine vibrations that required the engine to be shut down. The B-1 strip was 4,000' long by 70' wide, 1500' blacktop and 2,500' hard pack leveled dirt at 2256' elev. Joel was a 31 year old Ltjg at the time.

121698

F8F-2D

NAF

18 Apr 1952

wheels-up landing

125503

F2H-2

NAF

10 July 1952

Darden

1GA2

LCDR John E. Darden lost his life when his F2H-2 Banshee lost a wing in flight and crashed. This was the first flight test death at NAF since 1944.

009089

XBT2D-1

NAF

16 Nov 1952

21N1

SOC 06 Feb 1953 due to depreciation & salvaged for parts

126316

F2H-3

VX-5

13 Aug 1953

1AA1

crashed at Moffett

AD-4

S. Diego

09 Sep 1953

3

Three Navy pilots from San Diego died when their AD-4 crashed at Owens Lake, CA

 134490

AD-6

Moffett

03 Jun 1954

Ellis

LCDR Kermit Q. Ellis, from Moffett, lost his life when his AD-6 Skyraider crashed on one of the China Lake Ranges

126424

F2H-3

NAF

13 Jul 1955

1KA2

crashed at China Lake

124586

XF4D-1

Douglas

05 Jan 1956

31R5

SOC 11 Jan 1956, Survivability lab

123350

F2H-2

NAF

15 Feb 1956

Duffy

1BA2

LTjg Charles Arthur Duffy lost his life when his F2H-2 Banshee crashed during routine training while simulating an emergency.

139926

A4D-1

VX-5

10 Oct 1956

Hooks

1KA1

LT Bennett W. Hooks, VX-5 Project Officer and pilot, lost his life when his A4D-1 Skyhawk crashed 5 miles south of Inyokern. According to Henry White (VX-5 Feb.1956 - Oct. 1957) it was determined that he was trying to land on the deserted runway at Inyokern during an in-flight fire. The autopsy indicated he had inhaled the hot flames and probably died before impact.

009106

XBT2D-1

NAF

12 Nov 1956

21N1

SOC due to depreciation & salvaged for parts

AD-6

Miramar

31 Jul 1957

Litzenberg

LT Charles W. Litzenberg, from Miramar, lost his life when his AD-6 Skyraider crashed on Charlie Range.

141464

ND

FJ-4B

VA-214

28 Oct 1957

Gonzales

1AA1

SOC 31 Oct 1957. Ens. David Gonzales from Moffett lost his life when his VA-214 FJ-4B Fury crashed short of the runway.

143706

F8U-1

NAF

09 May 1958

1KA2

Pilot CDR Seldon May ejected after it flamed out and couldn’t be restarted

FJ-4

Mojave

14 May 1958

USMC 1st Lt. Matthew Peck operating from MAAS Mojave ejected after a fired rocket didn't seperate from the wing launch rail.

134762

762

F4D-1

NAF

14 May 1958

 1QA2

LT S. Joel Premselaar ejected after a flight control crankpin failed.

138501

HO4S-3

NAF

14 May 1958

LCdr P.W. Nichols and crew survived the crash of the SAR helicopter as it attempted to rescue Premselaar.

142727

 XE-

A4D-2

VX-5

31 May 1958

1AA1

Larry Cauble ejected  after a flameout during an air show at Corpus Christi, TX

139551

XE-2

FJ-4B

VX-5

24 Jun 1958

Hopfinger

1KA1

LCDR Richard M. Hopfinger lost his life when his FJ-4B Fury crashed.The accident occurred during refueling off the coast of Monterey, CA while operating from the USS Bon Homme Richard.

SOC 30 Jun 1958

124599

F3D-2

NAF

11 Dec 1958

39R0

SOC 12 Dec 1958

125677

F2H-2

NAF

17 Dec 1958

39R0

55-2956

2956

YF-104A

NAF

15 June 1959

No USN history card as USAF.

CDR Herk Camp had engine trouble on takeoff and ran off the end of the runway resulting in strike damage

139555

XE-4

FJ-4B

VX-5

23 Sep 1959

11K1

SOC from damage other than accident or incident

130805

F9F-6K

Drone

17 Dec 1959

3MF2

SOC for administrative reasons

127271

F9F-6K

NAF

26 May 1960

49R9

SOC due to service life completion

56-0740

6740

F-104A

NAF

22 Sep 1960

Casada

No USN history card as USAF.

USMC Capt Howard O. Casada jr. lost his life when his Navy F-104 Starfighter crashed near the junction of Mt. Wilson and Palmdale Roads in the Angeles Natl. Forest during a routine Sidewinder test flight. The cause of the crash was thought to be oxygen depletion at altitude.

130745

745

F4D-1

NAF

21 Oct 1960

Graves

LT Jan M. Graves lost his life when his F4D-1 Skyray crashed on runway 21. From an altitude of about 100 feet the Ford seemed to go over in slow motion and then careened down the runway coming to rest just to the right of runway 21, about 6,000 ft from the numbers. The cause was determined to have been a broken wire on the rudder system positioning feed back servo. The servo wire had excess solder 'wicked' up into it which made it stiff and brittle resulting in it breaking due to vibration which caused the rudder to fully deflect just after lift-off.

130837

F9F-6K2

Drone

05 Apr 1961

3MF2

SOC 01 Jun 1961 for administrative reasons (crashed into approach lights)

56-0757

757

F-104A

NAF

07 Apr 1961

Hess

No USN history card as USAF.

USMC CAPT David L. Hess lost his life from injuries sustained on April 7th when his F-104A Starfighter crashed on takeoff from George AFB on a return flight to China Lake. The cause was determined to be a failure of the George AFB flight line personnel to activate all of the circuit breakers which prevented the after burners from firing during the take-off. The afterburner not firing affected the F-104's take-off performance into a quartering headwind

145075

XE-3

A4D-2N

VX-5

18 Apr 1961 

1NA2

SOC due to damage

145672

HSS-1N

NAF

28 Apr 1961

17R1

SOC due to damage

130791

F9F-6K

Drone

10 May 1961

3MF2

SOC 14 Sep 1961 for administrative reasons

127341

F9F-6K

Drone

14 Sep 1961

3MF1