# KC135 Accident - Walker AFB (near Roswell NM) Feb 3rd, 1960



## vikingBerserker (Feb 26, 2010)

My dad spent 33 years in the USAF and was stationed at Walker AFB near Roswell NM in 1960. He was working Crash and Rescue on the Flight Line while a Pilot In Training was taking off on a training mission flying a fully loaded KC-135A Tanker with 31k gallons of aviation fuel. The official story:

"The 6th Air Refueling Squadron, flying early-model KC-135A aircraft, was assigned to Walker AFB from 3 January 1958. On 3 February 1960, a "short-tail" (non-hydraulic-power-assisted rudder) KC-135A crashed during takeoff in strong and gusty crosswinds. The pilot failed to maintain directional control, rotated the aircraft 5-10 knots too early and the aircraft settled onto the dirt apron of the runway, shed two engines, plowed through the aircraft parking area and came to rest in an aircraft hangar. This single crash resulted in the destruction of three KC-135 aircraft and the deaths of eight military personnel"

My dad said the Fire Dept of the town of Roswell responded open seeing the smoke as they thought the entire base was on fire. It took both them and the entire Base's Fire Dept to finally put out the fire. There were very little of the planes left. Below are the pics my dad has:

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## Aaron Brooks Wolters (Feb 26, 2010)

WOW!  to your dad VB. Interesting story. Thank you for the post.


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## syscom3 (Feb 26, 2010)

Very Interesting!!!!

Your dad have more pics of the base during when he served there?


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## vikingBerserker (Feb 26, 2010)

syscom3 said:


> Very Interesting!!!!
> 
> Your dad have more pics of the base during when he served there?



Yea, but I'm still waiting to get my hands on them. I was expecting pics of his Rescue Chopper but was sent these instead - which I'd never seen at all before. I'll post more soon hopefully.

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## RabidAlien (Feb 27, 2010)

Dang. 31,000 gallons of fuel....that's gonna take a while to put out!

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## B-17engineer (Feb 27, 2010)

Wow! Great story VB! 

Are you sureeeeee it was UFO's though


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## wheelsup_cavu (Feb 28, 2010)

Great pictures VB. 


Wheels


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## jackie price (Mar 9, 2010)

vikingBerserker said:


> My dad spent 33 years in the USAF and was stationed at Walker AFB near Roswell NM in 1960. He was working Crash and Rescue on the Flight Line while a Pilot In Training was taking off on a training mission flying a fully loaded KC-135A Tanker with 31k gallons of aviation fuel. The official story:
> 
> "The 6th Air Refueling Squadron, flying early-model KC-135A aircraft, was assigned to Walker AFB from 3 January 1958. On 3 February 1960, a "short-tail" (non-hydraulic-power-assisted rudder) KC-135A crashed during takeoff in strong and gusty crosswinds. The pilot failed to maintain directional control, rotated the aircraft 5-10 knots too early and the aircraft settled onto the dirt apron of the runway, shed two engines, plowed through the aircraft parking area and came to rest in an aircraft hangar. This single crash resulted in the destruction of three KC-135 aircraft and the deaths of eight military personnel"
> 
> My dad said the Fire Dept of the town of Roswell responded open seeing the smoke as they thought the entire base was on fire. It took both them and the entire Base's Fire Dept to finally put out the fire. There were very little of the planes left. Below are the pics my dad has:



Love this article, it has been 50 years since this happened. My dad,Tech.Sgt. Carlton Price, was in the hanger when the crash occured and he was blown from the hangar and flown to Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio with 2nd and 3rd degree burns over 55 per cent of his body where he died on March 17, 1960. I would love to see any more pictures that you have.

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## Dans65 (Jun 8, 2010)

Thanks VB,
I would love to see more pictures myself. I used to work on KC-135Rs in the beginning of 2k and on one support msn in the C-141, we went to that base (now Roswell Industrial Air Park) as a overnight stopover and got a really great tour of the town and facility. I was wondering if you know exactly where this hangar was, and what runway it came down on. Now when I was on the crash recovery team with my unit, we had afew incidences that was (not aircraft error) steered off the runway on both take-off landing rolls...I guess I'm the cat who got curious about this. There is a back-up hydraulic system for emergency brake pressure that only the co-pilot can control. Once the switch is thrown on the control panel in front of the co-pilots seat. He alone has the power to stop, but, the bad side of this is, no anti-brakes, which means, wheels are going to lock up hard. And if it was me under those conditions, I'll be in that hangar with those brave men as well.

JP, my deepest condolences for your father's passing back then, and I want to thank you (for him) for serving our country during the cold war. We were close to a nuclear war more than the public really knows.

Thanks again for posting this thread, I hope I didn't overstep my bounds here.

Dan


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## Matt308 (Jun 8, 2010)

Not whatsoever, Dan. Good post.


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## younger1125 (Aug 6, 2010)

I had an uncle there. I was told he pulled out men from the third hanger but as he returned for the last few, that hanger blew. I have hit brick walls for three years. His name was Raymond Wesley Brooks and I am trying to get a metal for his two boys who were infants at the time. They are great men now and they both build churches in Romania with the profits from their business. I would love some help if any one can remember.

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## vikingBerserker (Aug 6, 2010)

to your uncle younger, I checked with my dad and he did nto recognize the name. I wish you the best in luck for getting though as he certainly deserves it.


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## Vince59 (Aug 20, 2010)

I was very surprised to find this information concerning the KC-135 Crash of Feb 1960. I was a young 19 year old Airmen stationed at Walker AFB at the time of this crash. I worked in the building directly across the street from the Hanger that was hit by the KC-135. The section I worked in was the 6th Bomb Wing Supply Group. I remember the crash quite well. We all exited our building from the back side which luckily was very near the Gate entrance to the flight line. The first picture of the crash that is posted here shows what I beleive is the back side of the Hanger that faced our building. The reason I think it is the back side is that when we first consolidated all the wing supply groups from the squadron level in 1959 our part of the Wing Supply group was located in the top of that hanger. We used to climb those stairs that are shown up to our work area. After a few months we moved over to the building across the street. I have often thought that if it were not for us moving and the fact of that Hanger blocking us the KC-135 might have continued on into our old WW2 Type Wooden Building across the street. Back in 1998 I wrote the Air Force for information about this crash. They provided me with what was the actual aircraft accident investigation report. Although some of it was blacked out it was interesting to read. Walker AFB near that point had started to become a combat training base for KC-135 and B-52 crews. The pilot flying the plane that day was a student pilot with an instructor pilot plus three other crew members. The reason for the crash as I remember was that the pilot lost control during takeoff due to high crosswinds. The other KC-135's he hit before hitting the Hanger were located near or in the 6th Air Refeuling Squadron area. That was my first encounter with a magnesium fire. I can still remember the thick white smoke coming from the burning planes. I was able to locate what I think is the crash area by viewing the Roswell Industrial Air Center using Google Earth. I was also able to locate the old barracks I used to live in that is now a civilian housing area. I have some photos and a newspaper clipping from the crash that I will try to post at a later time.

Vince

USAF 1958-1962
Walker AFB, NM 1959-1961
Indian Mt. AFS, AK 1961-1962

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## vikingBerserker (Aug 20, 2010)

Very cool Vince! and welcome aboard!

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## Aaron Brooks Wolters (Aug 20, 2010)

That is an interesting addition to this thread. Welcome to the forum Vince and thank you for your service sir.


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## syscom3 (Aug 20, 2010)

Good info Vince.


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## dmonroe (Sep 21, 2010)

I was very surprised to find this crash when I googled WalkerAFB. My father was a navigator on the B-52, 40th Bomb Sqdn. I was 14 at the time and remember the crash. The weather was terrible that day with strong winds. I just remember seeing the Base Chaplin along with a couple other officers make that dreaded visit to the family of one of the flight crew members down the street. Visited the base a couple of years ago and drove past where the hanger once stood. There was a 747 and several other aircraft parked on the site undergoing some restoration/salvage work. Vince, you are right, Google Earth shows the flightline where the hanger stood. Stands out because there were 3 or 4 similar hangers with a gap between them and a similar foundation. That was a very, very sad day...

Duncan Monroe
Air Force Brat
Walker AFB 
1952-1967
Great site! Just joined

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## vikingBerserker (Sep 22, 2010)

Thanks for sharing that, and welcome aboard Duncan.

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## Sweb (Oct 3, 2010)

Similar experience. B-47 crashes on base at Pease AFB, 1960-1963, 100th Bomb Wing. We lived at 31 Birch Drive in base housing. On two occasions there were terrible explosions and the night sky lit up. On both occasions my Pop was due home from what they called Reflex Missions to Brize Norton AB, England. They were sent out and came home in a Vee formation of three aircraft. Both times my Mom shot to the phone and called base operations to see who crashed. My Pop wasn't one of them but she would begin to cry because she learned which of her friends lost their husbands. We, as kids (I was 8 years old) learned which of our friends lost their Pops and knew they would move away. My Mom absolutely hated the military never saying one kind word about it. That early jet age killed many of her friend's husbands due to accidents and she lived in constant fear of my Pop being one of the statistics. Twenty years of living in fear like that are seldom chronicled in military journals. Military wives and families are different kinds of veterans, but veterans nonetheless.

There were subsequent investigations of the above crashes, which I learned the results of years later from my Pop, with the key findings that, 1) Fast jet bombers required the skills of fighter pilots with regard to reaction times and keeping their heads out in front of the (high speed) airplanes. Transitioning reciprocating engine pilots should be transitioned in T-33s before moving to the new bombers and, 2) At the time pilots were ordered to follow the commands of tower controllers who were not trained in the controller procedures for that particular high performance jet bomber, their higher approach speeds and slower power (turbine spool up times) recovery for aborting. A controller directed one aircraft onto the "runway" on one fogged-in night. The "runway" was, in reality, the base golf course. IOW, it crashed short of the runway killing all 3 crew members. The investigation determined that due to the conditions of that night the pilot could not have recovered. 

I remember seeing the burned out wreckage of one in the base golf course the morning after.

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## vikingBerserker (Oct 3, 2010)

Wow, that's a great story Sweb! and God bless the spouses of the Military, there is no harder job.

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## Aaron Brooks Wolters (Oct 3, 2010)

The wives and families of serving military past and present are seldom thought of it seems and they should be for they are also giving a lot. Thank you for the post Sweb and Duncan.


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## 6th Bomb Wing (Oct 21, 2010)

I was stationed at Walker as a Jet Engine mechanic assigned to the 6th Field Maintenance Squadron and was discharged the morning that this happened. Just as I was clearing the main gate that morning in my car I heard the explosion and could see the smoke from the fire in my rear view mirror. I believe the hanger you see in the above pictures was where I worked as it was the biggest hanger in that area and housed all engine maintenence personel. I was assigned to the Unit Conditioning section and our office/work room was on the outside of the hanger adjacent to the aircraft parking area. I believe the small entrance you can see in the first photo is where we would go in and out of the hanger.

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## vikingBerserker (Oct 21, 2010)

Wow, what a way to end the day!


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## lamacchia (Apr 3, 2011)

Was the photo of the hangar crash scene the "big" hangar at the west end of the field that could accomodate B52's ? DCM and DCMT located in the hangar ?

Many thanks..


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## SULYB (Apr 7, 2011)

I wondered if anyone remembered the KC-135 incident. I was a firefighter when that happened. We had two shifts A B. A shift was on duty when the crash occurred. I was on B shift and we responded right away. I was at the hanger in your photo and may be one of the firefighters in the photograph. There was a firefighter named Brooks but he was known as Joel E. Brooks from South Carolina and was with us on B shift. Great article and thanks for remembering.

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## widollar (Apr 22, 2011)

vikingBerserker said:


> My dad spent 33 years in the USAF and was stationed at Walker AFB near Roswell NM in 1960. He was working Crash and Rescue on the Flight Line while a Pilot In Training was taking off on a training mission flying a fully loaded KC-135A Tanker with 31k gallons of aviation fuel. The official story:
> 
> "The 6th Air Refueling Squadron, flying early-model KC-135A aircraft, was assigned to Walker AFB from 3 January 1958. On 3 February 1960, a "short-tail" (non-hydraulic-power-assisted rudder) KC-135A crashed during takeoff in strong and gusty crosswinds. The pilot failed to maintain directional control, rotated the aircraft 5-10 knots too early and the aircraft settled onto the dirt apron of the runway, shed two engines, plowed through the aircraft parking area and came to rest in an aircraft hangar. This single crash resulted in the destruction of three KC-135 aircraft and the deaths of eight military personnel"
> 
> My dad said the Fire Dept of the town of Roswell responded open seeing the smoke as they thought the entire base was on fire. It took both them and the entire Base's Fire Dept to finally put out the fire. There were very little of the planes left. Below are the pics my dad has:



My uncle, Major William Burke was one of the eight people killed. He was riding as an "Observation Person" with the flight crew on the plane that crashed. Regards,

William Dollar
Lakeland, Florida

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## widollar (Apr 22, 2011)

Vince59 said:


> I was very surprised to find this information concerning the KC-135 Crash of Feb 1960. I was a young 19 year old Airmen stationed at Walker AFB at the time of this crash. I worked in the building directly across the street from the Hanger that was hit by the KC-135. The section I worked in was the 6th Bomb Wing Supply Group. I remember the crash quite well. We all exited our building from the back side which luckily was very near the Gate entrance to the flight line. The first picture of the crash that is posted here shows what I beleive is the back side of the Hanger that faced our building. The reason I think it is the back side is that when we first consolidated all the wing supply groups from the squadron level in 1959 our part of the Wing Supply group was located in the top of that hanger. We used to climb those stairs that are shown up to our work area. After a few months we moved over to the building across the street. I have often thought that if it were not for us moving and the fact of that Hanger blocking us the KC-135 might have continued on into our old WW2 Type Wooden Building across the street. Back in 1998 I wrote the Air Force for information about this crash. They provided me with what was the actual aircraft accident investigation report. Although some of it was blacked out it was interesting to read. Walker AFB near that point had started to become a combat training base for KC-135 and B-52 crews. The pilot flying the plane that day was a student pilot with an instructor pilot plus three other crew members. The reason for the crash as I remember was that the pilot lost control during takeoff due to high crosswinds. The other KC-135's he hit before hitting the Hanger were located near or in the 6th Air Refeuling Squadron area. That was my first encounter with a magnesium fire. I can still remember the thick white smoke coming from the burning planes. I was able to locate what I think is the crash area by viewing the Roswell Industrial Air Center using Google Earth. I was also able to locate the old barracks I used to live in that is now a civilian housing area. I have some photos and a newspaper clipping from the crash that I will try to post at a later time.
> 
> Vince
> 
> ...


 
I was a 21 year old college student at San Jose State University in my Senior year, and my Uncle Major William Burke was flying as an "Observation Person" on the KC-135 that crashed that day. Thanks to your commentary I now have more of the details of the horrible crash. I was scheduled to fly to Pensacola Florida in June to start my Naval Aviation Training. This horrible accident changed my plans, when my mother and aunt went ballistic over the crash. Regards, William Dollar

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## Aaron Brooks Wolters (Apr 22, 2011)

to your uncle and his family Mr. Dollar.


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## vikingBerserker (Apr 24, 2011)

A-Fricken-Men!


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## elires (May 10, 2011)

I am looking for information on a young airman that was stationed at Walker at that time named Arthur Heaney. I don't have a lot of information, but know he was there between 1959-1960 at least. His buddies included a big Pole named Ron (nicknamed Pollock) and Mike Durbin (?).

Any information would be greatly appreciated!


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## golson33 (May 31, 2011)

VB - I too was there as a J-57 Jet Engine mechanic. At the time of the crash I was in a base classroom taking the exams for Aviation Cadet and OCS entry. Yes, the winds on that clear day were gusting to almost 40 knots. When I heard the boom from the JP4 cooking off, i ran outside and looked toward the departure runway. Those KC135's left a lot of black smoke at max power, and I could tell fro teh position of th esmoke above the building tops that teh aircraft had tried to come off too early and stalled. First on the number 4 engine, knocking it off its' mounts, which caused the aircraft to roll left and headed directly for the maintenance hanger where there were approximately 50 of my mates working on engine rebuilds. The aircraft careened and caught the number 1 engine on the ground, broke free and jetted toward one of our mechanics on a tug. When he saw the engine coming at him, he jumped from the tug just in time - the engine hit the tug and exploded. At that same moment the aircraft recovered enough to vere starboard and as it plowed into three other completely loaded KC135's on the Ramp, exploding them as well, the aircraft rammed into the hangr next door (The first picture of your fathers that shows the burning hanger). An ocean wave of burning fuel consumed everything on the ramp (yes there were some individuals in cars on the ramp that died from the burning fuel) the three KC135's, cars, and the hanger where it came to rest. BTW there was a parachute training class of some 15 - 25 men being conducted upstairs. They too perished. Besides the eight flight crew, there were closer to 40 who died that day. The next day I saw where the Major, a navigator had died on the ramp outside our hanger (his major insignia had melted on the ground from his flight suit). Such a terrible disaster. Yes -- I did pass my exams and became an Officer, and a Flight Navigator during my 12 year history with the USAF. Regards, Gary


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## vikingBerserker (May 31, 2011)

Dam, thanks for the additional info Gary, and welcome aboard.


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## Les Kaar (Jun 16, 2011)

I was stationed at Walker 1959 t0 62 We were just catching ball behind our barracks and it happened. You can see we were closer to Runway 17/35. I got these photos from another Vet that was stationed with me @ 686th AC&W SQ. Hope I didn't anger anyone on posting the pictures. God bless those guys that tried to save and put out that fire


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## Aaron Brooks Wolters (Jun 16, 2011)

Wow! Thank you for posting Les. And thank you for your service sir.


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## vikingBerserker (Jun 16, 2011)

I'm with Aaron on this one, THANK YOU!!


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## syscom3 (Jun 17, 2011)

Thanks for those pics!


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## Larry P (Jul 7, 2011)

I was stationed at Walker AFB from Sept- 1959- Oct-1960. I was in the 6th OMS and was standing within 200 feet of runway when a KC-135 was taking off. The left wing tip hit the ground and it spun left towards a hanger. My room mate was near that hanger and his jacket was scorched black on the back.There was another kc-135 in it's path and men actually pushed that airplane out of the way before the crash into the hanger. They could not duplicate the feat later. I transferred later to Ellsworth AFB where we then lost a Kc-135 on a flight to Spokane. I was supposed to be on that flight and my first Sgt actually called my home to tell my wife that I was dead. I answered the phone. I hadn't got up in time to make the flight. I am now 70 and still love flying,,,,,,Larry

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## vikingBerserker (Jul 7, 2011)

Very cool Larry, and I appreiciate you adding to the topic. I'm really amazed at the number of people here who were there, and Welcome Aboard!


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## Aaron Brooks Wolters (Jul 7, 2011)

Wow! Welcome aboard Larry and thank you for your service sir.


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## Sam Hepford (Feb 10, 2012)

Sweb said:


> Similar experience. B-47 crashes on base at Pease AFB, 1960-1963, 100th Bomb Wing. We lived at 31 Birch Drive in base housing. On two occasions there were terrible explosions and the night sky lit up. On both occasions my Pop was due home from what they called Reflex Missions to Brize Norton AB, England. They were sent out and came home in a Vee formation of three aircraft. Both times my Mom shot to the phone and called base operations to see who crashed. My Pop wasn't one of them but she would begin to cry because she learned which of her friends lost their husbands. We, as kids (I was 8 years old) learned which of our friends lost their Pops and knew they would move away. My Mom absolutely hated the military never saying one kind word about it. That early jet age killed many of her friend's husbands due to accidents and she lived in constant fear of my Pop being one of the statistics. Twenty years of living in fear like that are seldom chronicled in military journals. Military wives and families are different kinds of veterans, but veterans nonetheless.
> 
> There were subsequent investigations of the above crashes, which I learned the results of years later from my Pop, with the key findings that, 1) Fast jet bombers required the skills of fighter pilots with regard to reaction times and keeping their heads out in front of the (high speed) airplanes. Transitioning reciprocating engine pilots should be transitioned in T-33s before moving to the new bombers and, 2) At the time pilots were ordered to follow the commands of tower controllers who were not trained in the controller procedures for that particular high performance jet bomber, their higher approach speeds and slower power (turbine spool up times) recovery for aborting. A controller directed one aircraft onto the "runway" on one fogged-in night. The "runway" was, in reality, the base golf course. IOW, it crashed short of the runway killing all 3 crew members. The investigation determined that due to the conditions of that night the pilot could not have recovered.
> 
> I remember seeing the burned out wreckage of one in the base golf course the morning after.



Our family lived at 173 White Birch Drive then. We moved off base the summer of 1963. I remember the crash mentioned above. It must have been in late May or June of that year because it was the on the first night in our new rental. I rember the golf course fareways were burned out about 200 yards from the club house.

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## ToquiQuito (Apr 4, 2012)

I believe my parents drove onto this base the day after it happenned. We had some old 8 mm color movies of this. I remember seeing about a third of the hanger caved in.


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## derdeter (Jun 3, 2013)

My brother's father (My Mom's first husband) was one of the pilots of the plane I believe (James J. Muller). This story had been told to over the years but I never saw pictures or articles. Even though he was not my father, this accident affected my life in many ways. Can you confirm for me that he indeed was one of the pilots? My Mom has passed, and I do not have any other way to confirm. Many thanks.

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## vikingBerserker (Jun 3, 2013)

Hello and welcome aboard. I searched and could not come across any names associated with this accident. The best bet might be to order an Aircraft Accident report from the USAF. The plane's registration number was: 56-3628.

GOOD LUCK!


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## Richard G. Pappa (Apr 10, 2014)

derdeter said:


> My brother's father (My Mom's first husband) was one of the pilots of the plane I believe (James J. Muller). This story had been told to over the years but I never saw pictures or articles. Even though he was not my father, this accident affected my life in many ways. Can you confirm for me that he indeed was one of the pilots? My Mom has passed, and I do not have any other way to confirm. Many thanks.



In response to your article about the KC135 accident at Roswell. 
I have a newspaper article about the crash from the Niagara Falls Gazette, dated Feb. 4, 1960 about the crash. !st Lt. James J. Muller from Woodbury, N.J. was killed in that crash along with four other crew members and a hanger Airman. If interested I can mail you the entire article or post it here later. I served 40 months at Roswell and saw another KC-97 blow up just after takeoff in 1956, 11 men were killed in that explosion. Dick Pappa

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## vikingBerserker (Apr 10, 2014)

Welcome aboard Dick, and a  for your service.

That would be great if you could post that article, thank you for your post!


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## Aaron Brooks Wolters (Apr 10, 2014)

Welcome the the forum Mr. Pappa. And thank you sir for your service.


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## Richard G. Pappa (Apr 11, 2014)

NEWSPAPER ARTICLE: Niagara Falls Gazette, Thursday Feb. 4, 1960

Jet Crashes On Takeoff; Six Killed
Roswell, N.M.
A fuel-laden jet tanker plane spun out of control on takeoff from Walker Air Force Base Wednesday. It crashed into two sister ships, some parked cars and a hangar, killing six men.
Two other men were missing. The Air Force planned to sift the ashes of the hanger today in another search for bodies.
Five of the dead were aboard the four engine KC135. They were S. Sgt. George W. Short, Bell gardens, Calif.; 1st Lt. James J. Muller, Woodbury, N.J.; Maj. James F. Kelleher, Geneva, N.Y.; Maj. James W. McCormick, Homer City, Pa.; and Maj. William L. Burke, 40, of Flint Mich., the instructor pilot.
Identities of the sixth dead man, and the two missing men were withheld until next of kin are notified. Flames which engulfed the three 41/2 million dollar tankers was fed by tons of jet fuel, triggered by exploding magnesium flares.
The tower officer at Walker, Capt. Forrest Demays, said the four engine jet was half way down the runway on what seemed to be a normal takeoff. Then he said:
"The plane veered to the left side of the runway with the left wing striking the ground. The pilot apparently regained control for an instant, but then the aircraft continued a ground roll in the direction of the parked KC135s."

ANOTHER ARTICLE IN PART: Other casualties of crash.
T. Sgt. Robert E. McCallister of Columbia, Mo., a crew chief, was killed while sitting in his parked car. Seriously injured was T. Sgt. Carlton Price who was blown from a hanger and burned over 50 per cent of his body. Two men were reported missing. They are identified as Airman First Class Raymond W. Brooks, Temple, Tex., and Airman Second Class Harold F. Strong, Stuart, Iowa.

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## goduke (Feb 2, 2015)

vikingBerserker said:


> My dad spent 33 years in the USAF and was stationed at Walker AFB near Roswell NM in 1960. He was working Crash and Rescue on the Flight Line while a Pilot In Training was taking off on a training mission flying a fully loaded KC-135A Tanker with 31k gallons of aviation fuel. The official story:
> 
> "The 6th Air Refueling Squadron, flying early-model KC-135A aircraft, was assigned to Walker AFB from 3 January 1958. On 3 February 1960, a "short-tail" (non-hydraulic-power-assisted rudder) KC-135A crashed during takeoff in strong and gusty crosswinds. The pilot failed to maintain directional control, rotated the aircraft 5-10 knots too early and the aircraft settled onto the dirt apron of the runway, shed two engines, plowed through the aircraft parking area and came to rest in an aircraft hangar. This single crash resulted in the destruction of three KC-135 aircraft and the deaths of eight military personnel"
> 
> My dad said the Fire Dept of the town of Roswell responded open seeing the smoke as they thought the entire base was on fire. It took both them and the entire Base's Fire Dept to finally put out the fire. There were very little of the planes left. Below are the pics my dad has:



I was stationed at Walker in 1960...what was your Dad's name. I was also in Air Rescue.


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## vikingBerserker (Feb 2, 2015)

PM sent.


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## davparlr (Jul 18, 2015)

I went through pilot training in 1970 and each pilot had a selection of aircraft available depending on his rank in class. The KC-135s and B-52s always went last. Mainly because no one wanted to fly in SAC. The KC-135s had pre-fan engines and were under powered. The C-141, which I flew, had as much thrust on three engines as the KC-135 had on all four and grossed out at same weight. We were also told that if you lost water in a 135 you were dead. Once I was number two on takeoff behind a 135 at Mildenhall, uk., and I was surprised to see the 135 turn to go into the overrun, turn around at the end and take off. I couldn't tell for sure but it certainly looked like he took off from the other overrun! At that time, all AF pilots were trained in the T-38, a plane with practically no wing and flew final at about 180 mph, so they were quite use to high speed jet performance. The C-141, with it high wing and T-tail was considerably different than the 135, but I do remember that the C-141 was a bear to land in a gusting cross wind and you had to fight it all the way.

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## hook026 (Aug 30, 2015)

where are the pictures??


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## vikingBerserker (Sep 3, 2015)

hook026 said:


> where are the pictures??



They start on the very 1st post., welcome aboard!


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## Airframes (Sep 5, 2015)

I don't know how I missed this David !
That was one heck of an incident, and I can only think it must have been a very difficult, and terrifying, job for the Fire and Rescue crews, although from experience, I realise the 'terror' would have been later, as post-action reaction set in.
I used to do duty as volunteer Fire and Rescue crew at my local aero club - a small, but busy grass airfield, with four grass runways - and have been involved in a few incidents, a couple of which were fatal. 
The worst, and most terrifying thing that can happen, is a 'running fuel fire', like the Roswell incident, which can quickly surround the Fire Crew, regardless of how well-trained they are, and how many precautions are taken, and drills followed.
Although I was once nearly 'toasted' due to fuel under pressure actually spraying over me, followed by a ball of flame igniting the vapour (rapidly 'knocked' by a fellow crew member, thankfully !!), I haven't had to experience a true 'running fuel' fire - thank Heavens!
The sheer size of the Roswell fire, not to mention the hazards of the wrecked aircraft, buildings and vehicles, would have made this an enormous task for the crews concerned, and it's evident they did a fantastic job in containing, and defeating the fire.

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## vikingBerserker (Sep 6, 2015)

Wow Terry!


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## basketcasemama (Jul 2, 2016)

derdeter said:


> My brother's father (My Mom's first husband) was one of the pilots of the plane I believe (James J. Muller). This story had been told to over the years but I never saw pictures or articles. Even though he was not my father, this accident affected my life in many ways. Can you confirm for me that he indeed was one of the pilots? My Mom has passed, and I do not have any other way to confirm. Many thanks.




I am related to James J Muller - his father and my grandfather were brothers. My aunt and mother remember when their cousin Jimmy died and family story is very different from the "official" military version and most likely truer. The official story my family was told is that there were terrible cross winds and several planes awaiting take off. Jim radioed saying that the winds were problematic and that he requested permission to delay take off due to the weather. He was ordered to take off and the wind shear rolled the plane sideways on takeoff and the plane crashed. He left behind a wife and two children. Was your mom Helen? When did she pass away? I saw her at my grandmother's funeral several years ago, I didn't realize she had died. I'm sorry to hear it. Your half brothers and mom lived in Greenfields many years ago and so did my family and there was another family near them that were also cousins of some sort. I'm a genealogy nut which is what led me here today. I actually was at Jim's gravesite just yesterday with my Aunt doing research - he is buried at the New St. Mary's Cemetery in Bellmawr.

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## basketcasemama (Jul 2, 2016)

golson33 said:


> VB - I too was there as a J-57 Jet Engine mechanic. At the time of the crash I was in a base classroom taking the exams for Aviation Cadet and OCS entry. Yes, the winds on that clear day were gusting to almost 40 knots. When I heard the boom from the JP4 cooking off, i ran outside and looked toward the departure runway. Those KC135's left a lot of black smoke at max power, and I could tell fro teh position of th esmoke above the building tops that teh aircraft had tried to come off too early and stalled. First on the number 4 engine, knocking it off its' mounts, which caused the aircraft to roll left and headed directly for the maintenance hanger where there were approximately 50 of my mates working on engine rebuilds. The aircraft careened and caught the number 1 engine on the ground, broke free and jetted toward one of our mechanics on a tug. When he saw the engine coming at him, he jumped from the tug just in time - the engine hit the tug and exploded. At that same moment the aircraft recovered enough to vere starboard and as it plowed into three other completely loaded KC135's on the Ramp, exploding them as well, the aircraft rammed into the hangr next door (The first picture of your fathers that shows the burning hanger). An ocean wave of burning fuel consumed everything on the ramp (yes there were some individuals in cars on the ramp that died from the burning fuel) the three KC135's, cars, and the hanger where it came to rest. BTW there was a parachute training class of some 15 - 25 men being conducted upstairs. They too perished. Besides the eight flight crew, there were closer to 40 who died that day. The next day I saw where the Major, a navigator had died on the ramp outside our hanger (his major insignia had melted on the ground from his flight suit). Such a terrible disaster. Yes -- I did pass my exams and became an Officer, and a Flight Navigator during my 12 year history with the USAF. Regards, Gary





Gary - That is much closer to the information I heard from family members. We were related to the pilot and were told more than 50 people died in that crash. Also, the AF very much indicated that the pilot indicated he felt the winds were to dangerous for take off and he was ordered by the tower to take off due to the 3 loaded planes waiting behind him to take off as well. Whether out of kindness to the family or fact, they made it clear it was not pilot error as they indicated later in "official" reports. I find the "official" record varying so much from the actual information of family members at the time really disconcerting - not surprising but upsetting for the others who perished and were disregarded and for the family of those who tried to do the right thing and were blamed in the end for being incompetent when in fact that was not at all the case. Thanks for sharing. - Debbi


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## cynthia muller (Aug 10, 2016)

basketcasemama said:


> I am related to James J Muller - his father and my grandfather were brothers. My aunt and mother remember when their cousin Jimmy died and family story is very different from the "official" military version and most likely truer. The official story my family was told is that there were terrible cross winds and several planes awaiting take off. Jim radioed saying that the winds were problematic and that he requested permission to delay take off due to the weather. He was ordered to take off and the wind shear rolled the plane sideways on takeoff and the plane crashed. He left behind a wife and two children. Was your mom Helen? When did she pass away? I saw her at my grandmother's funeral several years ago, I didn't realize she had died. I'm sorry to hear it. Your half brothers and mom lived in Greenfields many years ago and so did my family and there was another family near them that were also cousins of some sort. I'm a genealogy nut which is what led me here today. I actually was at Jim's gravesite just yesterday with my Aunt doing research - he is buried at the New St. Mary's Cemetery in Bellmawr.


 James J muller is my grandfather. His oldest son James J Muller Jr. Is my father. He passed away about 12 years ago from a heart attack. I am in search to find out any info I can about my family.


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## basketcasemama (Aug 14, 2016)

cynthia muller said:


> James J muller is my grandfather. His oldest son James J Muller Jr. Is my father. He passed away about 12 years ago from a heart attack. I am in search to find out any info I can about my family.



Cynthia - I have a great deal of genealogy done on our family. You can check it out on familysearch.org It is a work in process but I'd love to hear more about your dad and family too. I'm Amber's Daughter. Reds was my grandfather. I'm on Facebook. debbisilverman7. If you friend me I'll message you and we can chat more.


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## GENO MARASCIO (Nov 1, 2016)

goduke said:


> I was stationed at Walker in 1960...what was your Dad's name. I was also in Air Rescue.


 i was in crash rescue and fought that fire what was your fathers name mine is geno marascio


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## Clyde Tuttle (Nov 20, 2016)

vikingBerserker said:


> My dad spent 33 years in the USAF and was stationed at Walker AFB near Roswell NM in 1960. He was working Crash and Rescue on the Flight Line while a Pilot In Training was taking off on a training mission flying a fully loaded KC-135A Tanker with 31k gallons of aviation fuel. The official story:
> 
> "The 6th Air Refueling Squadron, flying early-model KC-135A aircraft, was assigned to Walker AFB from 3 January 1958. On 3 February 1960, a "short-tail" (non-hydraulic-power-assisted rudder) KC-135A crashed during takeoff in strong and gusty crosswinds. The pilot failed to maintain directional control, rotated the aircraft 5-10 knots too early and the aircraft settled onto the dirt apron of the runway, shed two engines, plowed through the aircraft parking area and came to rest in an aircraft hangar. This single crash resulted in the destruction of three KC-135 aircraft and the deaths of eight military personnel"
> 
> My dad said the Fire Dept of the town of Roswell responded open seeing the smoke as they thought the entire base was on fire. It took both them and the entire Base's Fire Dept to finally put out the fire. There were very little of the planes left. Below are the pics my dad has:





Sweb said:


> Similar experience. B-47 crashes on base at Pease AFB, 1960-1963, 100th Bomb Wing. We lived at 31 Birch Drive in base housing. On two occasions there were terrible explosions and the night sky lit up. On both occasions my Pop was due home from what they called Reflex Missions to Brize Norton AB, England. They were sent out and came home in a Vee formation of three aircraft. Both times my Mom shot to the phone and called base operations to see who crashed. My Pop wasn't one of them but she would begin to cry because she learned which of her friends lost their husbands. We, as kids (I was 8 years old) learned which of our friends lost their Pops and knew they would move away. My Mom absolutely hated the military never saying one kind word about it. That early jet age killed many of her friend's husbands due to accidents and she lived in constant fear of my Pop being one of the statistics. Twenty years of living in fear like that are seldom chronicled in military journals. Military wives and families are different kinds of veterans, but veterans nonetheless.
> 
> There were subsequent investigations of the above crashes, which I learned the results of years later from my Pop, with the key findings that, 1) Fast jet bombers required the skills of fighter pilots with regard to reaction times and keeping their heads out in front of the (high speed) airplanes. Transitioning reciprocating engine pilots should be transitioned in T-33s before moving to the new bombers and, 2) At the time pilots were ordered to follow the commands of tower controllers who were not trained in the controller procedures for that particular high performance jet bomber, their higher approach speeds and slower power (turbine spool up times) recovery for aborting. A controller directed one aircraft onto the "runway" on one fogged-in night. The "runway" was, in reality, the base golf course. IOW, it crashed short of the runway killing all 3 crew members. The investigation determined that due to the conditions of that night the pilot could not have recovered.
> 
> I remember seeing the burned out wreckage of one in the base golf course the morning after.


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## Robt (Jan 13, 2019)

Sweb said:


> Similar experience. B-47 crashes on base at Pease AFB, 1960-1963, 100th Bomb Wing. We lived at 31 Birch Drive in base housing. On two occasions there were terrible explosions and the night sky lit up. On both occasions my Pop was due home from what they called Reflex Missions to Brize Norton AB, England. They were sent out and came home in a Vee formation of three aircraft. Both times my Mom shot to the phone and called base operations to see who crashed. My Pop wasn't one of them but she would begin to cry because she learned which of her friends lost their husbands. We, as kids (I was 8 years old) learned which of our friends lost their Pops and knew they would move away. My Mom absolutely hated the military never saying one kind word about it. That early jet age killed many of her friend's husbands due to accidents and she lived in constant fear of my Pop being one of the statistics. Twenty years of living in fear like that are seldom chronicled in military journals. Military wives and families are different kinds of veterans, but veterans nonetheless.
> 
> There were subsequent investigations of the above crashes, which I learned the results of years later from my Pop, with the key findings that, 1) Fast jet bombers required the skills of fighter pilots with regard to reaction times and keeping their heads out in front of the (high speed) airplanes. Transitioning reciprocating engine pilots should be transitioned in T-33s before moving to the new bombers and, 2) At the time pilots were ordered to follow the commands of tower controllers who were not trained in the controller procedures for that particular high performance jet bomber, their higher approach speeds and slower power (turbine spool up times) recovery for aborting. A controller directed one aircraft onto the "runway" on one fogged-in night. The "runway" was, in reality, the base golf course. IOW, it crashed short of the runway killing all 3 crew members. The investigation determined that due to the conditions of that night the pilot could not have recovered.
> 
> I remember seeing the burned out wreckage of one in the base golf course the morning after.



Military wives and families are different kinds of verterans... My dad was a 509th pilot from'47 to '58, recalled to the Air Force in 1947 to Walker. B-29's, B-50's, then transitioned to B-47's. We lived on Pontiac, Lea and Missouri in Roswell, then 177 White Birch at Pease. Although my asthma and eyesight kept me out of the military I remember it all, and I miss it. But for wives it must have been Hell. If dependents can have PTSD, I've got it. The number of crashes was brutal. Pop was flying one night when he said the whole sky lit up - an F-86 had crashed and lit up the horizon. Another night on reflex leaving for Great Britain the sky lit up again and he looked down to see a B-47 skidding across the desert on fire. He said he nearly threw up in his mask. The CP had retracted the flaps prematurely and hit a telephone pole, which actually saved the crew, since it ripped the main fuselage tank out of the aircraft. When the plane stopped the crew jumped out. The navigator had forgotten to unhook his mask and was hanging from outside the aircraft until he got it loose. The year before we moved to Pease a B-47 crashed at the end of the runway at Pease killing the crew. Pop tells me the investigators found the pilot had not turned on the forward boost pump for takeoff. At a high gross weight only the aft boost pump was used in order to shift the C.G. forward. The crash crew asked my dad if there were animals on board... "no, he said." They said they could hear barking coming from the aircraft. It was the crew, who had survived the crash. My dad never forgot it and now I don't, since he related these things to me... Dad had to escort the bodies from the Black Mountain crash in Arizona. He had to take shoes with him so they could be used to identify the bodies. Sometimes all they could find was feet. The Black Mountain crash killed 2 KC-97 crews and I think 3 B-47 crews, including my dad's best friend. The mission was to "slow fly" a new low-level B-47 training route across NM and Arizona but the weather was worsening and evidently the crews did not want to have to repeat the long mission. In trying to stay under the weather the aircraft ran into the mountain. That's the story my pop told me. In February 1965 we were at Schilling when the KC-135 crashed in Wichita. We drove down the next day and I can still remember the smell. JP-4 everywhere, and a huge crater with a crane pulling aluminum out of the hole. We had to walk across a vacant lot to the crash and followed the trail of jet fuel that was being dumped while the pilot tried to get back to McConnell. There were rumors the jet engine had injested a parachute off the runway but pop told me the aircraft had been at Boeing for a rudder modification. It most likely was a "rudder jam" case. Then at Carswell the year I started college a KC-135 crashed when the student pilot stalled the aircraft. My mom and I saw that aircraft on the runway, burned out. The crew were all found at the door. Aircraft can be unforgiving. I seem to remember all these things. They don't seem to leave you.

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## Gordon Scott (Jul 9, 2020)

I have no connection to this accident other than I was born 90 miles northeast of it, eight months later. But I had done some reading on Walker AFB, especially on the Atlas missile deployments there in the early 1960s. Walker was home to the -F model of the Atlas. This differed from earlier models in that the -F was stored upright in the silo instead of lying on its side. This meant that the missile could be fueled underground, and then raised on an elevator to the surface for launching. 

The Atlas was a fussy missile, with very very thin fuel tank skins (to save weight). If I remember right, they were kept pressurized with an inert gas, as the weight of the payload above could crush the missile if the tank were not rigid. Modern missiles are solid fueled, eliminating the need to fuel the booster before flight (the Titan II used liquid fuels but was stored fueled).

What is amazing to me is that the Army Corps of Engineers put out bids to build the 12 silos, and bids were opened a month later. 18 months after that, the silos were finished. Imagine trying to do that today, with that kind of speed! The Air Force started bringing in the missiles in early 1962. It didn't take long for that fussiness to show up; in mid 1963 a fueling mishap caused one of the missiles to blow up in the silo. In 1964 two more blew up the same way within a month. Fortunately, none had a warhead. But there are stories of the crews running for their lives before the silo erupted, and one airman was injured when he ran into a barbed wire fence.

The missiles were removed in 1965, and Walker closed a year later. Growing up near it in the 1960s I remember driving past one or two of the abandoned silos on US-70, and the former air base being used to test the Boeing 747, as Walker's runway is very wide, and very long. But I am always surprised how dangerous life in the Air Force was in the 1960s, compared to what I remember serving in the 1980s.

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