Date:	Friday 29 August 1952
Time:	day
Type:	Republic F-84E Thunderjet
Owner/operator:	9th FBS, 49th FBG, USAF
Registration:	49-2424
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	North West of Pyongyang -   North Korea
Phase:	Combat
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	Taegu AB (K-2), South Korea
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information verified through data from accident investigation authorities

Narrative:
Republic F-84E-1-RE Thunderjet 49-2079 9th FBS, 49th FBG, USAF: Written off (destroyed) in combat operations August 29 1952. Pilot was 1st Lt Kenneth Alan Hardigan USAF - killed in action.

Pilot was killed in combat on August 29, 1952, he departed Taegu Air Base (K-2) South Korea piloting an F-84E Thunderjet (tail number 49-2424, call sign "Jell White 4") in the number four position on an interdiction mission to northwest Pyongyang. As 1st Lt Hardigan followed the number three aircraft towards the target, his F-84 was hit by anti-aircraft fire, The Thunderjet rolled several times and hit the ground, exploding on impact. Witnesses said the explosion was "catastrophic," and that the pilot had no time to eject. First Lieutenant Hardigan's remains were not identified among those returned to U.S. custody after the ceasefire, and he is still unaccounted-for. Today, First Lieutenant Hardigan is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific

1. http://forgottenjets.warbirdsresourcegroup.org/F-84.html
2. http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1949.html
3. http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo/korea/reports/air/
4. https://airforce.togetherweserved.com/usaf/servlet/tws.webapp.WebApp?cmd=ShadowBoxProfile&type=Person&ID=140341
5. https://dpaa-mil.sites.crmforce.mil/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt000000JaBYrEAN
6. http://www.accident-report.com/Yearly/1952/5208.html
7. https://www.koreanwar.org/html/units/usaf/9fbs.htm
8. https://www.aviationarchaeology.com/listpages/airforce/asp/AF_Name_H.asp
9. https://aircrewremembered.com/KoreanWarDatabase/korean-war-alpha-list.html
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyongyang

A bomb-laden U.S. Air Force Republic F-84E-15-RE Thunderjet (s/n 49-2424) from the 9th Fighter-Bomber Squadron, 49th Fighter-Bomber Wing/Group, taking off for a mission in Korea. This aircraft was shot down by flak on 29 August 1952.

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