KC135 Accident - Walker AFB (near Roswell NM) Feb 3rd, 1960 (2 Viewers)

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vikingBerserker

Lieutenant General
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Apr 10, 2009
South Carolina
My dad spent 33 years in the USAF and was stationed at Walker AFB near Roswell NM in 1960. He was working Crash and Rescue on the Flight Line while a Pilot In Training was taking off on a training mission flying a fully loaded KC-135A Tanker with 31k gallons of aviation fuel. The official story:

"The 6th Air Refueling Squadron, flying early-model KC-135A aircraft, was assigned to Walker AFB from 3 January 1958. On 3 February 1960, a "short-tail" (non-hydraulic-power-assisted rudder) KC-135A crashed during takeoff in strong and gusty crosswinds. The pilot failed to maintain directional control, rotated the aircraft 5-10 knots too early and the aircraft settled onto the dirt apron of the runway, shed two engines, plowed through the aircraft parking area and came to rest in an aircraft hangar. This single crash resulted in the destruction of three KC-135 aircraft and the deaths of eight military personnel"

My dad said the Fire Dept of the town of Roswell responded open seeing the smoke as they thought the entire base was on fire. It took both them and the entire Base's Fire Dept to finally put out the fire. There were very little of the planes left. Below are the pics my dad has:
 

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My dad spent 33 years in the USAF and was stationed at Walker AFB near Roswell NM in 1960. He was working Crash and Rescue on the Flight Line while a Pilot In Training was taking off on a training mission flying a fully loaded KC-135A Tanker with 31k gallons of aviation fuel. The official story:

"The 6th Air Refueling Squadron, flying early-model KC-135A aircraft, was assigned to Walker AFB from 3 January 1958. On 3 February 1960, a "short-tail" (non-hydraulic-power-assisted rudder) KC-135A crashed during takeoff in strong and gusty crosswinds. The pilot failed to maintain directional control, rotated the aircraft 5-10 knots too early and the aircraft settled onto the dirt apron of the runway, shed two engines, plowed through the aircraft parking area and came to rest in an aircraft hangar. This single crash resulted in the destruction of three KC-135 aircraft and the deaths of eight military personnel"

My dad said the Fire Dept of the town of Roswell responded open seeing the smoke as they thought the entire base was on fire. It took both them and the entire Base's Fire Dept to finally put out the fire. There were very little of the planes left. Below are the pics my dad has:

Love this article, it has been 50 years since this happened. My dad,Tech.Sgt. Carlton Price, was in the hanger when the crash occured and he was blown from the hangar and flown to Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio with 2nd and 3rd degree burns over 55 per cent of his body where he died on March 17, 1960. I would love to see any more pictures that you have.
 
Thanks VB,
I would love to see more pictures myself. I used to work on KC-135Rs in the beginning of 2k and on one support msn in the C-141, we went to that base (now Roswell Industrial Air Park) as a overnight stopover and got a really great tour of the town and facility. I was wondering if you know exactly where this hangar was, and what runway it came down on. Now when I was on the crash recovery team with my unit, we had afew incidences that was (not aircraft error) steered off the runway on both take-off landing rolls...I guess I'm the cat who got curious about this. There is a back-up hydraulic system for emergency brake pressure that only the co-pilot can control. Once the switch is thrown on the control panel in front of the co-pilots seat. He alone has the power to stop, but, the bad side of this is, no anti-brakes, which means, wheels are going to lock up hard. And if it was me under those conditions, I'll be in that hangar with those brave men as well.

JP, my deepest condolences for your father's passing back then, and I want to thank you (for him) for serving our country during the cold war. We were close to a nuclear war more than the public really knows.

Thanks again for posting this thread, I hope I didn't overstep my bounds here.

Dan
 
I had an uncle there. I was told he pulled out men from the third hanger but as he returned for the last few, that hanger blew. I have hit brick walls for three years. His name was Raymond Wesley Brooks and I am trying to get a metal for his two boys who were infants at the time. They are great men now and they both build churches in Romania with the profits from their business. I would love some help if any one can remember.
 
:salute: to your uncle younger, I checked with my dad and he did nto recognize the name. I wish you the best in luck for getting though as he certainly deserves it.
 
I was very surprised to find this information concerning the KC-135 Crash of Feb 1960. I was a young 19 year old Airmen stationed at Walker AFB at the time of this crash. I worked in the building directly across the street from the Hanger that was hit by the KC-135. The section I worked in was the 6th Bomb Wing Supply Group. I remember the crash quite well. We all exited our building from the back side which luckily was very near the Gate entrance to the flight line. The first picture of the crash that is posted here shows what I beleive is the back side of the Hanger that faced our building. The reason I think it is the back side is that when we first consolidated all the wing supply groups from the squadron level in 1959 our part of the Wing Supply group was located in the top of that hanger. We used to climb those stairs that are shown up to our work area. After a few months we moved over to the building across the street. I have often thought that if it were not for us moving and the fact of that Hanger blocking us the KC-135 might have continued on into our old WW2 Type Wooden Building across the street. Back in 1998 I wrote the Air Force for information about this crash. They provided me with what was the actual aircraft accident investigation report. Although some of it was blacked out it was interesting to read. Walker AFB near that point had started to become a combat training base for KC-135 and B-52 crews. The pilot flying the plane that day was a student pilot with an instructor pilot plus three other crew members. The reason for the crash as I remember was that the pilot lost control during takeoff due to high crosswinds. The other KC-135's he hit before hitting the Hanger were located near or in the 6th Air Refeuling Squadron area. That was my first encounter with a magnesium fire. I can still remember the thick white smoke coming from the burning planes. I was able to locate what I think is the crash area by viewing the Roswell Industrial Air Center using Google Earth. I was also able to locate the old barracks I used to live in that is now a civilian housing area. I have some photos and a newspaper clipping from the crash that I will try to post at a later time.

Vince

USAF 1958-1962
Walker AFB, NM 1959-1961
Indian Mt. AFS, AK 1961-1962
 
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I was very surprised to find this crash when I googled WalkerAFB. My father was a navigator on the B-52, 40th Bomb Sqdn. I was 14 at the time and remember the crash. The weather was terrible that day with strong winds. I just remember seeing the Base Chaplin along with a couple other officers make that dreaded visit to the family of one of the flight crew members down the street. Visited the base a couple of years ago and drove past where the hanger once stood. There was a 747 and several other aircraft parked on the site undergoing some restoration/salvage work. Vince, you are right, Google Earth shows the flightline where the hanger stood. Stands out because there were 3 or 4 similar hangers with a gap between them and a similar foundation. That was a very, very sad day...

Duncan Monroe
Air Force Brat
Walker AFB
1952-1967
Great site! Just joined
 
Similar experience. B-47 crashes on base at Pease AFB, 1960-1963, 100th Bomb Wing. We lived at 31 Birch Drive in base housing. On two occasions there were terrible explosions and the night sky lit up. On both occasions my Pop was due home from what they called Reflex Missions to Brize Norton AB, England. They were sent out and came home in a Vee formation of three aircraft. Both times my Mom shot to the phone and called base operations to see who crashed. My Pop wasn't one of them but she would begin to cry because she learned which of her friends lost their husbands. We, as kids (I was 8 years old) learned which of our friends lost their Pops and knew they would move away. My Mom absolutely hated the military never saying one kind word about it. That early jet age killed many of her friend's husbands due to accidents and she lived in constant fear of my Pop being one of the statistics. Twenty years of living in fear like that are seldom chronicled in military journals. Military wives and families are different kinds of veterans, but veterans nonetheless.

There were subsequent investigations of the above crashes, which I learned the results of years later from my Pop, with the key findings that, 1) Fast jet bombers required the skills of fighter pilots with regard to reaction times and keeping their heads out in front of the (high speed) airplanes. Transitioning reciprocating engine pilots should be transitioned in T-33s before moving to the new bombers and, 2) At the time pilots were ordered to follow the commands of tower controllers who were not trained in the controller procedures for that particular high performance jet bomber, their higher approach speeds and slower power (turbine spool up times) recovery for aborting. A controller directed one aircraft onto the "runway" on one fogged-in night. The "runway" was, in reality, the base golf course. IOW, it crashed short of the runway killing all 3 crew members. The investigation determined that due to the conditions of that night the pilot could not have recovered.

I remember seeing the burned out wreckage of one in the base golf course the morning after.
 

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