Death Valley mid-air collision
United States Air Force McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II and United States Air Force McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II · 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
- 2 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- Unknown
- Survivors
- 2
- 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 · McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II
- Aircraft type
- McDonnell Douglas F-4
- 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
- 67-266
- Operator
- United States Air Force
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From George Air Force BaseTo George Air Force Base
Aircraft 2 · McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II
- Aircraft type
- McDonnell Douglas F-4
- 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
- 75-630
- Operator
- United States Air Force
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- Not stated
- 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
- None · no survivors
- Route
- From George Air Force BaseTo George Air Force Base
Approximate · Estimated position: the centre of Furnace Creek, CA, near the place the Wikipedia article names. Not the accident site.
From the Wikipedia article
During an air combat training flight as part of the flight instructor training of the Luftwaffe in the USA, two McDonnell F-4E Phantom IIs collided over Death Valley in California, USA, on 26 July 1990. Both aircraft crashed into the desert near the settlement of Furnace Creek. The crew of one of the two aircraft was fatally injured in the accident.
Sequence of events
Two Phantom fighter-bombers of the 20th Tactical Fighter Training Squadron of the US Air Force (USAF) took off from the US Air Force base George Air Force Base in California in the late morning of 26 July 1990 on a training flight in the local military flight training area over Death Valley National Park. As part of the US Air Force's flight instructor training for the German Luftwaffe, the flight order provided for training in the basics of air combat between two aircraft. The collision occurred during one of the air combat manoeuvres. Both aircraft were so badly damaged that they were no longer airworthy and crashed into the desert approx. 8 miles (around 13 km) south-west of the settlement of Furnace Creek, where the visitor centre for the national park is also located.
The crew of the aircraft with the serial 67-266 consisted of a German weapon systems officer training to become a weapons instructor (IWSO) in the rear cockpit and an American flight instructor in the front cockpit. Both were able to escape using their ejection seats. The crew of the Phantom with the serial 75-630 consisted of a German pilot training to become a flight instructor (IP) in the front seat and his American flight instructor in the rear seat. Both suffered fatal injuries in the accident.
Both aircraft were operated by the 20th Tactical Fighter Training Squadron of the USAF. The aircraft with the serial 67-266 was an F-4E of the US Air Force. The F-4E with the serial 75-630 belonged to the German Luftwaffe and had been assigned to the 20th Squadron for the training of German student pilots. For reasons of legal status, this aircraft bore US national insignia and a USAF serial.
Translated into English with AI assistance from the German Wikipedia article “Flugzeugkollision über dem Tal des Todes” (revision 262470296, retrieved 2026-09-19) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out; the translation may contain errors, and long articles were cut to their first 700 words. Read the article
Sources
German Wikipedia article: Flugzeugkollision über dem Tal des Todes
- Translation
- Into English with AI assistance; names of linked operators and aircraft types from Wikidata. It may contain errors.
- Revision
- 262470296 · 2025-12-16 · retrieved 2026-09-19
- Wikidata
- Q106925710
- 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
- de Wikipedia article "Flugzeugkollision über dem Tal des Todes" (page 11789584, revision 262470296), translated into English with AI assistance
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site
- Map position
- centre of the town the Wikipedia infobox site names (GeoNames, CC BY 4.0)
- 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: total_fatalities
- Ground fatalities
- not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
- Summary
- Wikipedia article lead
Source notes (1)
- Wikipedia · Facts from the German Wikipedia article's infobox, translated into English with AI assistance, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.