Ellsworth AFB

The mishap aircraft, call sign Pacer 43, was conducting pattern work operations during an off-station training mission at Ellsworth AFB, SD (RCA). Shortly before impact, the mishap crew was conducting a simulated single-engine approach to runway 31 at Ellsworth AFB. Subsequent analysis showed that there was a significantly greater amount of fuel in the left wing and left wing tip tank than the right. The gross fuel imbalance resulted from an unmonitored transfer of fuel from the right wing and right wing tip tank to the left that was initiated by the crew approximately nine and one-half minutes before impact. As the aircraft approached the point when it would normally transition to a flare, it leveled off and began a climbing turn to the west, toward the tower. It did not touch down prior to the turn, but veered left immediately during the flare, and then rolled back to wings level momentarily as it climbed. The heavier left wing, and application of power to the right engine for the go-around, caused the aircraft to roll back into a steeper left turn, stayed in a climbing left turn with the bank continuing to increase until il rolled through more than 90 degrees of bank. As the aircraft reached the highest point of the climb (approximately 450 feet), the bank angle was more than 90 degrees, and perhaps slightly inverted as the nose dropped and the aircraft began to descend. The aircraft impacted the ground in a grassy field.

The B52 of the 28th Bomb Wing at Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota, crashed and was destroyed after a landing accident. It caught fire and skidded into a brick storage building containing six 25,000 gallon tanks (150,000 total) of jet fuel. The firemen did a fantastic job in saving the crew member (the navigator) who was trapped inside the nose section that had broken off for almost an hour before being freed. The fire truck rammed the gun turret, breaking it off and freeing the tail gunner. Crew:
Cpt Wesley G. Swann, pilot,
Cpt Gary C. Christensen, copilot,
Maj Ralph P. Smiley, radar navigator,
Cpt Curtis L. Christy, navigator,
1Lt James L. Welch, electronic warfare officer,
S/Sgt Charles E. Adkins, gunner,
Maj Harry D. Meehan, instructor navigator,
Lt Col Paul R. Houser, 28th Bomb Wing Chief of Operations,
A1C Randall Hart, avionics maintenance.
Source: ASN

An AAXICO Airlines, Inc., C-46-F, N 67941, a cargo flight, crash landed in a plowed field and skidded into a small earthen dam approximately 35 miles eastnortheast of Malmstrom Air Force Base, Great Falls, Montana, at approximately 1500 m.s.t., on August 14, 1963. The crash occurred after the pilot failed to maintain altitude and appropriate single-engine airspeed following the shut-down of the right engine. The first officer sustained fatal injuries; the captain sustained serious injuries, and the aircraft was substantially damaged. There was no fire.

The crew started the descent to Fairchild AFB and the pilot-in-command completed a turn to the right to join the approach path for runway 23. At this time, weather conditions were good with a 25 miles visibility and few clouds down to 1,000 feet. Too low, the four engine aircraft struck trees and crashed in a wooded area located on the slope of Mt Kit Carson (1,320 meters high) located 30 miles northeast of Fairchild AFB. The aircraft was totally destroyed by impact forces and a post crash fire and all 44 occupants were killed.

On final approach to Ellsworth AFB, while completing a local training sortie, all eight engine lost power. The aircraft stalled and crashed onto a building containing the equipment for the instrument landing approach system and located short of runway. Two crew members were killed while six others were injured. Three people working in the building were killed as well.
Crew:
Cpt Melvin J. Rudd, pilot,
Sgt Richard Gilbert, navigator,
Cpt Verle Rusk, navigator,
1st Lt Leonard R. Scotty, electronic countermeasures officer,
T/Sgt Oscar Orrs, gunner, 1,
Cpt John O'Connell Jr., navigator, †
1st Lt Kenneth B. Kaeppler, radar navigator. †
Those killed on ground were:
A1c Ronald R. Mitchell,
A1 James E. Ferrell,
Mr. Glen M. Allen.

Shortly after takeoff from Lowry AFB, while climbing, the aircraft suffered a loss of power on all engines. The captain decided to divert to the nearest Airport, Denver-Stapleton. On final, the airplane stalled and crashed in flames one mile short of runway 17 threshold. All 21 occupants escaped while the aircraft was destroyed by a post crash fire.

The crew was completing a local training mission at Ellsworth AFB. On touchdown, the six engine airplane went out of control, veered off runway and came to rest in flames. All occupants escaped uninjured while the aircraft was destroyed by fire. It is believed that the loss of control was caused by an uneven power reduction during landing.

Aircraft Commander Lt Col Wray Cotterill, Pilot 1st Lt Roger Bumps, Co-pilot Captain Neal Williams and a crew of twenty-four took off in RB-36H, 51-13722 of the 77th Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron of the 28th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing from Ellsworth AFB at 4:15 in the morning on August 27, 1954. The crew had just returned from a thirty day leave. Captain Williams had finished a 20-hour mission just 32 hours earlier. Their flight took them to Kansas City, Missouri; Little Rock, Arkansas; Dallas, Texas; and back to Little Rock for radar bombing practice. They flew to Kansas City again and then returned to Ellsworth AFB after flying 3,594 air miles. At 9:00 in the evening the pilots began to practice Planned Position Indicator Ground Control Approaches (GCA PPI) using Air Surveillance Radar. They entered the pattern for Runway 12. GCA PPI was not as precise as GCA precision approach. The minimum altitude for GCA approach was 3,864 feet. The approaches were flown at 145 miles per hour. The landing gear remained retracted. The flaps were lowered to 20 degrees and the landing lights were extended. The night was clear and visibility exceeded 15 miles. During the first four approaches, Lt Bumps flew from the right seat and Captain Williams observed from the left seat. A pair of North American F-86D Sabre Dogs took off from Runway 30 at 9:30. Their pilots noticed that the red obstruction lights on a low range of hills 1-3/4 miles northwest of the runway were not working. The lead pilot notified the Ellsworth tower that the obstruction lights were out. It was not known at the time that they had been disabled by a lightning strike the night before. The civilian Senior Electrician of Air Installations was called shortly before 10:00 P.M. and notified that the obstruction lights needed to be repaired. He assembled a crew at the AIO electrical shop and prepared to drive out to the lights. On the fourth approach, ground control advised Lt Bumps that the obstruction lights northwest of the field were not working. After the fourth pass over the airfield, Col Cotterill moved into the left hand seat to fly the next approach. Col Cotterill flew the approach higher than the glide path specified by the GCA operator. Before the sixth approach, Captain Williams replaced Lt Bumps in the right hand seat. It is believed that Col Cotterill flew the next approach. The RB-36H was flying at 145 miles per hour on a heading of 147 degrees (true), descending at 750 feet per minute when the left wing struck one of the inoperative obstruction lights. Seventy feet beyond the obstruction light the lower fuselage struck the ground 8,777 feet short and 225 feet right of the centerline of Runway 12 at 10:11 P.M. Mountain Standard Time. The impact point was at an elevation of 3,394 feet, 148 feet higher than the runway. The tail section broke away from the fuselage and came to rest 275 feet from the first point of impact. E.C.M. Captain Philip Toups, 1st Lt Roger Bumps and E.C.M. A/1C John Harvey were rescued from the wreckage while 24 other occupants were killed. Cpt Toups died five days after the crash. A/1C Harvey succumbed to his injuries after six days. Eventually, only 1st Lt Roger Bumps survived the crash.
Crew:
Lt Col Wray Cotterill, pilot,
Cpt Neal Williams, copilot,
1st Lt Roger Bumps, copilot,
Maj Martin Margolin, navigator.
Passengers:
Maj Harold Chambers, photo navigator,
Cpt James MacDaniel, radar navigator,
Cpt Roy Wegner, engineer,
M/Sgt William Ratagick, engineer,
A1c Glenn Kerri, ECM,
T/Sgt Charles Briggs, ECM
Cpt Philip Toups, ECM,
A1c John Harvey, ECM,
M/Sgt Carl Boyd, radio operator,
A1c James Swanson, radio operator,
A1c Russell Wilson, photo,
A2c Allen Jenkins, photo,
M/Sgt Dean McKever, gunner,
A1c John Baker, gunner,
A1c George Gross, gunner,
S/Sgt Dennis Murphy, gunner,
A2c George Hertnecky, gunner,
A2c William Lynch, radio operator,
2nd Lt Richard Crittenden, navigator,
2nd Lt Joseph Mullan, engineer,
A2c Marcel Herbert, photo,
A2c Billy Campbell, photo,
A2c Donald Wolf, gunner.
Source & photos: http://www.air-and-space.com

Shortly after takeoff from Ellsworth AFB, while in initial climb, the aircraft went out of control and crashed in a huge explosion in a prairie located 5 miles north of the airfield. All 17 occupants were killed.