ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 48285
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| Date: | Friday 4 October 1968 |
| Time: | 04:00 |
| Type: |  Boeing B-52H-145-BW Stratofortress |
| Owner/operator: | 5th BWg USAF |
| Registration: | 60-0027 |
| MSN: | 464392 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 4 / Occupants: 6 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | 8 miles short of the runway at Minot AFB, North Dakota -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Approach |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | Minot AFB, ND |
| Minor AFB, ND | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
B-52H s/n 60‑0027 of 5th Bomb Wing, USAF based at Minot AFB, North Dakota. Crashed and destroyed on October 4 1968. Fuel mismanagement during a landing approach resulted in multiple flame‑out of Nos 1‑4 engines Crashed eight miles short of runway at Minot AFB, ND
Per eyewitness report: "Lt. Col. Poole was in the Pilot seat and ejected. He was hit by a falling hatch after ejection and fatally injured. He was just days from retirement and volunteered to fly one last mission.
Lt. Hortter was in the co-pilot seat, ejected successfully and survived.
Major McGuirk was apparently occupying the jump seat and was unable to manually bail out the RN hatch.
Sgt. Cole was the squadron clerk and wanted to see what a B-52 flight was like, so went to the altitude chamber and other required training so he could go on a flight.
No Navigator or EWO was scheduled for this flight, so presumably these positions were not occupied.
Sgt. Blazina baled out low and hit the ground before his chute opened.
There was speculation that Sgt. Blazina delayed ejection in an attempt to help Sgt. Cole strap in to the EWO seat for ejection. The cockpit area was consumed by fire, so no one can be sure. Maj. Jamison had a previous ejection from a B-47 and requested non-flying duty for the rest of his career. The rumor was that the Air Force asked him to resign with 16 years service and that he moved to Sweden. Lt. Col. Poole had been the Alert Barracks Commander, but had been replaced because he was retiring in a day or two. He was still a current IP, so was tapped for this training flight even though retirees were usually allowed to stand down from flying for the last week or so of their career. Major McGuirk told me that he had been an Aircraft Commander of a B-52 and had volunteered for a Vietnam tour to get away from SAC. He completed a tour as a Forward Air Controller in either Cessna O-1 or O-2 aircraft, and then received orders back to SAC so he was not a happy camper. Only Maj. Jamison and Sgt. Blazina were current crew members.
The airplane fell so straight down in a spin that the wing tips and tail were in the correct position connected by burn marks and there were no marks on the wheat field where the airplane fell.
The crash happened near the end of a 7 hour pilot training mission when on final approach. At that point in the approach the flaps should be down and the crew lowering the gear. There was little if any airspeed at the impact and I speculate that the lack of airspeed contributed to the hatch impact for Lt. Col. Poole and the streamer for Sgt. Blazina. Sgt. Blazina would have had no indication of airspeed to help his judgement."
Sources:
http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1960.html
http://web.archive.org/web/20171101061754/http://www.ejection-history.org.uk:80/aircraft_by_type/b52_stratofortress.htm
http://www.mil-veh.org/archives/05-09/0968.html
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 07-Nov-2008 10:15 | ASN archive | Added |
| 12-Feb-2013 16:35 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Cn, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Country, Phase, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 20-Aug-2015 07:57 | Looks4lions | Updated [Time, Total fatalities] |
| 31-Jan-2019 18:52 | wf | Updated [Aircraft type, Cn] |
| 03-Feb-2019 08:07 | wf | Updated [Aircraft type] |
| 21-Dec-2019 09:30 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Operator] |
| 27-Feb-2021 16:08 | Anon. | Updated [Operator, Operator] |
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