This is a video of the 1994 B-52 crash at Fairchild AFB in Washington for anyone who may have not seen it... and the story behind it... On 24 June 1994, B-52H #61-0026 crashed during practice for an upcoming airshow killing the crew of four consisting of command pilot Lt Col Arthur Bud Holland (46), copilot Lt Col Mark McGeehan (38), safety observer Col Robert Wolff (46), and weapon systems officer/radar navigator Lt Col Ken Huston (41). Holland was the chief of the 92nd Bomb Wings Standardization and Evaluation branch, McGeehan was the commander of the 325th Bomb Squadron, Wolff was the vice commander of the 92nd Bomb Wing, and Huston was the 325th Bomb Squadrons operations officer. In addition to being a practice flight, it was also Wolffs fini flight due to his retirement. His wife and several close friends were at the base to watch the flight while McGeehans wife and two youngest sons observed the flight from the backyard of McGeehans nearby residence. The mishap aircraft took off at 13:58 and completed most of the practice elements without incident. Upon preparing to perform a touch-and-go at the end of the practice, the tower directed Holland to perform a go around because a KC-135 tanker had just landed and was still on the runway. Maintaining an altitude of 250 feet above ground level, Holland executed a steep left turn and then proceeded around the control tower to make a second left turn during which the aircraft banked past 90 degrees vertical and quickly entered into a nosedive. The left wing clipped a set of power lines and then the B-52 impacted the ground and exploded, killing all four crewmembers. McGeehan, occupying the copilot seat, attempted to eject and his escape hatch successfully departed the aircraft (can be seen in the video) but his ejection sequence was interrupted by the impact. Huston was also seated in an ejection seat but neither he nor Holland attempted to eject. Wolff was seated behind the pilot and copilot in a portable observer seat which had no ejection capability. Nobody on the ground was injured. The mishap investigation determined the steep left bank exceeded the B-52s flight parameters resulting in loss of lift with no chance of recovery due to the low altitude. Any ejection attempts wouldve been outside the B-52s escape system envelope due to the low altitude, high sink rate, adverse seat trajectory, and lack of time. The investigation also identified a breakdown in leadership because many crewmembers had previously complained to their superiors about Hollands aggressive and dangerous flying with several refusing to fly with him. McGeehan was so concerned as squadron commander that he had advised his crews that they were not to fly with Holland and he personally would fly in their place when needed. In the months following the crash, several officers who had failed to properly address the complaints about Holland were held accountable including one who was court-martialed for dereliction of duty. youtube/watch?v=FUEhNKBi4DY
Posted on: Thu, 02 Oct 2014 17:24:36 +0000
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