ASN Aircraft accident Lockheed RB-69A Neptune 54-4039 Dalian, Liaoning Province
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Status:
Date:Monday 6 November 1961
Type:Silhouette image of generic P2 model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different
Lockheed RB-69A Neptune
Operator:Republic of China Air Force - ROCAF
Registration: 54-4039
MSN: 726-7099
First flight:
Crew:Fatalities: 14 / Occupants: 14
Passengers:Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 0
Total:Fatalities: 14 / Occupants: 14
Aircraft damage: Damaged beyond repair
Location:Dalian, Liaoning Province (   China)
Phase: En route (ENR)
Nature:Military
Departure airport:?
Destination airport:?
Narrative:
The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) acquired seven Neptunes in 1954 and configured them with cameras and electronics intelligence gear. Five of those were stationed in Taiwan and operated by the Republic of China Air Force.
They were reportedly used to conduct intrusion ELINT missions over mainland China, dropping and supplying agents, and dropping propaganda leaflets. Missions were usually flown at night.
The Neptune was conducting a low level penetration flight and was shot down by an SA-2 Guideline missile over Shantung province..

Sources:
» The Growth of China’s Air Defenses: Responding to Covert Overflights, 1949–1974 / Bob Bergin
» USAAS-USAAC-USAAF-USAF Aircraft Serial Numbers--1908 to Present / Joe Baugher
» Intrusions, Overflights, Shootdowns and Defections During the Cold War and Thereafter
» Tang, F. 2015. Review of the history of the Air Force's special operations. Part two. ROC Air Force Bimonthly Journal, 647: 126-158. (in Chinese)


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This information is not presented as the Flight Safety Foundation or the Aviation Safety Network’s opinion as to the cause of the accident. It is preliminary and is based on the facts as they are known at this time.
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Lockheed P-2

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  • 87th loss
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 China
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