Date & Time:
Oct 15, 1959 at 1945 LT
Type of aircraft:
Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker
Operator:
Registration:
57-1513
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Refuelling
Survivors:
No
Site:
Plain, Valley
Schedule:
Columbus - Columbus
MSN:
17584
YOM:
1958
Country:
United States of America
Region:
North America
Crew on board:
4
Crew fatalities:
4
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
4
Circumstances:
The crew left Columbus AFB, Mississippi, on a routine refuelling mission of a USAF Boeing B-52 Stratofortress. Registered 57-0036, the B-52 was carrying a crew of eight. At an altitude of 32,000 feet, both aircraft collided in unclear circumstances and dove into the ground before crashing near Leitchfield. All four crew member on board the KC-135 were killed. On board the B-52, four crew members were killed while four others were able to bail out and were found alive. Both aircraft were destroyed upon impact.
Crew:
1st Lt Harold E. Helmick, pilot,
S/Sgt Paul E. Thomasson 2.
Crew:
1st Lt Harold E. Helmick, pilot,
S/Sgt Paul E. Thomasson 2.
