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This one is reaching back a bit...

My dad was an A-10 pilot in 1980-1981 at Bentwaters, England. The 81st TFW / 92nd TFS. He died as a result of injuries sustained in a malfunction of his A-10 on May 8th, 1981. I was only 6 at the time so I don't remember much. I was wondering how I would get info about the incident. Any ideas??? It's been quite a while so I figure it won't be classified or anything.

Firstly, sorry to hear about your father.
The only info I have is that the jet was apparently 79-0083 and would have at that time been newly delivered.
The A-10 crashed at Wainfleet Range,Lincolnshire (located on the East Coast of England) during a live firing sortie.
It would appear that your father ejected but sadly the altitude of the aircraft was outside of the seats envelope and the parachute failed to deploy.
These are just the basic facts of the incident taken from a book called Strike Force by Robert Jackson, which looked at the history of the USAFE in Britain since 1948.

Your father died keeping peace during the Cold War flying a great jet with a great squadron, the 92nd TFS.

Try this link:-
http://www.afpc.randolph.af.mil/sascasstats/

Edited by - Bacon Bits on Apr 01 2003 2:22 PM

Wow. That sounds like what I remember being told to me. I think it was something like a bomb didn't fully release and he had to ditch because he could land like that...but the plane had a malfunction...I'll check the link.

I really appreciate the info. It has been a long time, and I am actually older now than he was when he died. Kinda weird.

Thanks again...

Louis