14 August 1968 – F-100D
A strange accident happened on Wednesday 14 August 1968. Three F-100D Super Sabres from the 48th TFW at RAF Lakenheath made a routine flight above the Netherlands. The F-100s were flying on an altitude of about 300 meters. When pilot Captain Donald Smith (flying the F-100D 0-52833) saw that they were heading for a heavy shower, he tried to reach Leeuwarden AB by radio to ask permission to go to a higher altitude. Captain Hall, who flew behind him, suddenly saw the radio tower of Smilde appear in plain sight. He tried to warn Smith by repeatedly sending him the message “Tower at 12 o’clock”. But because Smith was messing around with his radio, trying to reach Leeuwarden, he missed the warnings. When the tower was really close Hall changed his message in “Turn left immediately ”. At that moment Smith received the message and threw his F-100 to the left, luckily missing the tower but his right wing hit a steel cable that was attached to the tower. He immediately gained height in case he had a bail out. But he soon realized that the F-100 was still capable of flying. The flight controllers in Nieuw Millingen asked him if he thought it was possible to reach an airbase, otherwise he had to bail out above the IJsselmeer. One of the F-100s decided to leave back home to Lakenheath, while the F-100 from Captain Hall (0-63203) accompanied Smith.
Leeuwarden AB was the closest to Smilde, but because the weather there was very bad Smith, was asked to head for Soesterberg AB. The speed of the F-100 was very low but with the help from the flight controllers Smith could make it to Soesterberg in a gliding flight where he even managed to land his F-100. The aircraft was disassembled after which the parts were flown back to Lakenheath the next month. In December the parts were flown to McClellan AB, CA, for repairs. It flew for another ten years with the Ohio ANG. The radio tower in Smilde had significant damage and one feared that it might collapse with one of the three steel cables missing. But the tower survived and was repaired in the next months.
