ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 283512
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| Date: | Wednesday 21 October 1959 |
| Time: | |
| Type: | McDonnell YF4H-1 |
| Owner/operator: | US Navy |
| Registration: | 142259 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | near Mt. Pinos in the Los Padres National Forest, Ventura County, Cal -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.) |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | Edwards AFB |
| Edwards AFB |
During preparational flight for Project 'Top Flight' McDonnell test pilot Gerald “Zeke” Huelsbeck, flying the very first F4H Phantom II prototype near Edwards AFB, was testing various flight plans for a high-altitude zoom, when an engine access door blew loose, flames shot through the engine compartment. The flight control system of the YF4H-1 was damaged by the fire and went it out of control at high speed and into a spin. The pilot did eject, but it was too low and his parachute did not open.
Sources:
https://www.thisdayinaviation.com/21-october-1959/
https://theaviationgeekclub.com/project-top-flight-how-the-mighty-phantom-ii-set-a-new-absolute-altitude-record/
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 18-Sep-2022 17:45 | nempobur | Added |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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