Date & Time:
Dec 9, 1960
Type of aircraft:
Boeing B-52 Stratofortress
Operator:
Registration:
55-0114
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Training
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
Plain, Valley
Schedule:
Westover - Westover
MSN:
17230
YOM:
1955
Country:
United States of America
Region:
North America
Crew on board:
9
Crew fatalities:
1
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
1
Circumstances:
The crew was engaged in a training mission out from Westover AFB. En route, while cruising near the Canadian border by night, the aircraft slowly banked to the left without any action from the pilot-in-command who apparently suffered a blackout. The airplane descended with a rate of 2,000 feet per minute when the navigator thinking she was breaking up ejected without direction from the pilot. Eventually, the captain instructed all crew to bail out as well and the airplane crashed and burned in an open field located near Plainfield, making a crater 350' long, 30' deep and 30' wide. Eight occupants were found alive while the body of the navigator was found seven months later.
Probable cause:
The reason the aircraft rolled over was the pilot blacked out, and without positive control input the aircraft entered a gentle slow roll. This initially went undetected by the rest of the crew, who were each performing their own chores. As the aircraft achieved a high angle of bank the rate of descent went over 2,000 feet per minute.
