1964 Machida F-8 crash

1964 Machida F-8 crash

Three U.S. Marine Corps Vought F8U-2 (F-8C) Crusaders on the U.S. aircraft carrier USS Forrestal (CVA-59), ca. 1960.
Accident
Date	April 5, 1964
Summary	Mechanical failure
Site	Machida, Tokyo, Japan
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Vought RF-8A Crusader
Operator	United States Marine Corps
Registration	146891
Flight origin	Kadena Air Base, Okinawa
Destination	Naval Air Facility Atsugi, Kanagawa Prefecture
Passengers	0
Crew	1 (survived)
Fatalities	4 (on ground)
Injuries	32 (on ground)

The 1964 Machida F-8 crash (町田米軍機墜落事故, lit. "Machida American Military Aircraft Crash") occurred on 5 April 1964 in Machida, Tokyo, Japan. A United States Marine Corps Vought RF-8A Crusader, BuNo 146891, which was returning as one half of a two-plane flight of Crusaders from Kadena Air Base, Okinawa to its home base of Naval Air Facility Atsugi, Kanagawa Prefecture, suffered a mechanical malfunction. It subsequently crashed into a residential neighborhood in the Hara-Machida area of Machida City (near present-day JR Machida Station) in Tokyo, Japan. The other aircraft landed safely at Atsugi.

The crash killed four people and injured 32 others on the ground. The stricken aircraft's pilot, Captain R. L. Bown of Seattle, Washington, successfully ejected at 5,000 feet and landed on a car, suffering minor bruises. The accident destroyed seven houses. Three of the four fatalities were caused by debris from the collapsed houses, and the fourth was from pieces of the destroyed aircraft.

Japanese media questioned why Bown was not able to steer the aircraft away from the residential area before ejecting.

See also

• Aviation accidents in Japan involving U.S. military and government aircraft post-World War II
• 1959 Okinawa F-100 crash
• 1977 Yokohama F-4 crash

References

• Associated Press (6 April 1964). "U.S. Plane in Japan Kills Four in Crash". The New York Times. p. 7.