El Buste air crash
U.S. Air Force McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II and U.S. Air Force McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II · Crash of two aircraft into a mountain
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
- 4 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- Unknown
- 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
- 0
- 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
- Unknown
- Operator
- U.S. Air Force
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From not recordedTo not recorded
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
- Unknown
- Operator
- U.S. 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 not recordedTo not recorded
Approximate · Estimated position: El Buste, the place the Wikipedia article names. Not the accident site.
From the Wikipedia article
On 14 March 1972 in the Zaragoza town of El Buste, two United States military F4 Phantom D fighters crashed into the rocky ridge called Puntal de San Roque, on Mount La Rocha, which is located barely 100 metres from the village.
Accident
At around 9 in the morning of 14 March 1972, two F4 Phantom D fighters belonging to the "23rd Fighter Squadron" of the United States military, coming from the Bardenas and belonging to the German air base of Spangdahlem, were returning to Zaragoza air base after carrying out some exercises. Many eyewitnesses to the accident were able to see how the other aircraft of the patrol were able to avoid the collision, since they were spaced apart and passed over the lower slope of the mountain, but the two fighters that crashed skimmed the rooftops of the village's houses and tried to avoid the mountain, without any success.
When the aircraft crashed near El Buste many residents went to see what was happening, but then pieces of the aircraft fuselage began to fall on the houses; since most of the village's men were still there, many of the fires in the houses could be put out. One of the fighters' engines fell on the birthplace of Monsignor Sotero Sánz, who was at that time the papal nuncio in Chile.
If the aircraft had flown 10 metres lower the catastrophe would have been worse, since they would have crashed into the village.
Possible causes of the accident
What caused the accident was probably the fog and the fact that from Bardenas to El Buste there is a large valley, but according to a El Buste councillor who was an eyewitness, the fog was high. There could also have been an altitude error in the United States military maps of the area at that time.
Aftermath of the accident
Within a few minutes of the collision, the air base's rescue helicopter was already flying over the area. Personnel from the Borja Red Cross and firefighters from Tarazona, Tudela and Tauste also arrived.
Authorities also arrived, such as General Seibane, head of the Air Sector of the III Pyrenean Region. And the mayors and Provincial deputies of Borja, Mr Ojeda, and of Tarazona, Mr Zueco.
Translated into English with AI assistance from the Spanish Wikipedia article “Accidente aéreo de El Buste” (revision 158515992, 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
Spanish Wikipedia article: Accidente aéreo de El Buste
- Article
- Accidente aéreo de El Buste
- Translation
- Into English with AI assistance; names of linked operators and aircraft types from Wikidata. It may contain errors.
- Revision
- 158515992 · 2024-02-29 · retrieved 2026-09-19
- Wikidata
- Q19061026
- 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
- es Wikipedia article "Accidente aéreo de El Buste" (page 6586079, revision 158515992), translated into English with AI assistance
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site; country from Wikidata (P17)
- Map position
- place the Wikipedia infobox site links (Wikidata 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: total_fatalities
- Ground fatalities
- not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
- Summary
- Wikipedia infobox: summary
Source notes (1)
- Wikipedia · Facts from the Spanish Wikipedia article's infobox, translated into English with AI assistance, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.