ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 85231
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| Date: | Sunday 16 December 1951 |
| Time: | day |
| Type: |  Republic F-84E Thunderjet |
| Owner/operator: | 158th FBS, 116th FBG, Georgia ANG, USAF |
| Registration: | 51-488 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | near Miryok-tong, South Hamgyong Province -
 North Korea
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | K-2 Taegu AB, Dong District, Daegu, South Korea (RKTN) |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information verified through data from accident investigation authorities |
Republic F-84E-25-RE Thunderjet 51-488, 158th FBS, 116th FBG, Georgia ANG, USAF: Written off (destroyed) December 16 1951 when lost (failed to return) from combat operations over North Korea. On combat mission from K-2 Taegu AB, flight shifted into trail formation while on strafing run, hit by ground fire, aircraft caught fire, crashed near Miryok-tong, South Hamgyong Province, North Korea. Pilot, Captain David J Mather USAF may have bailed out, but did not survive, posted as KIA.
According to the following biography of the pilot:
"Captain David James Mather entered the U.S. Air Force from Georgia and served with the 158th Fighter-Bomber Squadron, 116th Fighter-Bomber Wing. On December 16, 1951, he was the pilot of an F-84E Thunderjet (tail number 51-488, call sign “George Three”) when it departed Taegu Air Base, Korea, as third of four aircraft on a combat mission against enemy targets north of Pyongyang, North Korea. After bombing its primary target, the flight headed south to conduct armed reconnaissance. After identifying ox-drawn vehicles on a road, the flight proceeded to make attack runs.
When Capt Mather took his turn at the target, his aircraft was seen to catch fire and his wingman immediately transmitted, “George Three, you’re on fire, get out.” Capt Mather’s canopy detached after this transmission, and he was thought to have bailed but this could not be confirmed. The aircraft crashed and exploded upon impact with the ground, and the flight circled the burning wreckage but saw no indication of the captain's survival on the ground. Because the aircraft crashed in enemy territory, no ground search could be made. No returning POWs mentioned having contact with Capt Mather, nor was he seen at any known holding point, interrogation center, hospital, or permanent POW camp, and he remains unaccounted-for following the incident. Today, Captain Mather is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific."
Sources:
1. http://forgottenjets.warbirdsresourcegroup.org/F-84.html
2. https://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1951.html
3. https://www.aviationarchaeology.com/dbSearchAF55.asp
4. http://www.accident-report.com/Yearly/1951/5112.html
5. https://www.koreanwar.org/dpaa/korwald-all.pdf
6. https://dpaa-mil.sites.crmforce.mil/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt000000JaBZBEA3
7. https://www.tageo.com/index-e-kn-v-00-d-m275463.htm
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Hamgyeong_Province_(Republic_of_Korea)
Media:
An F-84E attacks a ground target with rockets (USAF Museum/Public Domain)Revision history:
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