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

[Aaron Brooks Wolters]

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.

 

[6th Bomb Wing]

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.

 

[vikingBerserker]

Wow, what a way to end the day!

 

[lamacchia]

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..

 

[SULYB]

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.

 

[widollar]

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

 

[widollar]

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

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

 

[Aaron Brooks Wolters]

to your uncle and his family Mr. Dollar.

 

[vikingBerserker]

A-Fricken-Men!

 

[elires]

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!

 

[golson33]

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

 

[vikingBerserker]

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

 

[Les Kaar]

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

 

[Aaron Brooks Wolters]

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

 

[vikingBerserker]

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

 

[syscom3]

Thanks for those pics!

 

[Larry P]

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

 

[vikingBerserker]

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!

 

[Aaron Brooks Wolters]

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

 

[Sam Hepford]

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.