Incident Canadair CF-104 Starfighter 104813,
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ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 54935
 
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Date:Sunday 22 May 1983
Time:day
Type:Silhouette image of generic F104 model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different    
Canadair CF-104 Starfighter
Owner/operator:Canadian Armed Forces (CAF)
Registration: 104813
MSN: 683A-1113
Fatalities:Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Other fatalities:6
Aircraft damage: Destroyed
Location:0,5 km from Waldstadion/Frankfurt a.Main -   Germany
Phase: Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.)
Nature:Military
Departure airport:CFB Baden-Söllingen
Destination airport:CFB Baden-Söllingen
Confidence Rating: Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources
Narrative:
The five plane, Canadian Starfighters Air Demonstration Team, was performing at the USAF Rhein-Main Air Base open house on 23-May-1983. The air base shared runway facilities with Frankfurt International Airport. As the four-plane diamond formation passed the show line, the solo aircraft prepared to perform two 360 degree turns with the last turn being a slow fly by. During the last turn, speed was reduced to 350 kts and in order to line up on the show line, the pilot pulled a little tighter to prevent over shooting. At this point the aircraft appeared to pitch up, departed controlled flight as the nose pointed down, crashed and exploded onto highway B43, a major road passing through a forested area within the city. The crash resulted in the deaths of Pastor Martin Jürges and his entire family of five in a car that was engulfed in the fireball. A niece that was able to escape the car died 81 days later from severe burns. The aircraft crashed only a half kilometer from the cities main soccer stadium and adjacent to tennis courts where a tournament was being held. Parts of the exploding aircraft landed in the tennis courts and the engine, in particular, destroyed many cars in the nearby parking lot. Miraculously, no one was injured at this location. Pilot Captain Alan Stephenson ejected safely.

Sources:

Der Spiegel nr. 36/1988
Canadian Forces DFS Flight Comment, 1983, No. 4 (Pg 16)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983_Rhein-Main_Starfighter_crash
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJtTYzUIwBQ
BFU NX009-83

Revision history:

Date/timeContributorUpdates
29-Dec-2008 07:15 harro Updated
05-Sep-2010 15:07 TB Updated [Time, Location, Phase, Narrative]
17-Aug-2011 05:49 Uli Elch Updated [Narrative]
23-Aug-2011 07:22 Uli Elch Updated [Aircraft type, Operator]
17-Aug-2013 14:23 Uli Elch Updated [Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Narrative]
14-Oct-2014 12:21 Anon. Updated [Date, Time, Cn, Operator, Source, Embed code, Narrative]
30-Oct-2014 08:31 R.Depak Updated [Operator]
05-Nov-2014 17:08 HB Updated [Operator]
25-Apr-2015 18:14 TB Updated [Operator, Total occupants, Location, Source, Embed code, Narrative]
28-Aug-2015 16:02 Anon. Updated [Narrative]
28-Aug-2015 16:02 harro Updated [Nature]
12-Feb-2016 08:11 yukonjack Updated [Operator, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
12-Feb-2019 13:21 TB Updated [Time, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source]
28-Oct-2019 20:55 Uli Elch Updated [Location, Departure airport, Destination airport]
25-Jul-2021 19:54 TB Updated [Location, Narrative]

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