F-4EJ Kai crash off Fukue Island
Japan Air Self-Defense Force McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II · Engine flameout at high altitude
From Nyutabaru Air Base to Nyutabaru Air Base
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
- 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
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
- Japan Air Self-Defense Force
- Onboard fatalities
- 2
- Route
- From Nyutabaru Air BaseTo Nyutabaru Air Base
Cause areas
- Aircraft › Aircraft power plant
- Environmental issues › Conditions/weather/phenomena
From the investigation findings the Wikipedia article reports, sorted into the NTSB's cause areas with AI assistance.
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
The F-4EJ Kai crash off Fukue Island (F-4EJ Kai Fukuejima-oki tsuiraku jiko) was an aviation accident that occurred on 15 August 1999 (Heisei 11).
Beginning with this accident, 5 fatal aircraft crashes occurred in succession up to July of the following year, which led to the establishment of the “Japan Air Self-Defense Force Safety Day”.
The accident
At around 4:40 am on 15 August, 2 F-4EJ Kai fighters of the 301st Squadron, 5th Air Wing, Nyutabaru Air Base, were scrambled for anti-airspace-violation measures against an unidentified aircraft flying over the East China Sea. On board the accident aircraft were First Lieutenant A (31 years old) and Second Lieutenant B (27 years old). First Lieutenant A was a mid-career pilot with more than 2,000 flight hours, of which about 1,450 hours were on the F-4EJ. Second Lieutenant B had about 1,030 total flight hours.
At around 5:10 am, immediately after the scramble target was acquired on radar, communication was lost and the aircraft crashed. The target aircraft subsequently changed course and did not violate the airspace.
The remaining 1 other aircraft returned safely at around 5:45 am.
Investigation and cause
Towards determining the cause
Because lightning strikes had been observed that day owing to bad weather, immediately after the accident the crash was thought to have been caused by a lightning strike. However, subsequent investigation concluded that because the aircraft was flying in high-altitude airspace with disturbed airflow, the air supply became insufficient, the engines stopped, and the aircraft crashed.
Translated into English with AI assistance from the Japanese Wikipedia article “F-4EJ改福江島沖墜落事故” (revision 109904355, 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
Japanese Wikipedia article: F-4EJ改福江島沖墜落事故
- Article
- F-4EJ改福江島沖墜落事故
- Translation
- Into English with AI assistance; names of linked operators and aircraft types from Wikidata. It may contain errors.
- Revision
- 109904355 · 2026-06-12 · retrieved 2026-09-19
- Wikidata
- Q28682098
- 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
- ja Wikipedia article "F-4EJ改福江島沖墜落事故" (page 3452081, revision 109904355), translated into English with AI assistance
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site
- 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 Japanese Wikipedia article's infobox, translated into English with AI assistance, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.