1952 Habomai Islands RB-29 shootdown incident
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- Between Yuri Island and Anuchina Island, southern Kuril Islands
 An RB-29 reconnaissance aircraft similar to the one shot down | |
| Shootdown | |
|---|---|
| Date | 7 October 1952 |
| Summary | RB-29 reconnaissance aircraft shot down by Soviet La-11 fighters |
| Site |
|
| Total fatalities | 8 |
| Total survivors | 0 |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | RB-29A Superfortress |
| Aircraft name | Sunbonnet King |
| Operator | United States Air Force |
| Registration | 44-61815 |
| Flight origin | Yokota Air Base, Japan |
| Occupants | 8 |
| Crew | 8 |
| Fatalities | 8 |
| Survivors | 0 |
On 7 October 1952, a United States Air Force (USAF) RB-29A Superfortress reconnaissance aircraft, named Sunbonnet King (serial number 44-61815), was shot down by two Soviet Lavochkin La-11 "Fang" piston-engine fighters near the southern Kuril Islands, off the eastern coast of Hokkaido, Japan. The aircraft crashed into the sea between Yuri Island and Anuchina Island in the disputed Habomai Islands group. All eight crew members were killed.[1][2][3]
The shootdown occurred during the Korean War and at a time of heightened Cold War tension in Northeast Asia. The aircraft was operated by the 91st Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron, a Strategic Air Command unit assigned to the Fifteenth Air Force and deployed to Yokota Air Base in support of Far East Air Forces.
Incident
Sunbonnet King took off from Yokota on a photo-mapping mission along the coast of northern Japan and the southern Kurils.[4] The United States maintained that the aircraft was flying over Japanese territory and had not entered Soviet airspace, a position later formalized in its 1955 application to the International Court of Justice.[3]
Two Soviet La-11 fighters, flown by pilots Zhiryakov and Lesnov, intercepted the RB-29 and attacked it with machine-gun fire. Tracer rounds struck the left wing, and a second burst hit the tail section, causing structural failure. The aircraft went down in flames between Yuri and Anuchina. A Japanese fisherman who witnessed part of the engagement later told USAF investigators that a fighter had dived on the bomber from above before its tail broke off.[4][5]
F-84 Thunderjet fighters and rescue aircraft dispatched from Misawa Air Base searched the area but found no survivors and recovered no wreckage.[1]
The eight crew members killed were Eugene M. English, John R. Dunham, Paul E. Brock, Samuel A. Colgan, John A. Hirsch, Thomas G. Shipp, Fred G. Kendrick and Frank E. Neail III.[5][6]