Accident description
Last updated: 23 May 2013
| Status: | |
| Date: | 03 FEB 1960 |
| Type: | Boeing KC-135A-BN Stratotanker |
| Operator: | United States Air Force - USAF |
| Registration: | 56-3628 |
| C/n / msn: | 17377/67 |
| First flight: | 1958-03-14 (1 year 11 months) |
| Engines: | 4 Pratt & Whitney J57-P |
| Crew: | Fatalities: 6 / Occupants: 6 |
| Passengers: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 0 |
| Total: | Fatalities: 6 / Occupants: 6 |
| Ground casualties: | Fatalities: 2 |
| Airplane damage: | Destroyed |
| Airplane fate: | Written off (damaged beyond repair) |
| Location: | Roswell-Walker AFB, NM (United States of America)
 |
| Phase: | Takeoff (TOF) |
| Nature: | Military training |
| Departure airport: | Roswell-Walker AFB, NM, United States of America |
| Roswell-Walker AFB, NM, United States of America |
Crashed while taking off in extremely gusty crosswind conditions. The airplane skidded into two other KC-135 tankers (57-1449 and 57-1457) and a hangar, bursting into flames.
The airplane operated on a training flight. The instructor pilot occupied the jump seat instead of one of the pilot's seats as directed by the commander.
Sources:
» Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker: More Than Just a Tanker (Aerofax Series) / Robert S Hopkins, III
Sample newspaper article from Newspaperarchive.com
Photos
This information is not presented as the Flight Safety Foundation or the Aviation Safety Network’s opinion as to the cause of the accident. It is preliminary and is based on the facts as they are known at this time.
