F4 Jet Crash

Teegate

Teegate

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Sep 17, 2002
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Members who have been around for a few years may remember someone saying that an F4 Jet crashed on Sooy Road not far from Bear Swamp Hill. This is a separate incident from the crash at Bear Swamp Hill. I visited the site and had doubts that this happened, but after looking over historicalaerials.com I believe it did. If you go to the below coordinates and look at the 1972 aerial there is nothing there, but in the 1995 you can see the location and what most likely was the fire break that was plowed through the woods to contain the fire.

39.78494
-74.45981

Guy
 
It sure looks that way. You could be right. Assuming there was a fire with the crash.

Something else I found thats pretty neat. If you go just south of Whiting around Greenwood Forest WMA in Lacey, look at the 1995 photos. It shows the large burned out area of the Greenwood Wildfire on April 4, 1995. It was 19,225 acres.

Pete
 
Big fan of the F4 Phantom. I have searched all over the internet but haven't found anything on a F4 crashing in that area. I'm going to email some websites, some the members know where each plane is or at least it seems that way.
 
I was at the F4 site shortly after it happened. They cleaned it up very well but I was able to find tiny bits and pieces scattered around the crash site. I havent been there in more than a few years. If you look hard enough you could probably still find something.
 
Trailhead00 said:
Big fan of the F4 Phantom.
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Here's a bit of trivia for you.... my father, Harold Ostroff, was Chief Design Engineer at McDonnell-Douglas for many years, and the F4 was one of his "babies".... that plane put me through college! :)

He passed away 10 years ago, but I still have some memorabilia like models, photos, even F4 tie tacks, stashed in various boxes somewhere.
 
Boyd said:
Here's a bit of trivia for you.... my father, Harold Ostroff, was Chief Design Engineer at McDonnell-Douglas for many years, and the F4 was one of his "babies".... that plane put me through college! :)

He passed away 10 years ago, but I still have some memorabilia like models, photos, even F4 tie tacks, stashed in various boxes somewhere.
Click to expand...

That's cool. I can see where you picked up your artistic talent. Have you ever tried your hand at design?

I have worked at Navy Lakehurst for my entire worklife. I saw an F4 crash about 30 years ago on base. A Chief was being given a ride off the inground Cat (probably against Navy regulations). They both ejected okay (If I recall correctly), but it was obviously the ride of his life. The plane did a roll and crashed into the woods. The F4 was the Vietnam workhorse. That black trailing smoke wake gave it away.
 
Boyd said:
Here's a bit of trivia for you.... my father, Harold Ostroff, was Chief Design Engineer at McDonnell-Douglas for many years, and the F4 was one of his "babies".... that plane put me through college! :)

He passed away 10 years ago, but I still have some memorabilia like models, photos, even F4 tie tacks, stashed in various boxes somewhere.
Click to expand...

Wow, that is awesome! Hats off to your father for helping to design one of the most verstile jets ever!

My father was in the USAF and stationed in Vietnam for 1 year. I have multiple pics that he took of F4's taking off and landing. He did bomb assesment damage so he looked at the pics that the RF4's took.

That plane sure was the workhorse of Vietnam and yes that black smokey trail sure did give it away at times. Still an awesome plane!

Sorry to hear about your father passing away, you should be very proud of him for such an accomplishment.
 
bobpbx said:
I have worked at Navy Lakehurst for my entire worklife..
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My father worked there until he retired about 10 years ago or so... He started in Phila Naval Ship Yard till his whole department (NAEC) was shipped to Lakehurst back in 1973. He started his carrer in Civil service with the DOD as an intern at Drexel and never left. He was a department supervisor and lead electrical engineer there. He put in 42 years of sevice....
 
My mom worked as a seamstress at Lakehurst. They made the arresting gear that would catch a jet with a tailhook malfunction.I think her shop was in Hangar 3.
 
I can see the black smudge in the sky, well before you could hear the sound of the twin GE engines. I was a crew chief in the late seventies on Phantoms. There may be some well faded scars on my back from scrapping against protrusions under the plane. I loved that plane.
 
A few years ago a helicopter was carrying a Phantom to the Aviation museum in Lumberton. The straps holding it broke and it fell to the ground near Lebanon Lakes.
 
Just visited the F-4 crash site. Some of these parts were on the surface while some were just under the soil.
 

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