Ironically, whomever one asks in Jordan, nothing of this has ever happened (even if the name of the Hunter pilot is known)….
…The stills in this article from a documentary, likely filmed around September 1970, show a lineup of Royal Jordanian Air Force F-104A Starfighters and King Hussein II meeting with one of his senior military commanders beside an SE.316B Alouette III helicopter. These images brought to mind an incident that occurred roughly two years later.
The story began with the Black September group’s assassination of Wasfi Tal in Cairo on November 28, 1971, followed by multiple attacks within Jordan and against Israeli and Western targets throughout the Middle East. However, Black September also led to the resumption of secret, high-level meetings between King Hussein and Israeli leaders. In complete secrecy, the monarch agreed to make peace — in exchange for US military and economic aid provided with the explanation of ‘preventing Jordan from buying Soviet arms.’
To show him what he could expect, the Pentagon immediately arranged a small airlift to Dawson’s Field in late 1971, replenishing Jordan’s ammunition reserves. The US additionally donated four C-119s to the RJAF and supplied equipment for constructing a radar station at H-5. Much more followed in 1972 and beyond, particularly concerning the RJAF, which received an entirely new American-constructed support infrastructure over the subsequent two years. With this, the country that Israel once feared the most on account of its military effectiveness during the war of 1948 and the huge concentration of Palestinian refugees was henceforth largely out of the business of fighting wars with Israel. Certainly enough, not all the officers of the Jordanian armed forces agreed with this development.
On November 9, 1972, 1st Lieutenant Talal Mohammed al-Khatib, flying a Hunter, attacked and nearly shot down the Aerospatiale SE.316B Alouette III helicopter transporting King Hussein. The monarch’s pilot achieved a relatively soft landing, leaving the King hospitalized with bruises and shrapnel wounds. Two Lockheed F-104A Starfighters from No. 9 Squadron RJAF are believed to have subsequently intercepted and destroyed Khatib’s fighter aircraft.
If true, this represented the only confirmed kill by Jordanian Starfighters ever (the complete account appears in the book Lebanese Civil War, Volume 1).
Ironically, whomever one asks in Jordan, nothing of this has ever happened (even if the name of the Hunter-pilot is known)…. Also ironic is that it seems somebody told the Jordanians that the nick ‘Starfighter’ is valid for F-104Gs only, and thus they can’t call their F-104As that way….
Lebanese Civil War, Volume 1 is published by Helion & Company and is available to order here.
Photo by RuthAS and San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives/René Francillon Photo Archive via Wikipedia
