Did he crash or was he shot down?

[Jimbuna]

Found this article this morning and it certainly got me wondering but I doubt the truth will ever come out

My own gut feeling is that the plane crashed.

In 1969, at the height of the Cold War, a mechanic in the US Air Force stole a Hercules plane from his base in East Anglia and set off for the States. Just under two hours later, he disappeared suddenly over the English Channel. Did he simply crash or was he shot down?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/stories-43800089