OTD January 28 1964 A US Air Force T-39 Sabreliner (62-4448) jet from the 7101st Air Base Wing at Wiesbaden, West Germany, while on a training mission, strays into East German airspace. The T-39 is intercepted by two Soviet MiG-19 fighters and subsequently shot down 1/7

after failing to respond to warnings. All three US Air Force officers onboard are killed.
47 minutes after takeoff, US radar stations in West Germany noted the unarmed aircraft heading towards the East German border at a speed of 500mph. Repeated calls on USAF radio 2/7

frequencies as well as international distress bands known to be monitored by the Soviets were made to the T-39 with no response. Within minutes of the US jet crossing into East German airspace, it was met by two Soviet MiG-19 fighters. US radar stations tracked the three 3/7

aircraft moving east for eleven minutes when two of them suddenly tracked westward again as the 3rd aircraft disappeared from radars.
Within two hours, the US Military Liaison Mission in Berlin was put on standby to assist in the recovery of downed pilots. Upon their 4/7

arrival at the crash site near the city of Erfurt, they were prevented from accessing the crash site by Soviet soldiers, denying that any aircraft had crashed. Both USMLM teams dispatched were briefly detained until the afternoon of January 29th. Access to the site was 5/7

granted on the 30th, and allowed to occur on the 31st at which time the bodies of Capt. John F. Lorraine Lt. Col Gerald K. Hannaford and Capt Donald G. Millard were recovered and subsequently repatriated.
While the US condemned the 6/7

shootdown as a "shocking and senseless act", the Soviets stated that the aircraft had ignored warnings and that they felt compelled to act. 7/7

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