12 September 1981 – F-15C (BT 80-0007)

On Saturday, September 12, an airshow was held. More than 250,000 spectators visited Soesterberg to view the aircraft on static display and in the flying display. One of the highlights of the airshow was a demonstration by a USAF F-15C Eagle. The reason the demo was flown by an Eagle from Bitburg rather than from Soesterberg was simply because Soesterberg and Bitburg alternated responsibility for demonstration duties. One year Bitburg was responsible for airshow demonstrations, the next year Soesterberg took over.
The F-15C involved had only been delivered to the 36th TFW a few days earlier and had logged less than 15 flight hours. Most of those hours consisted of the ferry flight from St. Louis to Bitburg.
On Friday the 11th, the F-15 flew to Soesterberg, where it also landed. In the afternoon, the aircraft performed its practice demonstration before departing for Gilze-Rijen Air Base.

On Saturday, the Eagle was scheduled to depart from Gilze-Rijen and perform its demonstration over Soesterberg. At approximately 3:10 PM, Capt. Dennis R. Kuehler began his display routine. After his final overshoot, Kuehler turned his Eagle toward the runway to begin landing. Unfortunately, he misjudged his position, and by the time he realized the error it was too late. He attempted a go-around at full power, but the Eagle had already struck the ground and slid along the runway and adjacent terrain before finally coming to a stop after approximately 450 meters.

Capt. Kuehler was not seriously injured and was able to exit the F-15 under his own power. He was examined at the base clinic and was put on a train back to Germany shortly afterward. The wreckage of the F-15 was later transported to the United States. The nose section of the aircraft is owned by a private collector in Washington, who intends to turn it into a full-scale flight simulator.
Capt. Kuehler continued his career as an F-15 pilot. On June 8, 1987, he crashed with his F-15 in a forested area in Virginia for reasons that remain unclear, shortly after taking off from Langley Air Force Base.

Read the Official Accident Report