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Starfighter Scandal: Did Germany's Lockheed F-104
Fatal crashes and a bribery affair — the reputation of the Lockheed F-104 in Germany could hardly have been worse. But the Starfighter barely deserved its bad name
An unscheduled nozzle opening caused the first fatal Starfighter accident in Germany on 25 January 1962, BB+366 crashing after take-off from Nörvenich with the loss of one of the two crew members on board, instructor Hauptmann Lutz Tyrkowski. Inside was an article suggesting corruption on the part of Franz Josef Strauss, who had quit as defence minister in December 1962 over a separate scandal involving the arrest of Der Spiegel’s proprietor and several journalists. After the 67th loss, when a boundary layer control failure caused DC+126 of Jagdbombergeschwader 33 to crash on landing at Büchel with the death of Oberleutnant Henning Kaupsch, he suspended all air force and navy Starfighter operations with effect from 6 December 1966.
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