ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 153036
This information is added by users of ASN. Neither ASN nor the Flight Safety Foundation are responsible for the completeness or correctness of this information.
If you feel this information is incomplete or incorrect, you can submit corrected information.
| Date: | Wednesday 17 October 1984 |
| Time: | 19:48 |
| Type: |  General Dynamics F-111D |
| Owner/operator: | 524th TFS, 27th TFW, USAF |
| Registration: | 68-0164 |
| MSN: | A6-80 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Harkey Ranch, approx. 15 miles north of Carrizozo, New Mexico -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | Cannon AFB, NM |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
Crashed on the Harkey Ranch, about 15 miles north of Carrizozo, New Mexico during a low-level night training mission. Both crew - Captain Alan J. "Tex" Pryor (pilot) and 1st Lt Albert H. "Rip" Torn (WSO) - were killed
One of the recovery crew members wrote to ASN:
"I was only an airmen at Cannon in 1984. I was assigned to mobility on Friday. Couldn't leave my dorm till called. Monday the called. Went to Carrizozo on a bus & Stayed there two weeks. Bet that little town missed us when we left ;) They catered to Us during our stay even changing the menu for breakfast & The Dairy queen if I remember right was open & ready at 5 am when we would start our day.
It was scattered over 6 sq miles and took Crash & Recovery 2 weeks to pick up in the rain sleet snow & mud. The valley floor was 6200 ft above sea level. The top of this thousand foot / foot hill. ( More like a mountain to this Texan) Top of the foot hill was was 7200 ft above sea level ~ @ 700 mph after clipping some trees on the ridge before this hill ~ hit at about 6900 ft above sea level. The farmer that owned the property said he looked out his kitchen window and saw a 500 ft high fireball as the jet was loaded with 40,000 gallons of JP4. And there was about a 60 mph wind at the crest of the foot hill. It blew a boulder about 3.5 ft diameter where it bounced 3 time away from the base of the ft hill on the valley floor. A week later when the rain, sleet , snow stopped, we could finally climb the ft hill because it was dry enough, But we had ample to pick up the first week on the valley floor. But I finally saw the gigantic boulder where that little piece broke off of that bounced on the valley floor / This was at least 10 times the size of that little piece ~ Slid halfway down this ft hill crushing small trees as it went. & I mean crushing. Heard we picked up 38,000 pounds out of 40,000. "
A WSO at Cannon AFB wrote to ASN:
"I was a WSO at Cannon AFB in 1984,and I was previously crewed with Tex Pryor. Tex was actually the instructor pilot (IP) on this sortie, sitting in the right seat. Capt Torn was the left seat pilot going through initial F-111D training. We were on the site the next day, but I don't remember the weather being too much of a factor. The mishap board and General Dynamics reps "kicked tin" for several days, recovering evidence for the mishap investigation. The recovery teams were brought in after that to remove the wreckage to Cannon. That must have been when the weather noted in the previous narrative moved in. "
Sources:
http://web.archive.org/web/20170921070650/http://www.ejection-history.org.uk:80/Aircraft_by_Type/F_111/F-111.htm
http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1968.html
http://htka.hu/static/cikkek/F-111/acftdata.pdf
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 03-Feb-2013 14:40 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
| 22-Feb-2015 08:04 | Anon. | Updated [Narrative] |
| 22-Feb-2015 08:05 | harro | Updated [Narrative] |
| 05-Jul-2017 10:04 | Anon. | Updated [Narrative] |
| 05-Jul-2017 10:04 | harro | Updated [Narrative] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
The Aviation Safety Network is an exclusive service provided by:
Quick Links:
| ASN Home | Send Correction / Feedback |
| FSF Home | Disclaimer | Copyright |
| Contact Us | Privacy Policy |
| Press / Media |
CONNECT WITH US:
©2024 Flight Safety Foundation