1957 United States Air Force incursion into Albanian airspace
Cold War incident
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The 1957 United States Air Force incursion into Albanian airspace (Albanian: Incidentet e para ajrore), was a Cold War air-to-air combat incident.[1][4][3]
Albanian Victory[1]
- Aircraft seized
- American pilot arrested but later released
| 1957 United States Air Force incursion into Albanian airspace | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of The Cold War | |||||||
 The USAF Lockheed T-33 fighter jet at Gjirokastër | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Albania |
 United States | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Anastas Ngjela |
/ Howard J. Curran (POW) | ||||||
| Units involved | |||||||
 Air Force of the Albanian People's Army |
 United States Air Force | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 2 MiG-15[1][2] | 1 Lockheed T-33[2] | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| None | 1 T-33 captured[3] | ||||||
On December 23, 1957, an American T-33 fighter jet violated Albanian airspace.[5] Two MiG-15 aircraft took off from Kuçova Air Base, piloted by Anastas Ngjela and Mahmut Hysa.[6][7][8]
The American fighter jet was surrounded and forced to land on the unfinished runway at Rinas airport, now known as Tirana International Airport Nënë Tereza.[9][10] The plane was impounded and the American pilot Major Howard J. Curran was arrested.[11] Curran was released on January 11, 1958, while the plane was placed in the Gjirokastër Fortress museum. The T-33 air incident was just one of at least eight that occurred between Albania and foreign powers from 1948 to the late 1970s.[1][12]