Date & Time:
Apr 15, 1952 at 0345 LT
Type of aircraft:
Convair B-36 Peacemaker
Operator:
Registration:
44-92050
Flight Phase:
Takeoff (climb)
Flight Type:
Training
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Fairchild - Fairchild
MSN:
47
YOM:
1946
Country:
United States of America
Region:
North America
Crew on board:
17
Crew fatalities:
15
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
15
Circumstances:
The crew was engaged in a routine training flight and the plane was scheduled to conduct seven practice bomb runs at the Yakima Firing Center in Yakima County. During the takeoff roll from runway 23, the six engine aircraft encountered difficulties to rotate, overran and eventually rotated 520 feet past the runway end. The airplane climbed to a height of 50 feet then nosed down and crashed in a huge explosion in a field 3,314 feet past the runway end and 75 feet on the right of the extended center line. Two crew members were seriously injured while 15 others were killed. The aircraft was totally destroyed. The pilot was also in command of another B-36 registered 44-92080 that crashed at Fairchild AFB last January 29.
Crew:
Cpt Cecil F. Alldredge, pilot, †
Cpt John Q. Boyd, †
T/Sgt Francis J. Brozowski, †
S/Sgt Martin Gordon Cohn, †
Cpt John E. Daly, †
S/Sgt Earl K. Davis, †
1st Lt Melvin H. Emley, †
S/Sgt John C. Gafford, †
Cpt Arthur L. Hulshizer, †
2nd Lt John J. Knaub, †
A2c Wilbur W. Knox Jr., †
1st Lt Herbert D. Merman, †
Cpt Albert E. Nelson, †
Cpt Earl G. Soderbeck, †
A1c Charles E. Sykora Jr., †
A2c James Breedlove,
M/Sgt Walter L. Campbell.
Crew:
Cpt Cecil F. Alldredge, pilot, †
Cpt John Q. Boyd, †
T/Sgt Francis J. Brozowski, †
S/Sgt Martin Gordon Cohn, †
Cpt John E. Daly, †
S/Sgt Earl K. Davis, †
1st Lt Melvin H. Emley, †
S/Sgt John C. Gafford, †
Cpt Arthur L. Hulshizer, †
2nd Lt John J. Knaub, †
A2c Wilbur W. Knox Jr., †
1st Lt Herbert D. Merman, †
Cpt Albert E. Nelson, †
Cpt Earl G. Soderbeck, †
A1c Charles E. Sykora Jr., †
A2c James Breedlove,
M/Sgt Walter L. Campbell.
Probable cause:
The Air Force Board of Inquiry determined the crash was caused by pilot error. During the maximum-weight takeoff, the pilots apparently discovered that the elevator trim was set incorrectly, keeping the plane’s nose down. Rather than abort, Captain Cecil F. Alldredge, the aircraft commander, made the decision to continue, confident the trim could be corrected during the takeoff roll. The corrective action, however, came too late, and the pilots lost control. The plane continued on the ground 520 feet past the end of runway 23 before becoming briefly airborne. After reaching an altitude of approximately 50 feet, the aircraft struck the ground 75 feet to the right and 3,314 feet past the end of the runway and tore through the airfield perimeter fence, coming to rest 450 feet off the base. The debris field extended an additional 1,000 feet.
