ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 387691
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| Date: | Wednesday 27 May 1964 |
| Time: | 10:55 |
| Type: |  North American RA-5C Vigilante |
| Owner/operator: | North American/US Navy |
| Registration: | 146699 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Millersport, Ohio -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.) |
| Nature: | Test |
| Departure airport: | CMH |
| CMH |
Crashed on a test flight at 10:55 AM killing the solo pilot.
North American lost radio contact a minute before the crash. The pilot did not indicate he was in trouble. It was seen turning and leveling off before it pancaked onto a farm field breaking into large segments along a 300 to 400-yard debris path. The crash occurred south of Millersport, Ohio (or about 20 miles southeast of the North American Columbus plant) with no ejection. Boaters on nearby Buckeye Lake saw it circling and losing altitude. This was the first fatal crash of a Vigilante.
The aircraft was bailed to the manufacturer (but ostensibly with US Navy RDT&E) its entire service life. No US Navy accident report was produced. Information only available from news outlets.
Donald Humphries, civilian test pilot, was killed. He had been in the Air Force from 1948 through 1956 and earned a DFC during the Korean War. He was a test pilot with Convair and hired by North American in 1962.
This was the eighth Vigilante built. Delivered to US Navy on 21 October 1959 as an A3J-1. It was returned to Columbus factory and modified. Different from the A3J-1 with the fuel humpback, 699 was never fully updated to the full RA-5C reconnaissance version.
146699 had a previous accident on 11 November 1963 but there is no information available on it.
Sources:
US Navy accident log entry
US Navy Aircraft History Card
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 06-May-2024 11:49 | ChrisB | Added |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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