ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 201180
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| Date: | Tuesday 31 January 1956 |
| Time: | 15:35 |
| Type: |  North American F-51D Mustang |
| Owner/operator: | 165 FSqn /123 FGp Kentucky ANG USAF |
| Registration: | 44-73091 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Salt Creek, about 10 miles south of Bloomington, Indiana -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Test |
| Departure airport: | Standiford Field, Louisville KY |
| Standiford Field, Louisville KY | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
The Mustang took off at 14:50 CST on a post-maintenance test flight after the carburettor and propeller unit had been replaced. The weather was suitable for visual flight and the plane was carrying 2.5 hours fuel for an intended one hour flight from Louisville to Terra Haute and return.
Top of climb at 20,000 feet was reported by the pilot at 15:01 CST. At 15:24 CST he reported his arrival over Terra Haute and advised the ground station monitoring his flight that he was steering a course of 135 degrees for Louisville, and would be climbing to 35,000 feet. At about this point the station on the ground reported to the pilot that an unidentified aircraft was approaching him from the right, but the pilot was unable to make a sighting. This report may well have been the result of a spurious echo on the radar observer's screen but it led to speculation that the crash may have been caused by some sort of attack by a "UFO". There was was no further communication from 44-73091 after that, and at about 16:25 CST an Air Defense Command and Aircraft Control Station of the USAF, located near Terre Haute, received an anonymous telephone call saying that an Air Force plane had crashed, and giving an approximate position.
The wreckage of the Mustang was found on a farm south of Bloomington, Indiana, and the pilot was dead.
The crash investigator found that Lt Col. Lee Joseph Merkel, a veteran fighter pilot from World War Two, had probably lost consciousness due to anoxia resulting from a failure of his plane's supplementary oxygen system.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kentucky_Air_National_Guard
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 12-Nov-2017 07:55 | angels one five | Added |
| 12-Nov-2017 12:08 | angels one five | Updated [Time, Narrative] |
| 12-Nov-2017 14:10 | angels one five | Updated [Time, Location, Source, Narrative] |
| 19-Mar-2021 18:55 | Anon. | Updated [Operator, Operator] |
| 07-Oct-2023 17:21 | angels one five | Updated [[Operator, Operator]] |
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