1957 United States Air Force incursion into Albanian airspace

The 1957 United States Air Force incursion into Albanian airspace (Albanian: Incidentet e para ajrore), was a Cold War incident.^[1][4][3]

1957 United States Air Force incursion into Albanian airspace
Part of The Cold War
The USAF Lockheed T-33 fighter jet at Gjirokastër
Date December 23, 1957 Location Rinas, Albania 40.0737°N 20.14013°E / 40.0737; 20.14013 Result Aircraft seized American pilot arrested but later released
Belligerents
Albania	United States
Commanders and leaders
Anastas Ngjela	/ Howard J. Curran
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]

The American fighter jet was surrounded and forced to land on the unfinished runway at Rinas Airport.^[8][9] The plane was impounded and the American pilot Major Howard J. Curran was arrested.^[10] Curran was released on January 11, 1958, while the plane was placed in the Gjirokastër castle 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]