;2 January :U.S. Navy
Grumman F-14A-70-GR Tomcat, BuNo
158982, 'NK107', of
VF-1, the first of the Pacific Fleet F-14 squadrons to form, deployed aboard
USS Enterprise, crashes into the sea off
Cubi Point after an inflight engine explosion. Both crew successfully eject. This is one of two squadron losses during the 1974–75 deployment that signalled the fan-blade containment problems which plagued early versions of the
TF30 turbofan. ;9 January:A
USAF Convair T-29D-CO,
52-5826, c/n 52–25, returning to
Langley AFB, Virginia, from
Key Field,
Meridian, Mississippi, with seven Air Force personnel on board, suffers mid-air collision at 1836 hrs. with a
Cessna 150H, N50430, of Cavalier Flyers, with two U.S. Navy personnel on board, 4.1 miles (6.5 km) W of
Newport News, Virginia, the wreckage of both aircraft coming down in the
James River. A Langley AFB spokesman said that Army salvage workers, aided by local authorities, recovered wreckage and bodies from the river throughout the following weekend. Capt. Gail Anderson of Langley AFB stated that divers had recovered one of the two engines of the T-29 as well as other "significant" parts which were placed on a barge and returned to Langley by Sunday 12 January. Seven of the nine victims' bodies had also been recovered but Maj. Loving stated that the identities of the victims would not be released until all bodies had been identified. The wreckage of the two aircraft were located in the river ~300 yards apart. The probable cause was given as "The human limitation inherent in the see-and-avoid concept, which can be critical in a terminal area with a combination of controlled and uncontrolled traffic. A possible contributing factor was the reduced nighttime conspicuity of the Cessna against a background of city lights." ;10 February:The
Royal Australian Navy suffers its only operational
Grumman S-2E Tracker loss during approximately 17 years of operation of the type when
N12-153608 is lost at sea with two fatalities. ;21 March:Due to an error by an air traffic controller, the wrong landing instructions are conveyed to
Lockheed C-141A Starlifter,
64-0641, of the
62d Military Airlift Wing on approach to
McChord AFB, Washington, from Japan, to descend below safe minimums and it impacts on the 5,900-foot level of Warrior Peak in the
Mount Constance range in the
Olympic National Forest, Washington, killing 16 passengers and crew. A controller gave descent instructions intended for a
U.S. Navy Grumman A-6 Intruder en route from
Pendleton, Oregon, to
NAS Whidbey Island, Washington, to the
Military Airlift Command C-141. The two aircraft were both at 10,000 feet, about 60 miles apart. ;22 March:
Hellenic Air Force LTV A-7H Corsair II, BuNo
159676, crashes near
Souda, Greece, the first reported A-7H crash. ;24 March:A
Royal Air Force Handley Page Victor K.1A,
XH618, of
57 Squadron collided with a RAF
Hawker Siddeley Buccaneer XV156 during a simulated refuelling. Buccaneer hit the Victor's tailplane causing the aircraft to crash into the sea 95 miles E of
Sunderland,
County Durham. ;4 April: :A
USAF Lockheed C-5A Galaxy,
68-0218, c/n 500-0021, taking part in
Operation Babylift, a mass evacuation of children from
South Vietnam during the
Fall of Saigon, experiences an
explosive decompression about outside
Saigon when the rear ramp and pressure door blow out, damaging the plane's
flight controls. The plane, carrying 328 crew, troops, children, and adult escorts, crashes into a
rice paddy after the pilot loses control while trying to return to
Tan Son Nhut Air Base; 155 die, including 76
orphans. ;May:Two
Không quân Nhân dân Việt Nam (
Vietnam People's Air Force)
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19s collide in mid-air over
Nội Bài airfield,
North Vietnam, during practice for air display to celebrate the North Vietnamese victory in the
Vietnam War. Both pilots killed. ;8 May:Second prototype
General Dynamics YF-16A Fighting Falcon,
72-01568, on practice flight prior to deployment for the
Paris Air Show, suffers failure of main
undercarriage leg to extend.
General Dynamics test pilot Neil Anderson flies aircraft until fuel is nearly exhausted then makes expert grass belly-landing at
Carswell Air Force Base, Texas. Aircraft is not heavily damaged and pilot is uninjured. Airframe is then sent to
Rome Air Development Center Newport Site for use in radar tests. This was the first F-16 mishap. ;13 May:
Sikorsky CH-53C,
68-10933, c/n 65–231,
Knife 13, of the
21st Special Operations Squadron, departs from
Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Air Force Base with a crew of five and 18 USAF Security Police on board to assist in the recovery operation of the
SS Mayaguez. The helicopter disappears from the airfield's departure radar 40 miles W of the airfield. All on board are killed. Aircraft was on Constant Treat deployment of the ALSS system. ;30 May:A USAF
Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star crashes at
Tyndall AFB, Florida, killing two pilots, one of whom had who had graduated from pilot training at the base on Thursday 29 May. "Witnesses said the plane dipped into some trees short of the runway and apparently burst into flames. Wreckage was scattered throughout a wooded area adjacent to the base." This is the first fatal crash at Tyndall since the 19 October 1972 downing of a
Convair F-106 Delta Dart which killed its pilot. ;1 June:A
Kenyan Air Force Hawker Hunter crashes at
Nairobi, Kenya, during celebrations marking the anniversary of self-rule in the former British colony, the airframe impacting only a few hundred yards from where President
Jomo Kenyatta is addressing a public rally. The two crew of the fighter are killed instantly, with the jet narrowly missing a crowded bus as it skids across a four-lane highway. The bus brakes to a halt and fills with smoke from the burning wreckage. A second Hunter jet makes an emergency landing at
Nairobi International Airport, where, according to one witness, it narrowly misses a loaded Pan American jet "by a matter of feet." The airport closes briefly after the incident. ;4 June:
Sikorsky SH-3D Sea King, BuNo
152711, of
HS-4, departs
Naval Auxiliary Air Field Imperial Beach, California, at 1900 hours, en route to the Helicopter Offshore Training Area to conduct a scheduled night anti-submarine sonar training flight. The crew commences operations with four approaches to sonar hover and four night/low visibility and wind-line rescue patterns with hover trim practice until dusk. After sunset (1953 hours), the crew conducts four more approaches to sonar hovers while practising dip-to-dip navigation with the pilots alternating approaches until 2133. With the sonar dome lowered down to 100 feet below the water's surface, the hover of the helicopter becomes unstable. The two sonar operators, sink the sonar dome deeper in the ocean, hoping the stability will improve and, for a brief moment, it works. But, then the sonar dome begins to pull Helo '740' downward to 30 feet above the waterline. The helicopter, pulled backwards, impacts the water, sinks quickly. The four crewmen were picked up by a Coast Guard
Sikorsky HH-3F Pelican shortly before midnight and transported to the Naval Hospital at San Diego. Three crewmen are released from the hospital in the days that follow, but the pilot, who suffered a ruptured spleen, dies in hospital over three weeks later. This aircraft was 'Helo 66' that had retrieved the
Apollo 13 crew from the Pacific on 17 April 1970. ;15 August:
Lockheed U-2R,
68-10334, Article 056, sixth airframe of the first R-model order, first flown 18 May 1968, N814X allocated, delivered to
100th SRW, 10 June 1968. Crashes into the
Gulf of Thailand ~50 miles S of
U-Tapao on ferry flight back to the U.S. from U-Tapao. Shortly after departing the Thai base (in the company of another U-2R and a
KC-135 tanker) on a very dark night, the autopilot develops problems and Capt Little loses control as it overspeeds. The tail separates and the pilot ejects, being rescued by a fishing boat in the Gulf of Thailand the next morning. Although Little survives, he never flies a U-2 again,
SAC tradition at the time. This is the second U-2R loss. ;23 August:A
Grumman A-6E Intruder, BuNo
149948, 'AJ-500', of VA-35, and a
McDonnell Douglas F-4J Phantom II from collide in midair over the Atlantic Ocean during a refueling maneuver ~600 miles SSW of
Scotland. The two crew of the A-6 were missing and presumed dead while the two of the F-4J were recovered. ;26 August:
LTV A-7D-12-CV Corsair II,
72-0172, of the
76th Tactical Fighter Squadron,
23rd Tactical Fighter Wing,
England AFB, Louisiana, crashes on a test range on the eastern area of the
Eglin AFB, Florida, reservation at ~2240 hrs. during a night training mission. The aircraft, part of a three-ship flight, had departed England AFB at ~2015 hrs. for a ground attack simulation at Eglin. The A-7D went down while orbiting the range with the other two aircraft of the flight. Pilot Capt. William N. Clark, 33, of
Little Rock, Arkansas, is KWF. "The cause of the crash is unknown at this time but is being investigated by a board of qualified officers," The three jets were slated to return to England AFB directly after completing the mission, Smith said. Capt. Clark is survived by his wife and three children who reside at England AFB. ;1 September:
Egyptian Air Force Tupolev Tu-16K11-16,
4403, crashed over the Menya area of Egypt. It had a left engine fire and the bullets of the second navigator's gun were exploding. Pilot Wing Commander Mohamed Keraidy refused to bail out as he tried to rescue his crew. The intercom was disabled due to the fire. Co-pilot Fl. Lt. Adel El Fiky bailed out safely. Major Samir Abdel Fattah, 1st Navigator, died while trying to eject. Captain Salah El Menshawy, 2nd Navigator, died instantly from the explosion of the oxygen thermos behind him in the bomber. Keraidy finally bailed out several minutes after putting the bomber in a dive position into the river Nile in order to reduce the explosion. Gunner and radioman did not escape the aircraft and were killed. The pilot was taken by a helicopter to the Maadi military hospital in Cairo and died in the ICU several hours later. This crash was the longest emergency case in the Egyptian Air Force. Wing Commander Keraidy was the first Egyptian officer to be given the Golden Military Bravery Medal, first Category, without dying in a battle. ;3 September:A
USAF Boeing B-52G Stratofortress,
57-6493, of the
68th Bomb Wing,
Seymour Johnson AFB,
North Carolina, crashed near
Aiken, South Carolina, when the aircraft suffered major structural failure due to a major fuel leak with the right wing separating between the third and fourth engine nacelles, the wing then shearing off the horizontal stabilizer. The bomber rolled inverted and broke apart. Witnesses described it as a "ball of fire" which then plunged into a wooded area. Wreckage was spread over a 10-mile area. Four crewmembers successfully ejected, three killed. The aircraft was on a routine training mission and was carrying no weapons, last reported flying at an altitude of 28,000 feet. The Department of Defense said that 67 B-52s have crashed, including 17 in the Vietnam War. ;10 September:A U.S. Army
Bell UH-1H Iroquois from
Fort Rucker Army Base, Alabama, on a routine training flight crashes and burns three miles SE of
Marianna Municipal Airport,
Marianna, Florida, killing all three crew, an instructor pilot and two students, military officials said. The identities of the victims was being withheld pending notification of next of kin. Army officials were investigating the cause of the crash. ;25 September:A flight of four
Lockheed F-104G Starfighters of the
Aeronautica Militare Italiana (Italian Air Force) crash in formation into a field near the village of
Ralingen near the border with
Luxembourg, ~12 miles S of
Bitburg, West Germany, shortly after take-off from
Bitburg Air Base, killing all four pilots. The four jets flown by an Italian Air Force lieutenant colonel and three captains came down just five minutes after departing. The Bitburg control tower operated by the United States Air Force in Europe said that radio contact with the flight was lost almost immediately after they took off into overcast skies. "They crashed in line, the four craters being within an area of one square kilometer (about four-tenths of a square mile)," a German defense ministry spokesman said. The last crash of a formation of Starfighters occurred in West Germany in 1962 when an American pilot teaching stunt flying to three Germans led his formation in a dive into an abandoned strip mine near Cologne. ;26 September:A
USAF CH-53C Super Jolly Green Giant of the
601st Tactical Air Support Squadron carrying 16 U. S. Air Force personnel crashed into a farm near
Delbrück, Germany while on a mission to survey a site for a radar installation in central Germany. All aboard were killed. ;14 October:An
RAF Avro Vulcan B.2,
XM645, of
9 Sqn RAF Waddington breaks up over
Żabbar,
Malta, after a hard landing shears off the port-side undercarriage, piercing a wing fuel tank and starting a fire. The pilot and co-pilot initiate a second landing attempt but eject when they realize that the plane cannot make it back to the runway. The subsequent explosion kills 5 crew members who remained aboard, and an electrical cable severed by falling debris kills a bystander on the ground. ;14 October:A
USAF McDonnell Douglas F-15A Eagle,
73-0088, of the 555th TFTS, 58th TFTW, crashes W of
Minersville, Utah, due to electrical smoke/fire from generator failure; pilot ejects safely. This was the first F-15 crash. ;31 October:Final
Hawker-Siddeley P.1127 prototype (of six),
XP984, first with new swept wing with leading edge extensions and steel cold nozzles, first flown in October 1963, is destroyed in landing accident at
RAE Bedford. ;19 November:First of three
Boeing-Vertol YUH-61 helicopters completed,
73-21656, crashes and is moderately damaged during testing, but two company pilots escape injury. Cause is found to be failure of tail rotor drive shaft after the main rotor oversped during an auto-rotational recovery. Airframe is repaired. Now preserved at the
Army Aviation Museum,
Fort Rucker, Alabama. Type loses competition to
Sikorsky UH-60 and airframes four and five are not completed. ;25 November:
Israeli Air Force Lockheed C-130H Hercules 203/4X-FBO, on a training flight over the northern
Sinai crashed into cloud-covered Mount
Jebel Halal, 55 kilometers south-southeast of
El Arish,
Sinai Peninsula, killing all 20 on board. Eleven of the dead were infantrymen, mostly sergeants, and none of higher rank. The other nine were air force crewmen, a military spokesman said. Military censors held up news of the crash for 27 hours. Pilots were Shaul Bustan and Uri Manor. ;23 December:
LTV A-7D Corsair II,
67-14586, while assigned to
Eglin AFB, Florida's
3246th Test Wing,
Air Development & Test Center for mission support, suffers engine failure on take-off from
Tallahassee Municipal Airport, Florida and makes forced landing, coming down largely intact. Airframe is hauled back to
Eglin AFB on a truck, where it is either scrapped or becomes a target hulk. ;23 December:
General Dynamics FB-111A,
68–290, crashes in the area of the Ashland forest in
Maine, ~45 minutes after take-off from
Loring AFB, Maine. ==1976==