1959 Kadena Air Base F-100 crash

Kadena Air Base F-100 crash

An F-100 Super Sabre.
Accident summary
Date	June 30, 1959
Type	Mechanical failure leading to in-flight fire
Site	Uruma, Okinawa
Passengers	0
Crew	1 (survived)
Injuries	210 (on ground)
Fatalities	17 (on ground)
Aircraft type	F-100 Super Sabre
Operator	United States Air Force
Tail number	55-3633A
Flight origin	Kadena Air Base

The 1959 Kadena Air Base F-100 crash occurred on June 30, 1959 in the Uruma area of then United States (US)-occupied Okinawa. In the crash, a United States Air Force F-100 Super Sabre on a training or test flight from nearby Kadena Air Base suffered an engine fire. The aircraft crashed into Miyamori Elementary School and surrounding houses, killing 11 students and six other people in the neighborhood and injured 210 others, including 156 students at the school. The pilot, Capt. John G. Schmitt, Jr. from Chalmers, Indiana, 34 years old, ejected and was unhurt.

The tragedy contributed to ill-feelings from the Okinawan community towards the US occupation authorities and calls for the island to be returned to the control of the Government of Japan. A memorial statue for the victims of the disaster was erected at the crash site in 1965.

On June 30, 2009, 800 people, including former students of Miyamori Elementary and relatives of the victims attended a 50th-anniversary memorial service at the crash site. Okinawa Governor Hirokazu Nakaima spoke at the ceremony, saying, "The Okinawa people of the time were deeply saddened by the accident in which the lives of children having dreams and hopes for the future were lost."

References

• Kyodo News (July 1, 2009). "Okinawa school marks 50th year since deadly U.S. fighter crash". Japan Times. http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20090701a8.html. Retrieved 2009-07-01.