ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 153873
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| Date: | Tuesday 12 May 1953 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  Boeing EB-50A Superfortress |
| Owner/operator: | United States Air Force (USAF) |
| Registration: | 46-011 |
| MSN: | 15731 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: |
| Other fatalities: | 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | 15 mi N of Rochester, NY -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Test |
| Departure airport: | Niagara Falls, NY |
| Niagara Falls, NY | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
This aircraft was orginally built as B-50A-5-BO, but later converted to a EB-50A as carrier for the Bell X-2 experimental plane.
The EB-50A (pilot William J. Leyshon) was flying over Lake Ontario with X-2 (46-675) attached to its belly when the rocket aircraft exploded during a routine propellant jettison test. The X-2 had to be dropped and its debris fell into Lake Ontario, together with the bodies of Bell test pilot Jean "Skip" Ziegler and Bell flight engineer Frank Wolko who had been in the bomb bay - they were not recovered. The EB-50A managed to return to its base with severe damage to its underside and the flaps and was written off when an inspection revealed a crack in the main spar.
The cause of the explosion was the use of ulmer leather gaskets in conjunction with liquid oxygen. Paraffin residue from the gaskets in the liquid oxygen tank provided the fuel for the explosions which were triggered by the impulse of tank pressurization. EB-50A (46-006) carrying Bell X-1 (46-064) had been lost for the same reason in November 1951.
Sources:
http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/usafserials.html
http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/src/db.asp
http://www.456fis.org/BELL_X-2_STARBUSTER.htm
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 08-Mar-2013 02:37 | Tetrapack | Added |
| 22-Jan-2015 16:37 | TB | Updated [Operator, Total occupants, Location, Narrative] |
| 01-Apr-2020 13:35 | Tetrapack | Updated [Total occupants, Narrative] |
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