1969 RAF Mildenhall C-130 theft
United States Air Force Lockheed C-130E Hercules · Aircraft theft and disappearance
From RAF Mildenhall (MHZ) to an unrecorded destination
Event
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Incident
- Event fatalities
- 1 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- 1
- Survivors
- 0
- InjuriesFatal: death within 30 days. Serious: over 48 hours in hospital within a week, most broken bones, severe bleeding, nerve or organ damage, or serious burns. Minor: anything less. Glossary
- Unknown
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- Military
Lockheed C-130E Hercules
- Aircraft type
- Lockheed C-130
- Category
- Airplane · from aircraft type
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- 63-7789
- Operator
- United States Air Force
- Onboard fatalities
- 1
- Route
- From RAF Mildenhall (MHZ)To not recorded
Not plotted · Not plotted: the Wikipedia article gives no coordinates, and its site names no town or airport that matches exactly.
From the Wikipedia article
On 23 May 1969, a Lockheed C-130 Hercules of the United States Air Force (USAF) was stolen from RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk, England, by a USAF aircraft mechanic who ultimately crashed it into the English Channel. Though some parts of the plane washed up on the Channel Islands within days of the crash, the larger wreck remained undiscovered until November 2018, nearly 50 years later.
Background
Sergeant Paul Meyer was an aircraft mechanic in the United States Air Force. At the age of 23 he was already a Vietnam veteran. He had married earlier that year and was close to his wife and stepchildren. While at Mildenhall, he had flashbacks and was homesick and unhappy. He was also a heavy drinker.
A few days before the theft he had requested to be transferred from Mildenhall to Langley Air Force Base but the request was turned down.
Accident report
The accident report records that only two aircraft were dispatched to find Meyer, a C-130 from RAF Mildenhall and an F-100 from RAF Lakenheath. Neither aircraft established visual or radio contact.
French Air force fighters were scrambled.
Text from the Wikipedia article “1969 RAF Mildenhall C-130 theft” (revision 1356499232, retrieved 2026-09-18) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out. Read the article
Sources
Wikipedia article: 1969 RAF Mildenhall C-130 theft
- Revision
- 1356499232 · 2026-05-28 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q94974086
- Licence
- Text CC BY-SA 4.0, by the article's authors; Wikidata CC0; town positions GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
Where each value comes from
- Record
- Wikipedia article "1969 RAF Mildenhall C-130 theft" (page 64018869, revision 1356499232)
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site; country from Wikidata (P17)
- Map position
- none
- Aircraft, operator and route
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports)
- Operation
- operator named as an armed force or military unit in the infobox
- Fatalities
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities
- Ground fatalities
- not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
- Summary
- Wikipedia infobox: summary
Source notes (1)
- Wikipedia · Facts from the Wikipedia article's infobox and coordinates, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.