Navy F4U4 Corsair Crashes Near Chincoteague Island, VA in 1954
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fullxr
N 37° 56.372 W 075° 27.434
18S E 459823 N 4199204
A High-Altitude Navy Test Firing Mission Ends in Tragedy on a Beautiful Summer Morning in 1954.
Waymark Code: WMFXG8
Location: Virginia, United States
Date Posted: 12/12/2012
Views: 7
The coordinates provided are for the Wallops Flight Facility Visitor Center parking lot. During business hours, this is the safest place to view the crash site from. Follow the sidewalk from the parking lot toward the rear of the building, then left toward the marsh. At the end of the sidewalk, look left (northeast) toward the Route 175 Causeway.
The Crash
On a beautiful Tuesday, June 15, 1954 morning around 11:30 AM, a Navy F4UA Corsair single-engine fighter plane piloted by Lieutenant Henry Charles Dinger, Jr. was flying at 30,000 feet (almost 6 miles above ground) on a high altitude test-firing mission when his plane commenced a shallow dive, turned and lost altitude quickly while going into a spiral spin before exploding upon impact in the marsh between Wire Narrows and Queens Sound bridges, about 500 feet south of Route 175 and one-half mile east of Chincoteague Naval Auxiliary Air Base (now Wallops Flight Facility).
As Lieutenant Dinger’s plane was spiraling downward, other Navy pilots reported being unable to contact Lieutenant Dinger. There had been no communication problem between the pilots earlier.
The local newspaper speculated that the lack of oxygen experienced while flying at high altitudes, a break in an oxygen line or carbon monoxide poisoning may have caused Lieutenant Dinger to black-out.
The newspaper reported that no one observed Lieutenant Dinger bailing-out of his plane before it spiraled out of control. His body was recovered but no further details were provided.
Lieutenant Dinger was on a temporary duty assignment to Chincoteague Naval Auxiliary Air Base from the US Naval Proving Grounds/ Weapons Laboratory (now known as the AEGIS Training and Readiness Center) in Dahlgren in King George County, VA.
(Chincoteague Beacon, Wednesday, June 16, 1954, Front Page, Plane Falls -- Pilot Killed)
Web Address for Related Web Sites: [Web Link]
Date of Crash: 06/15/1954
Aircraft Model: Chance Vought F4U4 Corsair.
Military or Civilian: Military
Tail Number: Unknown.
Cause of Crash:
The local newspaper speculated the pilot may have blacked-out from a lack of oxygen or carbon monoxide poisoning. The official US Navy ruling is unknown.
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