This is a list of notable accidents and incidents involving military aircraft grouped by the year in which the accident or incident occurred. Not all of the aircraft were in operation at the time. Combat losses are not included except for a very few cases denoted by singular circumstances. A summary is available on the template at the bottom of the article.
Aircraft terminology
Information on aircraft gives the type, and if available, the serial number of the operator in italics, the constructors number, also known as the manufacturer's serial number (c/n), exterior codes in apostrophes, nicknames (if any) in quotation marks, flight callsign in italics, and operating units.
1980
31 January Lockheed U-2C, 56-6714, Article 381, 21st airframe of first USAF order, delivered August 1957, to 4080th SRW, Laughlin AFB, Texas, as a 'hard nose' sampling aircraft; transferred to the Central Intelligence Agency and converted to U-2G in mid-1965; transferred to Strategic Air Command; flyable storage at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona, 1969. Returned to U-2C configuration for Advanced Location and Strike System (ALSS) project, 1972; damaged 2 May 1974 on landing at Davis-Monthan AFB, repaired. Written off after crash on 31 January 1980, Capt. Edward Beaumont surviving. Pilot suffered catatonic seizure, and, amazingly, descended to make uncontrolled landing in cow pasture near Oroville, California, even clipping power lines just before touchdown. Cessna T-37 Tweet trainer, flying locally, had rendezvoused with U-2 and two crew could see pilot unconscious in the cockpit. After landing, pilot revived sufficiently to shut down engine, but then, as he climbed out of the aircraft, accidentally caught the D ring of his ejection seat, which he had not safed, which fired, tossing him in a somersault, but suffered only a chipped tooth. Airframe repaired for display at 9th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing headquarters, Beale AFB, California. Pilot removed from U-2 program on medical grounds.
19 February Two crew are killed in the fiery crash of a McDonnell CF-101B Voodoo, 101055, c/n 602, ( originally F-101B-100-MC, 57-0424; to CAF on 8 July 1971) on runway 25 at Ottawa International Airport, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Capt. Pilot Robert Abbott, 29, of Ottawa, and his navigator, Capt. Albert Oostenbrug, 33, of Stratford, Ontario, were posted at CFB Chatham, New Brunswick, with No. 416 Squadron RCAF. A military spokesman said that the aircraft came in sharply and it appeared that the pilot may have initially misjudged his landing, and applied power at the last second to overshoot and circle for a second attempt. However, witnesses said the aircraft touched down hard and bounced high, then it seemed to stall and rolled over on its side and came down steeply, nose first. The aircraft started to break up as it hit the ground and then exploded in flames. This was the 20th CF-101 crash since they entered Canadian service in 1961, resulting in 16 fatalities.
14 March A C-130H Hercules transport plane, 74–2064, was engaged in a logistics mission out of Adana-Incirlik Air Base to several U.S. military installations in Turkey. The aircraft was returning to Adana when an explosion occurred in a left wing fuel tank. At the time, the aircraft was descending through 5000 feet to 3000 feet. The flight crew lost control and the aircraft impacted terrain. At the time, the aircraft had 6 crew members and 12 passengers on board. There were no survivors.
17 April A Lockheed P-3C Orion, 158213, was taking part in Samoa's Flag Day celebration. The aircraft was dropping skydivers near the reviewing area. During the second run, the aircraft clipped a mile-long tramway line running across the Pago Pago Harbor to Mount Alava. Part of the wing separated and the aircraft crashed into an area in front of the two-story Rainmaker Hotel. 6 crewmembers and 2 individuals on the ground were killed in the crash.