1000 mi East Yokota Japan, April 1961April 1961

Insufficient Data

Summary

On April 25, 1961, a Pan American Airways aircraft was struck by an object while flying from Wake Island to Yokota Air Base, Japan. The aircraft was at 31,000 feet, about 1,000 miles from Yokota, when the pilot felt and heard a muffled thump. The object hit the right wing root, between the fuselage and the right landing light.

The plane landed safely at Yokota. The damage included a cracked rib assembly near the forward spar and bent fairing. There was no break in the skin of the aircraft. The dented leading edge was later covered with a sheet of aluminum to smooth the contour.

An Air Force officer inspected the aircraft after it reached Travis Air Force Base. The report stated it was probable that the aircraft had made contact with a weather balloon released from a unit between Wake Island and Japan.

Reported location

1000 mi East Yokota Japan, April 1961

Date of incident

April 1961

State / country

? / XX

Page count

3 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 42

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 3

View transcribed text

PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD
———————————,
1. DATE 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS
» A] 10 : , Tokota Jajal 0 Was Balloon
QC Probably Balloon
3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4 TYPE OF OBSERVATION 8 Possibly Balloon
; O Wos Aircraft
LR cic —" . Ground- Visual O Ground-Radar O Probably Aircraft
RES BAR Da RA D Air Vial O Air-Intercept Radar DO Possibly Aircroft
5. PHOTOS . SOURCE 0 Was Astronomical
O Yes 0 Probably Astronomical
} oO Ne Li 0 Possibly Astronomical
COREE. A. SSE AIR Ty
7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE BDI hii ——
O Insufficient Dota for Evaluation
HEE - 0 Unknown
10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING § COMMENTS
aul
|
ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52)

/ 3

Use ← → keys to navigate · scans hosted by the U.S. National Archives

Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28992184