Carswell AFB (Fort Worth)

The DC-9 arrived at Carswell AFB at 01:12 CST after a flight from Kelly AFB. The aircraft was off-loaded and re-loaded with cargo by USAF personnel. The engines were then started at 02:04. The crew received taxi instructions for runway 17 and took off from this runway at 02:09. At (or immediately after) rotation, the main cargo door opened. An emergency was declared and the crew climbed to 2500 feet msl before entering a right turn. When about 5nm north of the airport the captain began a shallow turn to the right (for base leg). The aircraft crossed the extended centreline and the captain tightened the turn to establish their position relative to the runway threshold. In doing so, the air load on the door probably caused it to rapidly move to its full open over the top position. A sudden opening of the door would also have produced an unexpected change in the yawing and rolling moments. The captain, possibly partially disoriented, may not have sensed the increasing roll and nose tuck and thus failed to correct a changing attitude until a critical bank angle and loss of altitude had occurred. The DC-9 struck the ground in an inverted, nose down, left wing low attitude and disintegrated. It appeared that the first officer, when closing the main cargo door, didn't hold the door control valve 'T' handle in the closed position long enough for the latching hooks to move into place over the door sill spools. External latched and locked indicators were applied incorrectly, so the first officer thought the door was latched properly when the handle was pointed more toward the 'locked' than the 'unlocked' chevron. It also appeared that one of the two open door warning light switches was malfunctioning. Because of their wiring, this malfunction made the entire door warning system ineffective.

The crew was completing a local training flight at Carswell AFB. During the last segment, while trying to land, the right wing dropped and struck the runway surface. The airplane went out of control, cartwheeled and crashed in flames, killing all five crew members.

The crew departed Carswell AFB on a routine training mission over the Gulf of Mexico. En route, the airplane went out of control and crashed into the sea few dozen miles off Matagorda Island. Few debris were found some days later but no trace of the eight crew members who were probably killed upon impact.
Crew:
Maj Frank M. Salavarria, pilot,
Lt William T. Causey, copilot,
Cpt Charles W. Roberts, radio navigator,
M/Sgt Kermit C. Casey, air gunner,
Lt Michael L. Carroll, navigator,
Cpt John T. Pantilla, EWO,
Cpt Thomas D. Childs,
Maj Phillip F. Strine.

The crew was returning to his base at Carswell following a refueling mission. The approach was completed in low visibility due to the night and foggy conditions. On final, the airplane was too low and struck the ground one mile short of runway. It bounced, struck successively power cables and the roof of a building before crashing short of runway threshold. All seven crew members were injured and the aircraft was destroyed.

The aircraft crashed on runway 16 at Dyess AFB, Abilene, Texas. The crash occurred while the pilots were attempting to land the aircraft with the elevator controls inoperative. The captain and copilot, the only persons aboard, were killed. The aircraft was demolished. Examination of the longitudinal control system of the aircraft disclosed that the aft end of the aft link assembly was disconnected from the clevis in the elevator control horn assembly. This condition would render the elevator control inoperative. From irrefutable physical evidence the Board concludes that the bolt which normally secures the link assembly-clevis attachment was not in place at impact. It concludes that the bolt worked out following departure from Dyess AFB, resulting in the loss of control which caused the accident. The Board further concludes that the bolt worked out because it was improperly secured, a condition which should have been detected during a No. 2 maintenance inspection completed just prior to the origination of Trip 7002. The inspection was performed by Associated Airmotive., Inc., a certificated repair station which performed under contract the maintenance work for AAXICO.

En route from Sheppard AFB to Carswell AFB, while cruising at an altitude of 6,000 feet in poor weather conditions, the aircraft collided with a USAF Douglas C-124 Globemaster II. Registered 52-0981, the C-124 was en route from Kelly AFB to Tinker AFB with 15 people on board. Following the collision, both aircraft dove into the ground and crashed in a field located near Bridgeport. All 18 occupants on both aircraft were killed.

Following an uneventful training flight from Biggs AAF, the pilot-in-command started the approach to Carswell AFB but was too low. On short final, the airplane hit the ground, lost its undercarriage and came to rest. There were no casualties but the aircraft was written off.

The crew was performing a transfer flight from Carswell AFB to Biggs AAF in El Paso. While approaching from the west, the pilot encountered poor weather conditions when, at an altitude of 5,200 feet, the six engine airplane hit the slope of a mountain located in the Franklin Mountains, about six miles west of Biggs AAF. All nine occupants were killed in the crash.
Crew:
Lt Col Herman F. Gerick, pilot,
Maj George C. Morford, copilot,
Maj Douglas P. Miner, navigator,
1st Lt Cary B. Fant, flight engineer,
1st Lt James M. Harvey Jr., flight engineer,
M/Sgt Royal Freeman, radio operator,
A1c Edwin D. Howe, air gunner,
A2c Frank Silvestri, air gunner.
Passenger:
Sgt Dewey Taliaferro.

The crew was engaged in a training sortie out from Carswell AFB. Just after liftoff, while in initial climb, the crew informed ground that he lost an engine cowling and obtained the permission to return for a safe landing. On touchdown, one of the main landing gear collapsed. The heavy bomber went out of control, veered off runway and came to rest in flames, killing seven crew members. It was reported that the total weight of the airplane upon landing was too high, causing the undercarriage to collapse.

On touchdown, the left main gear partially failed. A fuel leak occurred on the left side of the airplane that slid for several yards before coming to rest in flames. While all occupants were able to evacuate safely, the aircraft was destroyed by fire.