Editing Lockheed F-104 Starfighter (section)

=== Safety record ===
The safety record of the F-104 Starfighter became high-profile news in the mid-1960s, especially in West Germany.<ref name="Kropf2002p43">Kropf 2002, p. 43.</ref> West Germany initially ordered 309 F-104s, and over time another 607.<ref name="Kropf2002p18">Kropf 2002, p. 18.</ref> Deliveries of Lockheed-built aircraft started in August 1961, and domestically produced airframes began to roll off the assembly lines in December.<ref name="Kropf2002p21">Kropf 2002, p. 21.</ref> That same month, the first of an eventual total of 292 West German F-104s had crashed.<ref name="Kropf2002p117">Kropf 2002, p. 117.</ref> In October 1975, Lockheed agreed to pay a total of 3&nbsp;million [[Deutsche Mark]]s (US$1.2&nbsp;million) to approximately 60 widows and dependents of 32 ''Luftwaffe'' pilots killed during flight operations, though the company declined to admit liability.<ref name="Jackson1976p23">Jackson 1976, p. 23.</ref> While announcing the settlement, the plaintiffs' attorney acknowledged he had been seeking US$10&nbsp;million and noted that there were more instances of pilot error than he had expected.<ref name="FlightGlobalp644">{{cite magazine |url=https://www.flightglobal.com/FlightPDFArchive/1975/1975%20-%202360.PDF |title=World News |date=30 October 1975 |volume=108 |number=3477 |editor-last=Ramsden |editor-first=J.&nbsp;M. |website=flightglobal.com |publisher=IPC Transport Press Ltd |location=Dorset House, Stamford Street, London SE1 9LU |page=644 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191027042227/https://www.flightglobal.com/FlightPDFArchive/1975/1975%20-%202360.PDF |archive-date=27 October 2019 |url-status=live |access-date=11 November 2019 }}</ref>

[[File:North American XB-70A Valkyrie in formation 061122-F-1234P-035.jpg|left|thumb|alt=XB-70 Valkyrie flying in formation with an T-38 Talon (far left), F-4 Phantom (near left), F-104 (near right), F-5 Freedom Fighter (far right)|The second [[North American XB-70 Valkyrie|XB-70 Valkyrie]] prototype flies in formation with other GE-powered aircraft for a photo shoot, 8&nbsp;June 1966. Shortly after this photograph was taken the F{{nbhyph}}104 (red tail, on the XB{{nbhyph}}70's right) and XB{{nbhyph}}70 collided, killing the F{{nbhyph}}104 pilot Joe Walker and the co{{nbhyph}}pilot of the XB{{nbhyph}}70.]]
Some operators lost a large proportion of their aircraft through accidents, although the accident rate varied widely depending on the user and operating conditions. The German Air Force and Federal German Navy, the largest combined user of the F-104 and operator of over 35% of all airframes built, lost approximately 32% of its Starfighters in accidents over the aircraft's 31-year career.<ref name="Paloque2012p43">Paloque 2012, p. 43.</ref> The Belgian Air Force, on the other hand, lost 41 of its 100 airframes between February 1963 and September 1983,<ref name="Paloque2012p36">Paloque 2012, p. 36.</ref> and Italy, the final Starfighter operator, lost 138 of 368 (37%) by 1992.<ref name="Paloque2012p56">Paloque 2012, p. 56.</ref> Canada's accident rate with the F-104 ultimately exceeded 46% (110 of 238) over its 25-year service history,<ref name="Bashow1990pp210–219">Bashow 1990, pp. 210–219.</ref> though the Canadian jets tended to be flown for a greater number of hours than those of other air forces (three times that of the German F-104s, for example).<ref name="Paloque2012p40">Paloque 2012, p. 40.</ref> However, some operators had substantially lower accident rates: Denmark's attrition rate for the F-104 was 24%, with Japan losing just 15%<ref name="Paloque2012p62">Paloque 2012, p. 62.</ref> and Norway 14% (6 of 43)<ref name="Paloque2012p70">Paloque 2012, p. 70.</ref> of their respective Starfighter fleets. The best accident rate was achieved by the [[Spanish Air Force]], which ended its Starfighter era with a perfect safety record: the [[Ejército del Aire]] lost none of its 18 F-104Gs and 3 TF-104Gs over a total of seven years and 17,500 flight hours.<ref name="Paloque2012p74">Paloque 2012, p. 74.</ref>

The cumulative destroyed rate of the F-104 Starfighter in USAF service as of 31&nbsp;December 1983 was 25.2 aircraft destroyed per 100,000 flight hours. This is the highest accident rate of any of the USAF Century Series fighters. By comparison, the cumulative destroyed rates for the other Century Series aircraft in USAF service over the same time period were 16.2 for the [[North American F-100 Super Sabre]], 9.7 for the [[McDonnell F-101 Voodoo]], <!--13.7 for the [[Convair F-102 Delta Dagger]], this is the class A mishap rate, still searching for the cumulative destroyed rate-->15.6 for the Republic F-105 Thunderchief, and 7.3 for the [[Convair F-106 Delta Dart]].<ref name="Flying Safety">{{cite magazine |last=Carson |first=Lt Col Douglas M |date=April 1984 |title=A-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NFeNtpuw9QQC&q=%22class+a%22+%22mishap+rate%22+%22f-104%22&pg=RA3-PA6 |magazine=Flying Safety |volume=40 |number=4 |publisher=United States Air Force |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191023204201/https://books.google.com/books?id=NFeNtpuw9QQC&pg=RA3-PA6&lpg=RA3-PA6&dq=%22class+a%22+%22mishap+rate%22+%22f-104%22&source=bl&ots=WJDY8-1fP0&sig=ACfU3U0FrAgWY3Mv0swnfufQAljJCuCvkA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjboKCV64HlAhWWFjQIHeV7ACIQ6AEwB3oECAkQAQ#v=onepage&q=%22class%20a%22%20%22mishap%20rate%22%20%22f-104%22&f=false |archive-date=23 October 2019 |access-date=23 October 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> By comparison, the [[Royal Australian Air Force]] (RAAF) experienced an overall loss rate of 11.96 per 100,000 flying hours with the [[Dassault Mirage&nbsp;III]], losing 40 of 116 aircraft to accidents over its 25-year career from 1965 to 1989.<ref name="Susans1990pviii">Susans 1990, p. viii.</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Mirage IIID |url=http://www.saam.org.au/mirage-iiid/ |website=saam.org.au |publisher=South Australian Aviation Museum |access-date=14 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190814080216/http://www.saam.org.au/mirage-iiid/ |archive-date=14 August 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[Royal Air Force]] lost over 50 of 280 [[English Electric Lightning]]s, at one point experiencing 12 losses in the 17 months between January 1970 and May 1971; the loss rate per 100,000 hours from the introduction of the Lightning in 1961 to May 1971 was 17.3, higher than the lifetime West German Starfighter loss rate of 15.08.<ref name="Caygill2012pp178–181">Caygill 2012, pp. 178–181.</ref>

Notable USAF pilots who died in F-104 accidents include [[Robert Henry Lawrence, Jr.|Major Robert H. Lawrence Jr.]]<ref>{{cite web |last1=Carney |first1=Emily |title=Remembering One Of The "MOL Men": Major Robert H. Lawrence, Jr. |url=https://space.nss.org/remembering-one-of-the-mol-men-major-robert-h-lawrence-jr/ |website=nss.org |date=3 February 2018 |publisher=National Space Society |access-date=12 November 2019}}</ref> and [[Iven C. Kincheloe Jr.|Captain Iven Kincheloe]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lewis, John K. |first1=John K. and Mike Machat |title=1001 Aviation Facts : Amazing and Little-known Information About All Aspects of Aviation |date=2017 |publisher=Specialty Press |location=Forest Lake, Minnesota |isbn=978-1-58007-244-1 |page=148 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZK84DwAAQBAJ&q=%22iven+carl+kincheloe+jr%22+%22f-104%22&pg=PA148 |access-date=12 November 2019}}</ref> Civilian (former USAAF) pilot [[Joseph A. Walker|Joe Walker]] died in a midair collision with an [[XB-70 Valkyrie]] while flying an F-104.<ref>{{cite web |title=Former Pilots: Joseph A. Walker |url=https://www.nasa.gov/centers/armstrong/news/Biographies/Pilots/bd-dfrc-p019.html |website=nasa.gov |publisher=NASA |access-date=12 November 2019 |archive-date=31 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200731051438/https://www.nasa.gov/centers/armstrong/news/Biographies/Pilots/bd-dfrc-p019.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Chuck Yeager]] was nearly killed in December 1963 when he [[Lockheed NF-104A#Third NF-104A|lost control of an NF-104A]] during a high-altitude record-breaking attempt; he lost the tips of two fingers and was hospitalized for a long period with severe burns after ejecting from the aircraft.<ref name="YeagerJanos1985pp278–284">Yeager and Janos 1985, pp. 278–284.</ref>