ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 48374
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Date: | Thursday 30 March 1961 |
Time: | 21:15 |
Type: | Boeing B-52G-125-BW Stratofortress |
Owner/operator: | 341st BSqn /4038th SWg USAF |
Registration: | 59-2576 |
MSN: | 464339 |
Fatalities: | Fatalities: 6 / Occupants: 8 |
Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
Location: | Silver Hill, west of Denton, North Carolina -
United States of America
|
Phase: | En route |
Nature: | Military |
Departure airport: | Dow AFB, Maine |
Destination airport: | Dow AFB, Maine |
Confidence Rating: | Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
Narrative:B-52G s/n 58-2576 call sing "Judy 24" crashed and destroyed March 30, 1961 at Silver Hill west of Denton, NC after losing control during aerial refueling attempt while participating in a RBS bombing competition. Crew was ordered to bail out. Out of the 8 on board, only 6 had ejector seats and just two of the five who ejected survived. A massive explosion occurred when the bomber crashed to the ground. The aircraft entered a stall when the pilot bled off too much airspeed in a failed attempt to prevent overshooting the tanker. Aircraft had logged a total of 233 flying hours when the accident occurred.
Crew of 59-2576 were
Captain William Donald McMullen, Commander & pilot - killed
Capt. William Woody Farmer, co-pilot - killed
Capt. Robert Marsh Morgenroth, Radar Navigator - killed
Captain George William Beale, Observer - killed
S.Sgt.James Howard Fults, Instructor Gunner - killed
Airman 1sr Class Robert Nathaniel Gaskey, Student Gunner - killed
Major Wilbur Fred Minnich, Navigator - Survived
1st Lt. Glen Charles Farnham, EWO - survived
The survivors bailed out at 30,000 feet and landed six to seven miles away from the crash site. Major MINNICH, the navigator, suffered a dislocated arm when he bailed out. Lt. FARNHAM complained of back pains but was apparently unhurt.
The two stated that the plane, an eight-engined jet, was on a routine mission from Dow Air Force Base in Maine. Its destination was not revealed. Minutes before the explosion the plane had attempted to make contact with a KC-135 jet tanker to be refueled in flight.
Sources:
USAF accident report
https://sites.google.com/site/memoryyear/denton-nc-stuff/b-52-crash-near-denton-1961 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 Revision history:
Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
07-Nov-2008 10:15 |
ASN archive |
Added |
04-Jul-2009 22:10 |
Anon. |
Updated |
15-Feb-2013 21:35 |
Dr. John Smith |
Updated [Cn, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
17-Dec-2015 07:16 |
petef86a |
Updated [Narrative] |
03-Jul-2017 17:41 |
bobm |
Updated [Narrative] |
31-Jan-2019 16:27 |
wf |
Updated [Aircraft type] |
05-Apr-2020 19:45 |
Reno Raines |
Updated [Operator, Operator] |
25-Jun-2021 13:49 |
Anon. |
Updated [Narrative] |
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