Date & Time:
Jul 22, 1959 at 0200 LT
Type of aircraft:
Boeing KC-97 Stratotanker
Operator:
Registration:
52-2703
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Training
Survivors:
No
Site:
Plain, Valley
Schedule:
Pease - Pease
MSN:
16734
YOM:
1952
Flight number:
Cutoff 17
Country:
United States of America
Region:
North America
Crew on board:
7
Crew fatalities:
7
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
7
Circumstances:
The crew was performing a refuelling training mission out from Pease AFB, New Hampshire. While flying by night at an altitude of 15,000 feet, the airplane bank left, went into a dive and eventually crashed in a field located 1,3 mile south of Andover. The aircraft disintegrated on impact and all seven crew members were killed.
Crew:
Cpt James White, pilot,
1st Lt Dean Holzworth, copilot,
1st Lt Harold High, navigator,
T/Sgt Owen Combs, flight engineer,
T/Sgt Jake Schmidt, boom operator,
T/Sgt Marion Ackermand, Scanner
A3c Phillip Darst, scanner.
Source:
http://andoverbeacon.com/index.php/12064/site-of-1959-plane-crash-receives-an-american-flag/
Crew:
Cpt James White, pilot,
1st Lt Dean Holzworth, copilot,
1st Lt Harold High, navigator,
T/Sgt Owen Combs, flight engineer,
T/Sgt Jake Schmidt, boom operator,
T/Sgt Marion Ackermand, Scanner
A3c Phillip Darst, scanner.
Source:
http://andoverbeacon.com/index.php/12064/site-of-1959-plane-crash-receives-an-american-flag/
Probable cause:
The Air Force Accident Investigation Board determined after a thorough investigation that the cause of the crash was due to a loss of lubrication to the bearings in the #4 engine turbo supercharger. That led to a failure of the turbo supercharger shaft. The turbine, once unloaded, accelerated to destruction and caused the uncontained catastrophic fire, due to what would presumably have been severed fuel lines or punctured tanks in the wing.
