Battle of Palmdale

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As the Battle of Palmdale ( en . : Battle of Palmdale ) an event on August 16, 1956 near the city of Palmdale in California is referred to. The attempt of the United States Air Force (USAF) to shoot down an uncontrollable drone with the help of interceptors failed. Ammunition fired in the process caused severe property damage and bushfires in and around Palmdale.

background

At the beginning of the 1950s, the United States Navy developed its first anti-aircraft missiles such as the AIM-7 Sparrow or the AAM-N-10 Eagle . The target objects when testing these missiles were decommissioned propeller aircraft that were converted into drones and were mostly controlled by radio remote control . One of the aircraft types that were used for this was the Grumman F6F Hellcat in the version F6F-5K.

At the same time, after the experiences of World War II and with the beginning of the Cold War, it became clear that the USAF and the Air National Guard had to make efforts to defend American airspace against strategic bombers with a fleet of interceptors . For this purpose, the Northrop F-89 Scorpion aircraft type was put into service, which was suitable for all weather conditions with on-board radar and two-man crew. The armament of this type of aircraft consisted exclusively of 104 Folding-Fin Aerial Rockets of the type Mk. 4 Mighty Mouse from version F-89D , which were housed in two launch containers on the wing tips. With the support of the on-board radar, these missiles should be fired manually, semi- or fully automatically, completely or in various salvos at bomber pods.

Course of events

Grumman F6F-5K drones, 1946
Northrop F-89D of the 437th FIS, 1955

On the morning of August 16, 1956 at 11:34 a.m., an F6F-5K drone, a former fighter aircraft, took off from Naval Air Station Point Mugu and was directed towards the firing area over the Pacific. Only a little later it turned out that the drone no longer responded to radio commands from the operating team and instead made a left turn towards Los Angeles .

In order to prevent the drone from crashing over the city, the nearby Oxnard Air Force Base near Camarillo , where the 437th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron was stationed, was notified. Two F-89Ds were launched there, which, with the help of the afterburner, were soon able to catch up with the drone, which is now flying at an altitude of 9,100 m.

The interceptors initially accompanied the drone, which continued to curve Los Angeles in a southwesterly direction and then circled over Santa Paula . The pilots decided to shoot down the F6F-5K over the uninhabited area of Antelope Valley using the automatic mode of the weapon system. The automatic failed, however, so that the pilots had to aim with the naked eye. Fire opened over the town of Castaic , but both fighters missed the target with their first salvo of 42 missiles each. The second volley was fired over Newhall , but the 64 missiles from both F-89Ds did not hit either. Finally, on the third approach, the last 60 missiles were fired without success.

Finally, on the approach to Palmdale, the drone ran out of fuel. It went down eight miles from Palmdale Regional Airport in the desert, damaged several power lines in the crash and was completely destroyed on impact.

Effects

In total, the two F-89Ds had fired 208 Mk.-4 missiles without hitting the F6F-5K. On the other hand, they caused severe damage on the ground. Actually, the rockets should have defused themselves after a loss of airspeed, but only 15 of the rockets were recovered undetonated.

The first volley struck 11 km northeast of Castaic and caused a fire that burned 61 hectares of land. Some of the rockets from the second volley hit the Newhall area, causing a. Fires in the oil pits of the Indian Oil Co. Here, too, the fires spread, burned a total of 140 hectares of land and came within 100 m of a gunpowder factory. The third and final volley finally hit Palmdale itself. Fragments of the rockets hit walls, damaged houses and vehicles.

In total, more than 400 hectares of land were devastated. The extinguishing work lasted two days and required the deployment of over 500 firefighters.

The cause of the incident is suspected to be failure of the transmitter on the remote control on the ground or the receiver in the aircraft. Wreckage of the F6F-5K was found in 1997 and could be identified by serial numbers and inspection marks.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Accident report Grumman F6F Hellcat , Aviation Safety Network WikiBase , accessed on February 12, 2020.