ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 84997
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| Date: | Monday 8 October 1951 |
| Time: | 15:35 LT |
| Type: |  Republic F-84E Thunderjet |
| Owner/operator: | 182nd FBS, 136th FBW, Texas ANG, USAF |
| Registration: | 49-2414 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Yellow Sea, off Chŏngju, North P'yŏngan -
 North Korea
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | K-2 Taeugu Airfield, South Korea (RKTN) |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information verified through data from accident investigation authorities |
Republic F-84E-15-RE Thunderjet 49-2414, 182nd FBS, 136th FBW, Texas ANG, USAF: Written off (destroyed) October 8 1951 when lost (failed to return) from combat operations over North Korea. On rail cut interdiction mission, hit by AAA after completion of bomb run, over Chŏngju, North P'yŏngan, North Korea, Aircraft caught fire, headed toward ocean (Yellow Sea), exploded in mid-air at 15:35 Local time, no chute or egress observed. Pilot Captain Earl Hampton Harbour DFC USAF (Service Number: AO806672) presumed MIA/KIA. Pilots remains not found/not recovered.
According to the official USAF biography of the pilot (see link #7):
"Captain Earl Hampton Harbour, who entered the U.S. Air Force from Virginia, served in the 182nd Fighter-Bomber Squadron, 136th Fighter-Bomber Group. On October 8, 1951, he was the pilot of an F-84E Thunderjet (tail number 49-2414A) that took off from Taegu Air Base, South Korea, as the flight leader for a rail cutting mission in the Chongju area of North Korea. While pulling out of his bomb run over the target, he was hit by enemy ground fire. He recovered from his dive, but his aircraft was on fire and no radio contact could be made with him as he headed toward open water. His Thunderjet broke apart and exploded before crashing into the water and sinking. Capt Harbour was not seen to exit the aircraft before it went down, and other pilots on the mission circled the area but saw no sign of Capt Harbour. He remains unaccounted-for. Today, Captain Harbour is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific."
Chŏngju (Korean pronunciation: Jŏngju) is a si, or city, in southern North P'yŏngan province, North Korea. Prior to 1994, it was designated as a kun or county. The terrain is mostly level, but mountainous in the north. To the south lies the Chŏngju Plain, where the hills do not rise above 200 metres (660 ft). Chŏngju also includes approximately 10 islands in the Yellow Sea.
Sources:
1. http://forgottenjets.warbirdsresourcegroup.org/F-84.html
2. https://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1949.html
3. https://www.aviationarchaeology.com/dbSearchAF55.asp
4. http://www.accident-report.com/Yearly/1951/5110.html
5. https://www.koreanwar.org/html/12174/korean-war-project-alabama-ao806672-cpt-earl-hampton-harbour/
6. https://www.dpaa.mil/portals/85/KoreaAccounting/korwald_acc_DATELOSS_20220211.pdf
7. https://dpaa-mil.sites.crmforce.mil/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt000000ItvBdEAJ
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_Sea
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chongju
Revision history:
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