1963 Elephant Mountain B-52 crash
Encyclopedia
On January 24, 1963 a USAF Boeing B-52C Stratofortress with nine crew members on board lost its vertical stabilizer
due to buffeting stresses during turbulence
at low altitude and crashed on Elephant Mountain
in Piscataquis County
, Maine
, six miles (9.7 km) from Greenville
. The pilot
and the navigator
survived the accident.
(ACR) undetected by Soviet
air defense
during the Cold War
. ACR training flights had already been made over the West Coast of the United States
on Poker Deck routes. This was to be the first low level navigation flight, utilizing terrain following radar, in the Eastern United States
.
The crew, consisting of two 99th Bomb Wing Standardization Division crews based at Westover Air Force Base
, Massachusetts
, and two instructors from the 39th Bomb Wing at Walker Air Force Base
, New Mexico
, was briefed for six hours the day before the accident. They had the choice of flying over either the Carolinas
or Maine
.
The B-52C departed Westover AFB at 12:11 p.m. on Thursday, January 24, 1963, and was scheduled to return to Westover at 5:30 p.m.
The crew spent the first 95 minutes of the flight calibrating their equipment. Upon receiving updated weather information for both available routes they chose the northern one. They were supposed to begin their low level simulated penetration of enemy airspace just south of Princeton, Maine
, near West Grand Lake. From there, they would head north to Millinocket and fly over the mountains in the Jo-Mary/Greenville
area. They planned to turn northeast near Seboomook Lake and southeast near Caucomgomoc Lake to proceed through the mountains of northern Baxter State Park
. After crossing Traveler Mountain
, the aircraft was supposed to climb back to altitude over the Houlton
VOR Station.
of 280 knots. The outside temperature was 14°F below zero (-26°C) with winds gusting to 40 knots (46 mi/h; 74 km/h) and 5 feet (1,5 meter) of snow on the ground.
Approximately 22 minutes later, just after passing Brownville Junction in the center of Maine, the aircraft encountered turbulence. The pilot and crew commander, Westover's Most Senior Standardization Instructor Pilot, started to climb above it when the vertical stabilizer came off the plane with a "loud noise sounding like an explosion". Having suffered severe damage, the B-52C went into a 40 degree right turn, with nose pointed downward. The pilot gave the order to abandon the aircraft when he could not level it.
Only the upper flight deck crew members of the B-52C have ejection seats that eject them upwards. The seats of the pilot
, copilot, and electronic warfare
officer (a navigator also trained in electronic warfare) function at any altitude, as long as the airspeed is at least 90 knots, which is the minimum required to inflate their blast propelled parachutes
. The lower-deck crew members eject on a downward track. Hence, the navigator
and radar navigator
cannot safely eject at altitudes less than 200 feet (61 meters). Spare crew members do not have an ejection seat at all. They must use parachutes and jump out of the navigators' hatch after the navigators have ejected or drop out of the aircraft's door. The tail gunner
has his own unique escape option: he can sever the tail gun and jump aft out the resulting hole in the rear.
The navigator, who was operating as electronic warfare officer, ejected first. He was followed by the pilot and the copilot; there was neither enough altitude nor time for the seven lower-deck crew members to escape before the aircraft crashed into the west side of Elephant Mountain at 2:52 p.m.
The copilot suffered fatal injuries, striking a tree a mile (1.6 km) away from the main crash site. The pilot landed in a tree 30 feet (9 meters) above the ground. He survived the night, with temperatures reaching almost -30°F below zero (-35°C), in his survival kit sleeping bag atop his life raft. The navigator's parachute did not deploy upon ejection. He impacted the snow-covered ground before separating from his ejection seat about 2,000 feet (610 meters) from the wreckage with an impact estimated at 16 times the force of gravity. He suffered a fractured skull and three broken ribs. The force bent his ejection seat and he could not get his survival kit out. He survived the night by wrapping himself in his parachute.
A grader
operator on a remote woods road witnessed the final turn of the Stratofortress and a black smoke cloud after impact. Eighty rescuers from the Maine State Police
, the Maine Inland Fish and Game Department, the Civil Air Patrol
as well as Air Force
Units from Dow Air Force Base
in Bangor, Maine
, along with others from New Hampshire
and Massachusetts
and other volunteers went to work. Search aircraft were on the scene, but they searched too far south and east to locate the wreckage before nightfall.
After the crash site was located the next day, Scott Paper Company dispatched plows from Greenville to clear 10 miles (16 km) of road of snow drifts up to 15 feet (3 meters) deep. The rescuers had to use snowshoes, dog sleds and snowmobiles to cover the remaining mile to the crash site. At 11 a.m. the two survivors were airlifted to a hospital by a helicopter.
-induced structural failure
. Due to buffeting stresses the stabilizer shaft broke and the B-52's vertical stabilizer came off the plane. It was found 1.5 miles (2.4 km) from where the plane impacted the mountain side. With the loss of the vertical stabilizer
, the aircraft had lost its directional stability and rolled
uncontrollably.
Originally, the B-52 was designed to penetrate Soviet airspace at high altitude around 35,000 feet (10.7 km) and high speed around 450 kts to drop nuclear weapons. When the US intelligence realized that the Soviets had implemented a sophisticated, layered and interconnected air defense system with radar controlled surface-to-air missiles (SAMs), the US Air Force decided the B-52 would have to penetrate the Soviet airspace at low altitude around 500 feet (152 meters) and high speed to stay underneath the radar. However, low altitude, high speed flight operations put enormous stress on aircraft structure, especially when flying near mountains, up and down ridges and through valleys due to lee waves and the rotor
. The B-52 was not designed for this kind of operation. 56-0591, a B-52D, took off from Larson AFB
, Washington, on June 23, 1959 and experienced a horizontal stabilizer turbulence-induced failure at low level and crashed. The modification process of the B-52 series began in 1961.
B-52C 53-0406, which crashed on Elephant Mountain, was the second high tailed B-52 to suffer such a fatal structural failure. After extensive testing, another two fatal crashes
and one year later, Boeing found out that turbulence would over-stress the B-52's rudder
connection bolts, causing first a rudder and subsequently a tail failure. The bolts were strengthened throughout the fleet which fixed the problem.
, became unconscious for five days and his leg had to be amputated from the frostbite
and gangrene
that had set in.
In the late 1970s a retired military pilot and president of the Moosehead Riders Snowmobile Club, initiated the annual memorial snowmobile ride in honor to those aboard the B-52. The annual crash site ceremony is attended by representatives from the Maine Air National Guard
, the American Legion, the Civil Air Patrol, Maine Warden Service and members of the snowmobile club. There is a color guard, the laying of a wreath, the reading of the names of those who died, a prayer by a military chaplain and the playing of taps. One engine and the navigator's ejection seat can be viewed at the Clubhouse.
1993 a special commemorative service was sponsored by the Moosehead Riders Snowmobile Club. The navigator attended the event and was honored at several ceremonies. He went to the crash site for the first time since being evacuated out thirty years earlier.
Most of the remains of 53-0406 are still at the crash site which is owned by Plum Creek Timber Co. They improved the foot trail so visitors can view the wreckage. While the site has signs posted asking viewers to show due respect while there, it has been vandalized with names carved in the wreckage or marked with permanent marker.
Vertical stabilizer
The vertical stabilizers, vertical stabilisers, or fins, of aircraft, missiles or bombs are typically found on the aft end of the fuselage or body, and are intended to reduce aerodynamic side slip. It is analogical to a skeg on boats and ships.On aircraft, vertical stabilizers generally point upwards...
due to buffeting stresses during turbulence
Turbulence
In fluid dynamics, turbulence or turbulent flow is a flow regime characterized by chaotic and stochastic property changes. This includes low momentum diffusion, high momentum convection, and rapid variation of pressure and velocity in space and time...
at low altitude and crashed on Elephant Mountain
Elephant Mountain (Piscataquis County, Maine)
Elephant Mountain is a mountain located in Bowdoin College Grant West Piscataquis County, Maine.It is about southeast of Moosehead Lake, 2 miles southwest of Baker Mountain, and 5 miles west of White Cap Mountain.Elephant Mountain stands within the watershed of the Piscataquis River,...
in Piscataquis County
Piscataquis County, Maine
Piscataquis County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maine. In 2010, its population was 17,535, making it Maine's least-populous county. Its county seat is Dover-Foxcroft....
, Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
, six miles (9.7 km) from Greenville
Greenville, Maine
Greenville is a town in Piscataquis County, Maine, United States. The population was 1,623 at the 2000 census. The town is centered around the lower end of Moosehead Lake, the largest body of fresh water in the state. Greenville is the historic gateway to the north country and a center for...
. The pilot
Aviator
An aviator is a person who flies an aircraft. The first recorded use of the term was in 1887, as a variation of 'aviation', from the Latin avis , coined in 1863 by G. de la Landelle in Aviation Ou Navigation Aérienne...
and the navigator
Navigator
A navigator is the person on board a ship or aircraft responsible for its navigation. The navigator's primary responsibility is to be aware of ship or aircraft position at all times. Responsibilities include planning the journey, advising the Captain or aircraft Commander of estimated timing to...
survived the accident.
Training mission
The crew's training mission was called a Terrain Avoidance Flight to practice techniques to penetrate Advanced Capability RadarRadar
Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
(ACR) undetected by Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
air defense
Anti-aircraft warfare
NATO defines air defence as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action." They include ground and air based weapon systems, associated sensor systems, command and control arrangements and passive measures. It may be to protect naval, ground and air forces...
during the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
. ACR training flights had already been made over the West Coast of the United States
West Coast of the United States
West Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...
on Poker Deck routes. This was to be the first low level navigation flight, utilizing terrain following radar, in the Eastern United States
Eastern United States
The Eastern United States, the American East, or simply the East is traditionally defined as the states east of the Mississippi River. The first two tiers of states west of the Mississippi have traditionally been considered part of the West, but can be included in the East today; usually in...
.
The crew, consisting of two 99th Bomb Wing Standardization Division crews based at Westover Air Force Base
Westover Joint Air Reserve Base
Westover Air Reserve Base is an Air Force Reserve Command installation located in the Massachusetts communities of Chicopee and Ludlow, near the city of Springfield, Massachusetts. Westover hosts the largest Air Reserve Base in the world in terms of area...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, and two instructors from the 39th Bomb Wing at Walker Air Force Base
Walker Air Force Base
Walker Air Force Base is a closed United States Air Force base located three miles south of the central business district of Roswell, a city in Chaves County, New Mexico, US...
, New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
, was briefed for six hours the day before the accident. They had the choice of flying over either the Carolinas
Province of Carolina
The Province of Carolina, originally chartered in 1629, was an English and later British colony of North America. Because the original Heath charter was unrealized and was ruled invalid, a new charter was issued to a group of eight English noblemen, the Lords Proprietors, in 1663...
or Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
.
The B-52C departed Westover AFB at 12:11 p.m. on Thursday, January 24, 1963, and was scheduled to return to Westover at 5:30 p.m.
The crew spent the first 95 minutes of the flight calibrating their equipment. Upon receiving updated weather information for both available routes they chose the northern one. They were supposed to begin their low level simulated penetration of enemy airspace just south of Princeton, Maine
Princeton, Maine
Princeton is a town in Washington County, Maine, United States. The town was named after Princeton, Massachusetts. The population was 892 at the 2000 census.-Geography:...
, near West Grand Lake. From there, they would head north to Millinocket and fly over the mountains in the Jo-Mary/Greenville
Greenville, Maine
Greenville is a town in Piscataquis County, Maine, United States. The population was 1,623 at the 2000 census. The town is centered around the lower end of Moosehead Lake, the largest body of fresh water in the state. Greenville is the historic gateway to the north country and a center for...
area. They planned to turn northeast near Seboomook Lake and southeast near Caucomgomoc Lake to proceed through the mountains of northern Baxter State Park
Baxter State Park
Baxter State Park is a large wilderness area permanently preserved as a state park, located in Piscataquis County in north-central Maine. The Park was established by 28 donations of land, in Trust, from Park donor Percival P. Baxter between the years of 1931 and 1962, eventually creating a Park of...
. After crossing Traveler Mountain
Traveler Mountain
Traveler Mountain is a mountain located in Piscataquis County, Maine, in Baxter State Park.The Traveler, is the eighth-most prominent in Maine....
, the aircraft was supposed to climb back to altitude over the Houlton
Houlton, Maine
Houlton is a town in Aroostook County, Maine, on the United States – Canada border, located at . As of the 2010 census, the town population was 6,123. It is perhaps best known as being at the northern terminus of Interstate 95 and for being the birthplace of Samantha Smith...
VOR Station.
Accident
One hour later, around 2:30 p.m. the Stratofortress crossed the Princeton VOR, descended to 500 feet (152 meters) and started its simulation of penetrating enemy airspace at low altitude with an airspeedAirspeed
Airspeed is the speed of an aircraft relative to the air. Among the common conventions for qualifying airspeed are: indicated airspeed , calibrated airspeed , true airspeed , equivalent airspeed and density airspeed....
of 280 knots. The outside temperature was 14°F below zero (-26°C) with winds gusting to 40 knots (46 mi/h; 74 km/h) and 5 feet (1,5 meter) of snow on the ground.
Approximately 22 minutes later, just after passing Brownville Junction in the center of Maine, the aircraft encountered turbulence. The pilot and crew commander, Westover's Most Senior Standardization Instructor Pilot, started to climb above it when the vertical stabilizer came off the plane with a "loud noise sounding like an explosion". Having suffered severe damage, the B-52C went into a 40 degree right turn, with nose pointed downward. The pilot gave the order to abandon the aircraft when he could not level it.
Only the upper flight deck crew members of the B-52C have ejection seats that eject them upwards. The seats of the pilot
Aviator
An aviator is a person who flies an aircraft. The first recorded use of the term was in 1887, as a variation of 'aviation', from the Latin avis , coined in 1863 by G. de la Landelle in Aviation Ou Navigation Aérienne...
, copilot, and electronic warfare
Electronic warfare
Electronic warfare refers to any action involving the use of the electromagnetic spectrum or directed energy to control the spectrum, attack an enemy, or impede enemy assaults via the spectrum. The purpose of electronic warfare is to deny the opponent the advantage of, and ensure friendly...
officer (a navigator also trained in electronic warfare) function at any altitude, as long as the airspeed is at least 90 knots, which is the minimum required to inflate their blast propelled parachutes
Parachutes
Parachutes is the debut album by English alternative rock band Coldplay, released by the record label Parlophone on 10 July 2000 in the United Kingdom. The album was produced by the band and British record producer Ken Nelson, excluding one track which was produced by Chris Allison...
. The lower-deck crew members eject on a downward track. Hence, the navigator
Navigator
A navigator is the person on board a ship or aircraft responsible for its navigation. The navigator's primary responsibility is to be aware of ship or aircraft position at all times. Responsibilities include planning the journey, advising the Captain or aircraft Commander of estimated timing to...
and radar navigator
Radar navigation
Marine and aviation radar systems can provide very useful navigation information in a variety of situations. When a vessel is within radar range of land or special radar aids to navigation, the navigator can take distances and angular bearings to charted objects and use these to establish arcs of...
cannot safely eject at altitudes less than 200 feet (61 meters). Spare crew members do not have an ejection seat at all. They must use parachutes and jump out of the navigators' hatch after the navigators have ejected or drop out of the aircraft's door. The tail gunner
Tail gunner
A tail gunner or rear gunner is a crewman on a military aircraft who functions as a gunner defending against enemy fighter attacks from the rear, or "tail", of the plane. The tail gunner operates a flexible machine gun emplacement on either the top or tail end of the aircraft with a generally...
has his own unique escape option: he can sever the tail gun and jump aft out the resulting hole in the rear.
The navigator, who was operating as electronic warfare officer, ejected first. He was followed by the pilot and the copilot; there was neither enough altitude nor time for the seven lower-deck crew members to escape before the aircraft crashed into the west side of Elephant Mountain at 2:52 p.m.
The copilot suffered fatal injuries, striking a tree a mile (1.6 km) away from the main crash site. The pilot landed in a tree 30 feet (9 meters) above the ground. He survived the night, with temperatures reaching almost -30°F below zero (-35°C), in his survival kit sleeping bag atop his life raft. The navigator's parachute did not deploy upon ejection. He impacted the snow-covered ground before separating from his ejection seat about 2,000 feet (610 meters) from the wreckage with an impact estimated at 16 times the force of gravity. He suffered a fractured skull and three broken ribs. The force bent his ejection seat and he could not get his survival kit out. He survived the night by wrapping himself in his parachute.
A grader
Grader
A grader, also commonly referred to as a road grader, a blade, a maintainer, or a motor grader, is a construction machine with a long blade used to create a flat surface. Typical models have three axles, with the engine and cab situated above the rear axles at one end of the vehicle and a third...
operator on a remote woods road witnessed the final turn of the Stratofortress and a black smoke cloud after impact. Eighty rescuers from the Maine State Police
Maine State Police
The Maine State Police is the state police agency for Maine, which has jurisdiction across the state. It was created in 1921 to protect the lives, property, and constitutional rights of the citizens of the State of Maine.-Vehicles:...
, the Maine Inland Fish and Game Department, the Civil Air Patrol
Civil Air Patrol
Civil Air Patrol is a Congressionally chartered, federally supported, non-profit corporation that serves as the official civilian auxiliary of the United States Air Force . CAP is a volunteer organization with an aviation-minded membership that includes people from all backgrounds, lifestyles, and...
as well as Air Force
Air force
An air force, also known in some countries as an air army, is in the broadest sense, the national military organization that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army, navy or...
Units from Dow Air Force Base
Dow Air Force Base
-History:Dow Air Force Base began as "Godfrey Field" in 1927, on land owned by local attorney Edward Rawson Godfrey . Commercial flights began at the field in 1931 under Northeast Airlines...
in Bangor, Maine
Bangor, Maine
Bangor is a city in and the county seat of Penobscot County, Maine, United States, and the major commercial and cultural center for eastern and northern Maine...
, along with others from New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
and Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
and other volunteers went to work. Search aircraft were on the scene, but they searched too far south and east to locate the wreckage before nightfall.
After the crash site was located the next day, Scott Paper Company dispatched plows from Greenville to clear 10 miles (16 km) of road of snow drifts up to 15 feet (3 meters) deep. The rescuers had to use snowshoes, dog sleds and snowmobiles to cover the remaining mile to the crash site. At 11 a.m. the two survivors were airlifted to a hospital by a helicopter.
Accident investigation
The crash was caused by turbulenceTurbulence
In fluid dynamics, turbulence or turbulent flow is a flow regime characterized by chaotic and stochastic property changes. This includes low momentum diffusion, high momentum convection, and rapid variation of pressure and velocity in space and time...
-induced structural failure
Loss of structural integrity on an aircraft
The List of aircraft accidents and incidents caused by structural failure summarizes notable accidents and incidents such as the 1933 United Airlines Chesterton Crash due to a bombing and a 1964 B-52 test that landed after the vertical stabilizer broke off...
. Due to buffeting stresses the stabilizer shaft broke and the B-52's vertical stabilizer came off the plane. It was found 1.5 miles (2.4 km) from where the plane impacted the mountain side. With the loss of the vertical stabilizer
Vertical stabilizer
The vertical stabilizers, vertical stabilisers, or fins, of aircraft, missiles or bombs are typically found on the aft end of the fuselage or body, and are intended to reduce aerodynamic side slip. It is analogical to a skeg on boats and ships.On aircraft, vertical stabilizers generally point upwards...
, the aircraft had lost its directional stability and rolled
Flight dynamics
Flight dynamics is the science of air vehicle orientation and control in three dimensions. The three critical flight dynamics parameters are the angles of rotation in three dimensions about the vehicle's center of mass, known as pitch, roll and yaw .Aerospace engineers develop control systems for...
uncontrollably.
Originally, the B-52 was designed to penetrate Soviet airspace at high altitude around 35,000 feet (10.7 km) and high speed around 450 kts to drop nuclear weapons. When the US intelligence realized that the Soviets had implemented a sophisticated, layered and interconnected air defense system with radar controlled surface-to-air missiles (SAMs), the US Air Force decided the B-52 would have to penetrate the Soviet airspace at low altitude around 500 feet (152 meters) and high speed to stay underneath the radar. However, low altitude, high speed flight operations put enormous stress on aircraft structure, especially when flying near mountains, up and down ridges and through valleys due to lee waves and the rotor
Lee waves
In meteorology, lee waves are atmospheric standing waves. The most common form is mountain waves, which are atmospheric internal gravity waves...
. The B-52 was not designed for this kind of operation. 56-0591, a B-52D, took off from Larson AFB
Larson Air Force Base
Larson Air Force Base is a closed United States Air Force base located five miles northwest of the central business district of Moses Lake, in Grant County, Washington. After its closure, the airport was operated as Grant County International Airport.-History:Larson Air Force Base was named in...
, Washington, on June 23, 1959 and experienced a horizontal stabilizer turbulence-induced failure at low level and crashed. The modification process of the B-52 series began in 1961.
B-52C 53-0406, which crashed on Elephant Mountain, was the second high tailed B-52 to suffer such a fatal structural failure. After extensive testing, another two fatal crashes
Loss of structural integrity on an aircraft
The List of aircraft accidents and incidents caused by structural failure summarizes notable accidents and incidents such as the 1933 United Airlines Chesterton Crash due to a bombing and a 1964 B-52 test that landed after the vertical stabilizer broke off...
and one year later, Boeing found out that turbulence would over-stress the B-52's rudder
Rudder
A rudder is a device used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft or other conveyance that moves through a medium . On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to counter adverse yaw and p-factor and is not the primary control used to turn the airplane...
connection bolts, causing first a rudder and subsequently a tail failure. The bolts were strengthened throughout the fleet which fixed the problem.
Aftermath
Of the two survivors the pilot returned to active duty after spending three months in the hospital and the navigator, whose feet were frost bitten contracted double pneumoniaPneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
, became unconscious for five days and his leg had to be amputated from the frostbite
Frostbite
Frostbite is the medical condition where localized damage is caused to skin and other tissues due to extreme cold. Frostbite is most likely to happen in body parts farthest from the heart and those with large exposed areas...
and gangrene
Gangrene
Gangrene is a serious and potentially life-threatening condition that arises when a considerable mass of body tissue dies . This may occur after an injury or infection, or in people suffering from any chronic health problem affecting blood circulation. The primary cause of gangrene is reduced blood...
that had set in.
In the late 1970s a retired military pilot and president of the Moosehead Riders Snowmobile Club, initiated the annual memorial snowmobile ride in honor to those aboard the B-52. The annual crash site ceremony is attended by representatives from the Maine Air National Guard
Maine Air National Guard
The Maine Air National Guard is the air force militia of the U.S. state of Maine. It is, along with the Maine Army National Guard, an element of the Maine National Guard...
, the American Legion, the Civil Air Patrol, Maine Warden Service and members of the snowmobile club. There is a color guard, the laying of a wreath, the reading of the names of those who died, a prayer by a military chaplain and the playing of taps. One engine and the navigator's ejection seat can be viewed at the Clubhouse.
1993 a special commemorative service was sponsored by the Moosehead Riders Snowmobile Club. The navigator attended the event and was honored at several ceremonies. He went to the crash site for the first time since being evacuated out thirty years earlier.
Most of the remains of 53-0406 are still at the crash site which is owned by Plum Creek Timber Co. They improved the foot trail so visitors can view the wreckage. While the site has signs posted asking viewers to show due respect while there, it has been vandalized with names carved in the wreckage or marked with permanent marker.
See also
- January 30, 1963 B-52E Stratofortress 57-0018, fatal crash near Sangre de Christo Mountains, Mora, New Mexico
- January 10, 1964 B-52H Stratofortress 61-023 non-fatal test flight over New Mexico
- January 13, 1964 B-52D Stratofortress 55-060 'Buzz One Four' fatal crash at Savage Mountain, Maryland1964 Savage Mountain B-52 crashThe 1964 Savage Mountain B-52 crash was a U.S. military nuclear accident in which a Cold War bomber's vertical stabilizer broke off in winter storm turbulence...
- Loss of structural integrity on an aircraftLoss of structural integrity on an aircraftThe List of aircraft accidents and incidents caused by structural failure summarizes notable accidents and incidents such as the 1933 United Airlines Chesterton Crash due to a bombing and a 1964 B-52 test that landed after the vertical stabilizer broke off...
External links
- Historic video of air search operations for B-52C 53‑0406, US National Archives and Records AdministrationNational Archives and Records AdministrationThe National Archives and Records Administration is an independent agency of the United States government charged with preserving and documenting government and historical records and with increasing public access to those documents, which comprise the National Archives...
number 342 USAF 34150 (DBVT) hosted by Critical Past - Historic video of air rescue operations for B-52C 53‑0406, US National Archives and Records AdministrationNational Archives and Records AdministrationThe National Archives and Records Administration is an independent agency of the United States government charged with preserving and documenting government and historical records and with increasing public access to those documents, which comprise the National Archives...
number 342 USAF 34150 (DBVT) hosted by Critical Past - Historic video of investigation team examining the wreckage of B-52C 53‑0406, US National Archives and Records AdministrationNational Archives and Records AdministrationThe National Archives and Records Administration is an independent agency of the United States government charged with preserving and documenting government and historical records and with increasing public access to those documents, which comprise the National Archives...
number 342 USAF 34150 (DBVT) hosted by Critical Past - Historic video of B-52H 61-023 landing without vertical stabilizer after test flight, US National Archives and Records AdministrationNational Archives and Records AdministrationThe National Archives and Records Administration is an independent agency of the United States government charged with preserving and documenting government and historical records and with increasing public access to those documents, which comprise the National Archives...
number 200 UN 37-19 # 1,2,3,4A,5 FGMC (DBVT) hosted by Critical Past - Contemporary video of the crash site: Part 1 and Part 2 hosted on YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
- Crash site tells of Cold War tragedy by Bill Nemitz, Portland Press Herald copy at Internet ArchiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...