Missing in Action

By Julie Knight

On Dec. 7, 1966, during the Vietnam War, U.S. Air Force Capt. John W. Carlson, 27, was killed when his Northrop Grumman F-5C Tiger Jet crashed. The cause of the crash is unknown and his remains were never recovered.

For decades, the Carlson family lived with unanswered questions. The loss itself was devastating, but the uncertainty surrounding the crash and the inability to bring him home troubled his family ever since.

While a few wreckage sites were identified in the area he was flying, over the years, several organizations were unable to positively identify wreckage believed to be from his aircraft. In 2023, Capt. Carlson’s family contacted Northrop Grumman for help.

The team pored over illustrated parts manuals and decades-old drawings, looking for distinctive features that could help confirm the aircraft’s identity.

“At first, we tried to match pieces they found from an engine to serial numbers to his aircraft but couldn't do that,” John said. “We determined that pieces of the wreckage found were from the type of engine that was used in the F-5C. However, the same turbine wheel was used in another aircraft that also crashed nearby, so it was challenging to make a definitive identification.”

Recently, new photographs of the wreckage surfaced. Combined with their research and examination of recovered parts, the evidence became compelling.

“We now feel very certain it was Capt. Carlson’s aircraft,” John said.