Date:	Friday 23 April 1948
Time:	day
Type:	Republic XF-84A Thunderjet
Owner/operator:	4144th BU, USAF
Registration:	45-59476
MSN:	AP-23/2
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	2 miles East of Muroc Field, Kern County, CA -   United States of America
Phase:	Landing
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	Muroc AFB, Kern County, CA (EDW/KEDW)
Destination airport:	Muroc AFB, Kern County, CA (EDW/KEDW)

Narrative:
Republic XF-84A Thunderjet second prototype 45-59476, 4144th BU, USAF: The No. 2 XP-84, serial number 45-59476, made its first flight on August 25 1946 and remained at Muroc AFB for additional flight test by the Contractor and Power Plant Laboratory of Wright Field

On September 8 1946, the second XP-84 set a US national airspeed record of 607.2 mph (527.6 kn; 977.2 km/h), but failed to match the world speed record of 612.2 mph (532.0 kn; 985.2 km/h) set the day before by a British Gloster Meteor. The effort to break the speed record delayed the test program with the second prototype

Crashed April 23 1948 while landing at Muroc Field, CA. Reported as "landing accident due to mechanical failure". Pilot Marshall M Williams. Aircraft came down on approach 2 miles east of the airfield

To Smithsonian, National Air and Space Museum, Paul Garber Facility, Silver Hill, MD (forward fuselage), qoute: "The National Air & Space Museum holds the nose section of the record setting second XP-84 (#45-59476). The original cockpit canopy was destroyed during testing and has since been replaced. The cockpit section was transferred to the NASM by what is now the USAF Museum in Dayton, Ohio." (see link #5)

1. Knaack, Marcelle Size (1978). Encyclopedia of US Air Force Aircraft and Missile Systems: Volume 1 Post-World War II Fighters 1945–1973. Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-59-5.
2. Willis, David (2008). "Warplane Classic: Republic F-84 Thunderjet, Thunderstreak and Thunderflash". International Air Power Review. Vol. 24. pp. 132–165. ISSN 1473-9917
3. http://www.forgottenjets.warbirdsresourcegroup.org/F-84.html
4. http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1945.html
5. https://www.aviationarchaeology.com/rptAF55.asp?RecID=112987
6. https://www.seabee.info/seabee_history_racac.htm
7. https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/republic-xp-84-thunderjet-forward-fuselage/nasm_A19520063000#:~:text=In%20tests%2C%20the%20XP%2D84,National%20Speed%20Record%2D611%20mph.
8. http://www.accident-report.com/Yearly/1948/4804.html
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwards_Air_Force_Base#History

Republic XF-84A Thunderjet Second Prototype 45-59476 (USAF Museum/Public Domain)

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
02-May-2021 08:49	ASN archive	Added