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1983 Negev mid-air collision
Occurrence
Date	1 May 1983
Summary	Mid-air collision
Site	Negev, Israel; 30°50′48″N 34°50′52″E / 30.8467°N 34.8478°E
Total fatalities	0
Total survivors	3
First aircraft
	; The Israeli Air Force F-15D Baz #957 involved in the incident, seen here in 2011
Type	McDonnell Douglas F-15D Eagle
Name	Markia Schakim
Operator	106 Squadron Israeli Air Force
Registration	957
Flight origin	Tel Nof Airbase
Crew	2
Fatalities	0
Survivors	2
Second aircraft
	; An Israeli Air Force A-4 Skyhawk similar to the one involved
Type	Douglas A-4 Skyhawk
Operator	116 Squadron Israeli Air Force
Registration	374
Flight origin	Nevatim Airbase
Crew	1
Fatalities	0
Survivors	1

In May 1983, two Israeli Air Force aircraft, an F-15 Eagle and an A-4 Skyhawk, collided in mid-air during a training exercise over the Negev region, in Israel. Notably, the F-15, (with a crew of two), managed to land safely at a nearby airbase, despite having its right wing almost completely sheared off in the collision. The lifting body properties of the F-15, together with its overabundant engine thrust, allowed the pilot to achieve this unique feat.^[1]

Accident

On 1 May 1983, during an Israeli Air Force dissimilar air combat training session over the Negev, an F-15D Eagle (called Baz (Falcon) by the Israelis) collided with an A-4 Skyhawk. The pilot of the Skyhawk was automatically ejected and his aircraft disintegrated. The right wing of the Eagle was sheared off roughly 2 ft (60 cm) from the root. The crew of the two-seat training version F-15, pilot Zivi Nedivi and navigator Yehoar Gal, did not initially realize the extent of the damage, as fuel leaking profusely and vaporizing at the wing attachment was obscuring their view of the area where the wing once was.^[2]^[3]^[4]

The F-15 started rolling uncontrollably after the collision and the instructor ordered an ejection. Nedivi, who outranked the instructor, decided not to eject and attempted recovery by engaging the afterburner, and eventually regained control of the aircraft. He was able to maintain control because of the lift generated by the large areas of the fuselage, stabilators, and remaining wing. Diverting to Ramon Airbase,^[2] the F-15 landed at twice the normal speed to maintain the necessary lift, and its tailhook was torn off completely during the landing. Nedivi managed to bring his F-15 to a complete stop approximately 20 ft (6 m) from the end of the runway. He later told The History Channel, "it's highly likely that if I had seen it clearly I would have ejected, because it was obvious you couldn't really fly an airplane like that."^[4] He added, "Only when McDonnell Douglas later went to analyze it, they said, OK, the F-15 has a very wide [lifting] body; you fly fast enough and you're like a rocket. You don't need wings."^[3]^[4]^[5]

Aftermath

The aircraft, 106 Squadron's #957 Markia Schakim (Hebrew: מרקיע שחקים, Sky Blazer), was transported by road to an IAF maintenance unit at Tel Nof, where it was repaired. Having already claimed four enemy aircraft during the 1982 Lebanon War, the repaired aircraft was to claim a shared kill of another Syrian MiG-23 on November 19, 1985.^[2]

When Israel attacked Iran in retaliation on the night of 25-26 October 2024, this aircraft #957 was among those involved and was subsequently shown in a video by the IDF (see reference) – more than 41 years after the accident. The F-15D was formerly of 106 Squadron "Edge Of The Spear" and is now of 133 Squadron "Knights Of The Twin Tail" both based on Tel Nof (see different tail symbols below and the icon on the CFT added at some point on the right picture).^[6]

The F-15D Eagle Baz #957 at an exhibition in Ostrava, Czech Republic in 2011
The F-15D Eagle Baz #957 before the Israeli strikes on Iran during the night of 25-26 October 2024

References

^ Leone, Dario (September 15, 2014). "How an Israeli F-15 Eagle managed to land with one wing". theaviationist.com. Retrieved June 2, 2016.
^ ^a ^b ^c Aloni, Shlomo (2006). Israeli F-15 Eagle Units in Combat. Osprey Publishing. p. 70. ISBN 978-1-84603-047-5.
^ ^a ^b Easley, Jon (August 9, 2001). "USS Bennington - crew stories - No Wing F15". www.uss-bennington.org. Retrieved September 30, 2010.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Heavy Metal: F-15". History Channel. 7 January 2007. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved September 30, 2010.
^ Antzikovsky, Eli. תאונת בז 957 "מרקיע שחקים" [Falcon accident 957 "Skyscraper"] (in Hebrew). Sky-High.co.il. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved January 18, 2016.
^ "This is what happened during the night of the attack in Iran". IDF website (in Hebrew). 2024-10-26. Retrieved 2024-11-01.