1958 Tybee Island mid-air collision
United States Air Force (Strategic Air Command) Boeing B-47B Stratojet and United States Air Force (Tactical Air Command) North American F-86L Sabre · Mid-air collision
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
- Accident
- Event fatalities
- 0 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- Unknown
- Survivors
- Unknown
- 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
Aircraft 1 · Boeing B-47B Stratojet
- Aircraft type
- Boeing B-47
- 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
- 51-2349
- Onboard fatalities
- 0
- Route
- From not recordedTo not recorded
Aircraft 2 · North American F-86L Sabre
- Aircraft type
- North American F-86
- 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
- 52-10108
- Onboard fatalities
- 0
- Route
- From not recordedTo not recorded
Approximate · Coordinates from the Wikipedia article; not checked against an investigation report.
From the Wikipedia article
The Tybee Island mid-air collision was an incident on February 5, 1958, in which the United States Air Force lost a 7600 lb Mark 15 nuclear bomb in the waters of Tybee Island near Savannah, Georgia, United States. During a night practice exercise, an F-86 fighter plane collided with the B-47 bomber carrying the large weapon.
The bomb was jettisoned to help prevent a crash and explosion. After several unsuccessful searches, the weapon was declared lost in Wassaw Sound off the shores of Tybee Island.
Collision
The B-47 bomber was on a simulated combat mission from Homestead Air Force Base in Florida, carrying a single 7600 lb bomb. At about 2:00 a.m. EST (UTC−5), an F-86 fighter collided with the six-engine B-47. The F-86 pilot, Lt. Clarence Stewart, ejected and parachuted to safety near Estill, South Carolina, 10 mi north of the fighter's crash site east of Sylvania, Georgia. The damaged B-47 remained airborne, plummeting from 38000 ft until the pilot, Col. Howard Richardson, regained control at 20000 ft.
The crew requested permission to jettison the bomb, in order to reduce weight and prevent the weapon from exploding during an emergency landing. Permission was granted, and the bomb was jettisoned at 7200 ft, while the plane was traveling at about 200 knot. The crew did not see an explosion when the weapon struck the sea. They managed to land the B-47 successfully at nearby Hunter Air Force Base, just south of Savannah. Richardson was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for safely landing the bomber.
Text from the Wikipedia article “1958 Tybee Island mid-air collision” (revision 1374445587, 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: 1958 Tybee Island mid-air collision
- Revision
- 1374445587 · 2026-09-12 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q1514690
- 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 "1958 Tybee Island mid-air collision" (page 988541, revision 1374445587)
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site
- Map position
- Wikipedia article coordinates
- 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.