U.S. AIRCRAFT SHOT DOWN

Press, Volume XC, Issue 27502, 9 November 1954, Page 13

U.S. AIRCRAFT SHOT DOWN

if wo MIG Fighters Open Fire Press Association— Copyright) ’ leC - 9 o WASHINGTON, November 7. A United States Air Force R 829 photo-mapping | 2 ne crashed yesterday on Hokkaido Island, Japan! ' «aA T by two R ussian.built MIG type ■ jhters, the Air Force announced in Tokyo. All 11 crew members of the four-engined nlane bailed out j ,. T » t S “ >■*■> The Air Force announcement said both attacking jets made o firing passes at the American plane, which did not fire at e MiG s.

The announcement said an earlier aboJd r the re^ Ort that raen had been aooard the plane was incorrect. cJ? hu } ston Mr Joseph Reap, a A ™ i P e P ar t me nt spokesman, said the American plane did not at any time leave Japanese territory. y ”• United States Air Force spokesnJ£Oky ° lat ? r said that the sur°rs™^ere no . w “» hospital in Yokota near Tokyo, m excellent condition.” The spokesman repeated that the C “n„jL ld J? ot TS££„ at toe Soviet planes. MIG s ntade two firing Krw „ th l reconnaissance bomber, se ™ng it on fire,” he said The plane crashed on Hokkaido, 10 east of Kenedetsu township.” A Japanese Police Department plane and shipping observation post at Nemuro in Hokkaido, reported that its staff saw a 829 fly In from the Pacific smoke pouring from the near starboard engine. The spotters said, however, that they seen any MiG’s, nor heard any firing. “ eare ?t Russian-held islands, in tne Habomai group, are only five miles from Nemuro.

Japanese police said that residents on one of the nearby islands held by Japan had reported hearing bursts of ™ achin ?-gun fire about midday, were two or three bursts of gunfire, each lasting a few seconds. Islanders reported that they saw a i f an extremely high alutude. One plane flew in the direction f , Kunshiro Island and the other toward Negur.