27 September 1958 – T-33

On 27 September 1958 a T-33A from the 32nd TFS with serial 29864 crashed at the end of Soesterbergs runway 28.

On this Saturday morning at 9.15 the T-33 got ready for a flight to Pisa, Italy. On board were pilot 1st Lt. David H. Clegg and Instructor pilot 1st Lt. Donald F. Smith. Lt. Clegg got the T-33 airborne, but immediately the aircraft began to lose speed. Lt. Smith took over control and tried to put the aircraft back on the tarmac. Unfortunately Lt. Clegg had not lowered the landing gear again, so when the T-33 touched the runway it started sliding over it. At some point the left wing was ripped open when it hit the barrier stanchion and caught fire. The aircraft slided for another 300 meter and then flipped over and came to rest in the backyard of the house at the Dolderseweg 52 in Huis ter Heide.

Luckily the fire and crash trucks were nearby and within minutes they arrived at the crash site. Lt. Smith had already gotten out of the wreckage himself. Lt. Clegg was removed from his uncomfortable position by the occupants of the crash truck. Both Smith and Clegg were transported to a hospital in Utrecht, but the two suffered only minor injuries. The T-33 was written off.