ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 85205
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| Date: | Sunday 9 December 1951 |
| Time: | morning |
| Type: |  Republic F-84E Thunderjet |
| Owner/operator: | 9th FBS, 49th FBG, USAF |
| Registration: | 51-558 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | 5 miles off Yongyu Island, near Incheon -
 South Korea
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | K-2 Taegu AB, Dong District, Daegu, South Korea (RKTN) |
| K-2 Taegu AB, Dong District, Daegu (RKTN) | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information verified through data from accident investigation authorities |
Republic F-84E-25-RE Thunderjet 51-558, 9th FBS, 49th FBG, USAF: Written off (destroyed) December 9 1951. Engine compressor failure and explosion, pilot bailed out 5 miles from Yongyu Island, near Inchoen, South Korea and landed in water, SAR effort negative. Pilot 1st Lt Thomas Franklin Wells, USAF (Service Number: AO692935). SAR effort negative, pilot posted as believed MIA/KIA
According to the following biography of the pilot
"First Lieutenant Thomas Franklin Wells, who joined the U.S. Air Force from Florida, served with the 9th Fighter Bomber Squadron, 49th Fighter Bomber Group. Mid-morning, on December 9, 1951, 1st Lt Wells, piloting a F-84 Thunderjet (tail number 51-558, call sign "Mercury Purple") departed Taegu Air Base as the number three pilot in a flight of four.
The briefed mission was an interdiction operation against a main supply route between Hyophung-ni and Sukchon. Unable to attack the primary target, a railway bridge, because of low cloud cover over the target, they diverted to a highway bridge east Tongohong-ni. While returning to base, the number four pilot saw an explosion in the tail pipe of his wingman. As 1st Lt Wells descended through the overcast, he ejected landing the water approximately five miles off the coast of Yongyu Island, near Incheon, Korea. 1st Lt Wells' wingman called Air Sea Rescue and a helicopter arrived within five minutes, but found no signs of 1st Lt Wells. No returning POWs mentioned contact with 1st Lt Wells, nor was he seen at any known holding point, interrogation center, hospital, or permanent POW camp. He remains unaccounted for."
Yeongjong Island is an island off the west coast of the city of Incheon, South Korea, which contains Incheon International Airport as well as small villages, farms, and beaches. The previously separate Yongyu, Sammok, and Sinbul Islands have been joined to Yeongjong Island by an area of reclaimed land built for the construction of the airport. The island is an exclave of Incheon Metropolitan City's Jung-gu district, and is accessed via two bridges, Yeongjong Bridge connecting to Seo-gu and Incheon Bridge connecting to Songdo.
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://www.koreanwar.org/html/31966/korean-war-project-florida-ao692935-1lt-thomas-franklin-wells
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yeongjongdo
Revision history:
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