1964 T-39 shootdown incident

Map Graph

1964 T-39 shootdown incident

Cold War incident involving an American T-39 being shot down by a Soviet MiG-19

On 28 January 1964, an unarmed T-39 Sabreliner aircraft of the United States Air Force (USAF) was shot down while on a training mission over Erfurt, East Germany, by a MiG-19 jet fighter of the Soviet Air Force. The occupants of the aircraft were Lieutenant Colonel Gerald K. Hannaford, Captain Donald Grant Millard, and Captain John F. Lorraine. All three died, becoming direct casualties of the Cold War in Europe.

Read article