| Date: 25 October 1967 |
| Aircraft type: F-105D Thunderchief |
| Serial Number: 59-1737 |
| Military Unit: 469 TFS, 388 TFW |
| Service: USAF |
| Home Base: Korat |
| Name(s): |
| Maj Aquilla Friend Britt (KWF) |
| Aircraft type: C-123K Provider |
| Serial Number: 54-0667 |
| Military Unit: 310 ACS, 315 ACW |
| Service: USAF |
| Home Base: Phan Rang |
| Name(s): |
| Capt Jack M Dole (Survived) |
| SSgt Curtis Edward Stieferman (KWF) |
| 2 other crew, names unknown (Survived) |
| A Provider from Phan Rang landed at Tan Son Nhut as its penultimate port of call during a long day shuttling around South Vietnam’s airfields. As the aircraft was about to take off for its return flight to Phan Rang, the pilot saw a huge thunderstorm directly in its path and decided to abort the flight. He was ordered to taxi along the runway to return to the parking area and had covered about 2,000 feet when the tower warned him to clear the runway immediately as an F-105 had been inadvertently cleared to land. However, before the Provider could turn off the runway it was hit by the Thunderchief as it landed in poor visibility. The F-105’s starboard wing sliced through the port side of the C-123’s fuselage and the jet’s fuselage tore off the Provider’s engine from its port wing. The Thunderchief pilot died in the collision and the burning aircraft tumbled down the runway for another 5,000 feet. All the C-123 crew escaped with burns, although SSgt Stieferman died from his injuries on 4 November. Apparently, Maj Britt had been ordered to Tan Son Nhut to take part in a special ceremony to celebrate his 100th mission. F-105D 59-1737 was painted as ‘Cherry Boy’ during its time with the 469th. |
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