Crash of a Boeing KC-97G Stratotanker on Mt Big Shanty: 7 killed
Date & Time:
Jan 22, 1957 at 1930 LT
Operator:
Registration:
53-0222
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Westover - Griffiss
MSN:
17004
YOM:
1953
Flight number:
Crony 14
Crew on board:
7
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
7
Circumstances:
The airplane was on a refueling mission and departed Westover AFB at 1330LT bound for Griffiss AFB, Rome, New York. Following an uneventful mission, the crew started the descent to Griffiss AFB but was instructed to follow a holding pattern because a fighter that was short of fuel must land immediately. Twenty-five minutes later, while cruising in poor weather conditions (freezing rain and snow), the airplane struck the snowy Mt Big Shanty (701 meters high) located about 70 miles northeast of Griffiss AFB, in the Adirondack Mountain Range. Rescuers arrived on scene in the early morning of January 24. All seven crew members have been killed, among them Maj Charles D. Mellinger, pilot, and 1st Lt Fred Defrench, copilot.
