F-100A 53-1544 crash 5 miles east of Tucson International Airport AZ

SCRAMBLE!

At approximately 1:20pm, the scramble horn blew and crews immediately raced into action. Within five minutes of hearing the scramble horn, two Arizona National Guard F-100s started rolling for take-off at Tucson Municipal Airport (now Tucson International Airport).

BANG!

1st Lt. George Arthur Craig was in F-100A, Super Sabre S/N 53-1544. He was speeding down the runway in his Hun when he hit the afterburners - Bang! An explosion blew off pieces of the aircraft. At the time, Craig was unaware of the explosion and became airborne in his F-100. As he turned to the East, the engine fire warning light went off. Moments later Craig successfully ejected. The plane went into a dive and crashed in an area near (present day) Arizona State Prison near Wilmont Road. According to the Air Force mishap report, debris was scattered over “4390” feet. The pilot survived, but suffered major injuries.

Landing gear and possible firewall. Photo from my personal collection.

Landing gear from a recent trip to revisit the crash site.

Might have been a battery box. I don’t think it was an ammo can.

Door Lock mechanism? It was hard to read.

Original crash site photo from my personal collection.

Portion of the wing. (P-38.com was my old website.)

Scattered debris at B-18 crash site.

Agassiz Peak