B-52 crash Loring AFB, Maine early 60's
Frank from Deeetroit
assigned as an x-ray technician, 42nd. Bomb Wing, 811th. Medical Group .
He recalls a B-52 crashing on take-off and the flight crew perished in the
crash. He was part of the team who x-rayed the crew for the post crash
investigation and to identify the bodies. We checked Google for information
on this incident without finding any information.
Does anyone have information on this crash and possibly the cause of the
crash? The closest B-52 crash, in this area, was a flight that lost it's
tail and crashed on Eagle Mountain in 1963. This is not the crash my friend
describes.
My friend was assigned to Loring AFB from February 1961 to June 1964. He
believes the crash took place in 1963.
One last detail, during the autopsies, one of the pilots sholder holstered
pistol discharged in the crash inflicting a head wound. Discharge was
determined to have been caused by the heat of the fire, post crash.
Thanx for your time.
Frank
TJ
wrote:
Have you tried looking through Joe Baugher's website?
http://www.csd.uwo.ca/Elevon/baugher_us/b052i.html
A search through the serials might turn up something?
http://home.att.net/~jbaugher/
TJ
TJ
Possibly the accident is listed here? You might be able to narrow down
the date of the actual event?
http://www.ejection-history.org.uk/Aircraft_by_Type/b52_stratofortress.htm
From
http://www.ejection-history.org.uk/
TJ
Frank from Deeetroit
"TJ" <yru...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:afe95ca5-a911-4e13...@q78g2000hsh.googlegroups.com...
http://www.ejection-history.org.uk/Aircraft_by_Type/b52_stratofortress.htm
From
http://www.ejection-history.org.uk/
TJ
Thanx for the links, but neither link documents the crash.
Keith Willshaw
"Frank from Deeetroit" <dadur...@voyager.net> wrote in message
news:aPOdnWjR46kRoE7a...@comcast.com...
The time line is a little odd. There's a list of B-52 losses at
http://www.ejection-history.org.uk/Aircraft_by_Type/b52_stratofortress.htm
The closest match is the loss of a B-52D to fire at Loring AFB in 1958
Keith
Allan9
USAF B-52D 55-0082 42 BW Crashed ten miles from Loring AFB, Me
"Keith Willshaw" <keith...@demon.co.uk> wrote in message
news:fr1bnn$2eu$1$8300...@news.demon.co.uk...
George Z. Bush
Is it possible that this dry hole is because a Loring-based B-52 crashed on
takeoff from some other base at about that time? It's a long time
ago....people do forget details.
George Z.
John Szalay
Checked several databases, the only crashes I could find at Loring
at or near that time period.. no B-52s but ,, till looking..
the
04JAN1965 61-0265 Boeing KC-135 Loring AFB 4
0265 (c/n 18172) engines 3 and 4 sheared off in turbulence and aircraft
crashed on takeoff Jan 4, 1965, Loring AFB. 4 killed.
09MAY1962 56-3618 Boeing KC-135 Loring AFB 6
3618 suffered engine failure and crashed May 9, 1962 during heavy-weight
takeoff at Loring AFB, ME. All 6 onboard killed.
Peter Stickney
Good catch, John - I was going to suggest that it might have
been a KC-135 - the Loring folks had very bad luck with them,
but I haven't been able to dig my KC-135 references out, yet as
we unpack from the move.
--
Pete Stickney
Without data, all you have is an opinion
Frank from Deeetroit
"John Szalay" <john....@pullmyfinger.att.net> wrote in message
news:Xns9A5CA60F386BF...@216.196.97.142...
I believe the May 1962 crash you described is the crash my friend was
talking about. Is there any further information on the crash other than
engine failure?
Thanx for everyone's efforts.
Frank
John Szalay
http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19620509-0
Using the serial number of this aircraft was able to find this:
56-3618 KC-135A, 42nd BW, 42nd AREFS, Loring AFB, ME, 9th May 1962,
Loring AFB, ME.
The No 2 engine failed after abort speed during a heavyweight, water
injected take-off. The aircraft yawed to the left and became airborne
but continued to lose airspeed. The 25 second flight ended when the
airplane's left wing struck the ground 1,500ft (457m) from the end of
the runway, and the airplane skidded to a stop and was destoryed. The
crew of four and two passengers were killed.
There is a Whole thread on this crash: keep going on down the page
(thread from 2002)
TJ
wrote:
> "John Szalay" <john.sza...@pullmyfinger.att.net> wrote in message
>
> news:Xns9A5CA60F386BF...@216.196.97.142...
>
>
>
>
>
> > "Frank from Deeetroit" <dadurwe...@voyager.net> wrote in
>
> - Show quoted text -
A search on the serial resulted in
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Loring_AFB/message/991
'There was one in 1962:
56-3618 KC-135A, 42nd BW, 42nd AREFS, Loring AFB, ME, 9th May 1962,
Loring AFB, ME.
The No 2 engine failed after abort speed during a heavyweight, water
injected take-off. The aircraft yawed to the left and became airborne
but continued to lose airspeed. The 25 second flight ended when the
airplane's left wing struck the ground 1,500ft (457m) from the end of
the runway, and the airplane skidded to a stop and was destoryed. The
crew of four and two passengers were killed.'
TJ
TJ
wrote:
> "Frank from Deeetroit" <dadurwe...@voyager.net> wrote innews:a_mdne6YP62B3kja...@comcast.com:
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > "John Szalay" <john.sza...@pullmyfinger.att.net> wrote in message
> >news:Xns9A5CA60F386BF...@216.196.97.142...
> >> "Frank from Deeetroit" <dadurwe...@voyager.net> wrote in
>
> - Show quoted text -
Snap John!
TJ
John Szalay
>>
>> 56-3618 KC-135A, 42nd BW, 42nd AREFS, Loring AFB, ME, 9th May 1962,
>> Loring AFB, ME.
>>
>
> TJ
What is a little wierd, the Loring firefighters page does not have
anything on this crash at all.
pete...@yahoo.com
crashed at or near Loring. ALl but one of these incidents resulted in
fatalities. You would have to narrow the year down a little better.
There is a chronological list of all Maine military aircraft accidents
on my web site at mewreckchasers.com
Frank from Deeetroit
<pete...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:f71658ad-0fc2-4f82...@p25g2000hsf.googlegroups.com...
From either the Aroostook Republican or the Limelite newspaper dated May 10,
1962;
"Investigation into an on-base crash that took the lives of six men of
the United States Air Force continued this morning at Loring, a day after a
great KC-135 jet stratortanker was blasted to bits on takeoff.
The four-engined tanker with four crewman and two maintenance personnel
aboard, is believed to have been airborne before it nosed down and cut a
wide swath through woods about 1,500 feet north of the flight line,
exploding and burning its way to destruction.
There was no crater, but pieces of the aircraft were strewn over a wide
area of the countryside as the $3.6 million aircraft came apart. All bodies
were recovered and identified.
The 42nd Air Refueling Squadron plane, with a reported 31, 000 gallons
of jet fuel in its tanks sped down the runway at 1:20am but never got off
base. Fires continued to burn in the forest grave many hours after the
crash.
It was the first major aircraft accident at Loring since November 1960,
when a KC-135 destroyed itself while landing, one man dying in the mishap.
All of the men who died in the crackup were married. The fatalities
left 10 children without fathers.
The dead and their survivors: crew members -
Capt. Robert M. Predmesky, 31, Detroit, aircraft commander, wife
and daughter; Capt. James S. Tewart, 30, Hamilton Ontario, co-pilot, wife,
son and daughter; Capt. Ronald Lee Cantrel, 29, Kewanee, Ill., navigator,
wife and daughter; S-Sgt. Wallace R Adams, 27, Benson, N.C., boom operator,
wife and daughter.
42nd. Organizational Maintenance Squadron personnel M-Sgt. George T.
Edmiston, 33, Golden Ridge, N.Y., wife and five children; T-Sgt. Raymond J.
Brugione, Granger, Iowa, wife.
The early morning weather was clear at takeoff time visibility was at 10
miles, the wind at 10 knots and the temperature at the freezing point.
The aircraft ripped through about 200 feet of scrub crossed a dirt road
and continued through 400 feet of evergreen as explosions hurried the
breakup. The assignment the bug jet had been a routine refueling mission."
rhondasu...@gmail.com
rhondasu...@gmail.com
Gernot Hassenpflug
> My dad was Wallace Ray Adams.He was killed in the B52 crash May 9 1962
--
NNTP on Emacs 24.5 from Windows 7
a425couple
My condolences for your loss.
I lost my dad in 1965, and am thinking about it
more recently than I did for many decades.
Good luck.
Did you already find the information you might have
wanted to learn about the crash?
one possible lead:
http://b52stratofortressassociation.yuku.com/topic/16/Loring-B52-crash-1957#.V9LPBDUb3nE
"four off base B-52 crashes in Maine."
glesl...@gmail.com
Peter Stickney
Loring AFB B-52 losses were (all 42nd Bomb Wing)
10 Jan 1957 - B-52D
26 Jun 1958 - B-52D Fire on Ground
29 Jul 1958 - B-52D
17 Sep 1958 - B-52D ('68 was a bad year for Loring)
4 Sep 1969 - B-52G
19 Jul 1970 - B-52G Fire on Ground
Loring also had a number of KC-136 tanker losses - they may be comflated
with B-52s
24 Nov 1958
18 Nov 1960
9 May 1962
4 Jan 1965
24 Sep 1968
25 Mar 1959
4 Oct 1989
Hope this helps
--
Pete Stickney
Always remember to close all parentheses.
We're not paying to air-condition the entire paragraph.
shawn...@gmail.com
Ron Bergkessel
con...@cox.net
Richard Conway
Ed from Plaster Rock,NB
I have scanned the article from The Telegraph Journal and have it in two jpg files. Don't see how to post them but if anyone is interested, let me know.
Ed
Peter Stickney
I'd be interested in seeing it. My reply-to address should work.
Are you still in Plaster Rock? My wife's folks are from Grand Falls.
She was born in Caribou. (Although when I visited Stickney they all
looked at me a bit oddly)
I may be able to provide more information on specific incidents, if you
are interested.
--
Pete Stickney
“A strong conviction that something must be done is the parent of many
bad measures.” ― Daniel Webster
wayt...@gmail.com
> I have a friend who was stationed at Loring AFB, Maine in the early 1960's
> assigned as an x-ray technician, 42nd. Bomb Wing, 811th. Medical Group .
>
> He recalls a B-52 crashing on take-off and the flight crew perished in the
> crash. He was part of the team who x-rayed the crew for the post crash
> investigation and to identify the bodies. We checked Google for information
> on this incident without finding any information.
>
> Does anyone have information on this crash and possibly the cause of the
> crash? The closest B-52 crash, in this area, was a flight that lost it's
> tail and crashed on Eagle Mountain in 1963. This is not the crash my friend
> describes.
>
> My friend was assigned to Loring AFB from February 1961 to June 1964. He
> believes the crash took place in 1963.
>
> One last detail, during the autopsies, one of the pilots sholder holstered
> pistol discharged in the crash inflicting a head wound. Discharge was
> determined to have been caused by the heat of the fire, post crash.
>
> Thanx for your time.
>
> Frank
I was working security near the runway where some B-52's were on alert status when the 135 was revving up the engines just prior to takeoff I pulled my parka hood up and turned my head away because of the noise after the aircraft went down the runway I turned my head back, it was nighttime, and there was an explosion and a huge ball of fire as it was loaded with fuel of course aboard were killed.
It sounds like the accident your friend described but it was a KC-135.
Wayne Thompson
shodg...@gmail.com
My mother recently told me about a B-52 crash from 1969 while we were stationed there. I've googled the incident:
http://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=48302
My mother tells me that this was Roy's regular ship and that the crew, except for the pilot, was his regular crew. Apparently, the plane took off with three inspectors on board from an ORI after a commotion on the runway about its airworthiness.
Obviously, I'm eager to understand how it was that someone else flew the plane that day and my father didn't.
varsity...@gmail.com
My Uncle was Capt Robert Predmesky on the 135 your dad was on.
bkkp...@gmail.com
nrroa...@gmail.com
I am just looking at b52 crash at loring afb. I was 12 yrs old, it flew over our house and my father saw it was on fire and crashed in Four Falls, New Brunswick about 8 miles from our farm. THEY hauled wreckage passed our house for 2 week. That was either 3 or 6 of January, 1956. One crew survived, others were found frozen, but had bailed out. It was really cold. All aircraft flew over our farm down wind for right hand circuit for the north runway. I hope that info will help you.
Norm Roach, Moncton,NB Canada
carolann...@gmail.com
Carol Ann McCormick
