Crash of a Lockheed P2V-7LP Neptune in Wilkes Station: 5 killed
Date & Time:
Nov 9, 1961
Operator:
Registration:
140439
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Wilkes Station - McMurdo Sound
MSN:
726-7098
Crew on board:
9
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
5
Circumstances:
Crashed on takeoff while in support of Operation Deep Freeze 1962. While taking off from the skiway at Wilkes Station Antarctica, the Neptune caught fire and crashed. Of the nine men on board, only four survived. The previous landing had been so violently rough that it had broken loose the 400 gal internal tank in the bomb bay and the 4" filler pipe was spewing out raw fuel running down the bottom of the plane on take-off. At the ignition of the JATO on the t/o run, it acted like a Roman Candle. With the burning of the fiberglass tail cone, all of the acrid smoke was drawn right up to the cockpit and the pilots were blinded. They tried to return to the field and just couldn't make it. The pilot managed to level the wings before they hit and that saved some of the guys. 5 killed, 4 injured.
Source : Joe Baugher
Photos and details:
http://www.antarctica.gov.au/news/2012/antarctic-air-crash-victims-remembered
Source : Joe Baugher
Photos and details:
http://www.antarctica.gov.au/news/2012/antarctic-air-crash-victims-remembered
Probable cause:
An investigation of the crash reported the cause as a collision with the ground following an intense, uncontrollable fire in the landing gear - bomb bay fuel tank area.
