While engaging in combat maneuvers, both engines of the F-4 Phantom II suddenly shut down. When E. Royce Williams, Jr., attempted to get an air start, one engine caught fire while the other refused to start
To meet the Navy’s requirement for a high-altitude interceptor capable of defending carriers with long-range air-to-air missiles against enemy aircraft, McDonnell Aircraft Company developed and delivered the F4H (later redesignated the F-4) Phantom II.
The aircraft first took to the air on May 27, 1958. In 1959, the Phantom II began carrier suitability testing, and on Feb. 15, 1960, it completed its first full launch-and-recovery cycle aboard USS Independence (CVA-62).
As Thomas McKelvey Cleaver notes in his book The Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club, these tests led to the canopy line being raised by about ten inches to improve pilot visibility during carrier landings. After 45 Phantom IIs—essentially the same as the prototypes—had been produced as the F4H-1 (F-4A), the aircraft was redesigned as the F4H-2. The F4H-2 (later designated the F-4B) also replaced the existing radar with the Westinghouse AN/APQ-72, a variant of the AN/APG-50 fitted with a larger antenna, which required the characteristic bulbous nose.
A total of 649 F-4Bs were produced, with deliveries starting in 1961. VF-121 Pacemakers at Naval Air Station (NAS) Miramar became the first operational squadron to receive them. Overall, Phantom production exceeded 5,000 aircraft across all variants, and the type served not only with the U.S. Air Force but also with many foreign air forces, with the final examples remaining in frontline service until the close of the twentieth century.
Soon after the first aircraft were delivered, a string of unexplained in‑flight engine emergencies led to the loss of three Phantoms in a single month. In each case, engine failures were followed by fires during restart attempts, forcing the crews to eject. The jets went down in the ocean off the California coast, taking any clues to the cause with them to the bottom of the Pacific. Faced with these incidents, the Navy was on the verge of grounding its newest fighter, and canceling the entire program was a real possibility if the fault could not be identified and corrected. The only common factor known at the time was that each aircraft had been engaged in air combat maneuvering shortly before it was lost.
VF-121’s commanding officer, Commander E. Royce Williams, Jr.—the Navy ace who had downed four of seven Soviet MiG-15s while flying an F9F Panther in a November 18, 1952, air battle off Vladivostok—was the next pilot to encounter the emergency. During combat maneuvers, both engines suddenly shut down. When Williams tried an air restart, one engine caught fire while the other failed to start. With the burning engine delivering only idle thrust, he managed to keep the jet flying by engaging the afterburner on the flaming J79. Determined to get the aircraft back to Miramar, he ordered his radar intercept officer (RIO) to eject, but the RIO refused. Williams brought the burning Phantom in to land on the main Miramar runway, shutting the engines down the instant the wheels touched. Fire crews managed to put out the fire before the aircraft exploded.
The post‑incident investigation uncovered a design flaw in the shape of the intake duct. At angles of attack higher than those reached in the original testing, this caused the engines to be starved of air. McDonnell corrected the defect, ensuring the continuation of the Phantom program.
Photo by U.S. Navy
