| Date: 19 August 1969 |
| Aircraft type: F-4B Phantom |
| Serial Number: 149416 |
| Military Unit: VMFA-542, MAG-11 |
| Service: USMC |
| Home Base: Da Nang |
| Name(s): |
| Lt Col Robert Norman Smith (KIA) |
| Capt John Norlee Flanigan (KIA) |
| The Marines lost two Phantom crews from different squadrons on the 19th. Lt Col Smith and Capt Flanigan were escorting a photographic reconnaissance aircraft over North Vietnam, probably a Marine Corps RF-4B, on a mission to Bat Lake near Thach Ban, 12 miles north of the DMZ. The two aircraft made their first run over the target then separated and were supposed to rendezvous again for the second pass. However, Lt Col Smith’s aircraft (call sign Pigment 50) did not return and was presumed to have been shot down by AAA. Both crew were presumed to have died in their aircraft. On 26 June 1997 the USAF announced that the remains of Capt Flanigan had been identified. The remains had been handed over by the Vietnamese in 1989 but at that time there was no corroborating evidence of their identity. However, investigations into the crash site during two expeditions in 1993 and 1995 uncovered personal items and the remains were then re-examined and identified using mitochondrial DNA testing. |
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