Incident Boeing B-52G-120-BW Stratofortress 59-2574,
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ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 48307
 
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Date:Monday 8 May 1972
Time:daylight
Type:Silhouette image of generic B52 model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different    
Boeing B-52G-120-BW Stratofortress
Owner/operator:416th BWg USAF
Registration: 59-2574
MSN: 464337
Fatalities:Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 6
Aircraft damage: Destroyed
Location:Rome-Griffiss AFB, NY -   United States of America
Phase: Landing
Nature:Military
Departure airport:Rome-Griffiss AFB, NY
Destination airport:Rome-Griffiss AFB, NY
Confidence Rating: Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources
Narrative:
Overran runway after landing on May 8 1972. While in a low level rout one of the engines on the left side of the aircraft malfunctioned and became uncontrollable and was shut down. Hours later on final approach to Griffiss, in a driving rainstorm at night, the Co-Pilot, following the checklist turned on the starter switches for all the engines including the one that had been shut down. The shutdown engine that was now wind-milling somewhere in the descent reignited and started to increase to max power. The pilots were unaware of this.

As the aircraft flared out over the runway with the engine heading toward max power and the landing gear barely touching the ground the aircraft was unable to slow down to engage the brakes. The drag chute was released but failed to deploy. Unable to stop the pilot elected to go-around and increased power… but then made the decision there was not enough runway remaining and cut back the power and announced to the crew that they were going of off the end of the runway. The impact resulted in the aircraft breaking in half just behind the crew compartment and skidding down the embankment with the outboard run-away engine still running as the landing gear and AGM 28 Missiles were sheared off.

The Boeing representative stated that most likely the only reason the aircraft did not explode on impact was due to the mud caused by the heavy rain. The official cause of the accident was listed as hydroplaning. All crew members survived.

Restored for use by the Air Force Research Laboratory/Information Directorate, located at the Rome Research Site (formerly Griffiss Air Force Base), at Stockbridge, NY. The facility tests electronic countermeasures (ECM) equipment on various airframes for blind spots in the EMC equipment, or for interference by the aircraft's external munitions on the EMC equipment.

Instead of flying the aircraft over test antennae, the airframes (usually minus their tails) are suspended upside-down, under or near the instrumentation. Although unofficially known as the Upside Down Air Force, airframes from the other services are also tested here. 59-2974 was used, firstly for static tests, then as the gate guardian for the facility, until finally sold for scrap in July 2008

Sources:

USAF accident report ( Gary Miller Nav aboard # 2574 )
http://web.archive.org/web/20171101061754/http://www.ejection-history.org.uk:80/aircraft_by_type/b52_stratofortress.htm
http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1959.html
http://www.frontiernet.net/~atlasf/A56UDAF.htm
http://www.warbirdinformationexchange.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=23380&sid=250c02cf94aaf2d01ed5d8c805ac1c6c&start=0
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/stockbridge.htm

Revision history:

Date/timeContributorUpdates
07-Nov-2008 10:15 ASN archive Added
29-Oct-2010 15:04 jmnpet Updated [Location, Country, Phase, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
21-Jun-2011 11:33 GARY MILLER ( NAV on Updated [Source, Narrative]
16-Feb-2013 18:31 Dr. John Smith Updated [Cn, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Source, Narrative]
31-Jan-2019 19:56 wf Updated [Aircraft type, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport]
24-Feb-2020 16:11 Xindel XL Updated [Operator, Operator]
10-Aug-2021 05:21 Anon. Updated [Narrative]
19-Feb-2022 08:44 Anon. Updated [Narrative]
09-Apr-2022 13:27 Rondoez42 Updated [Time]

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