1964 Savage Mountain B-52 crash

1964 Savage Mountain B-52 crash

January 10, 1964: 3 days before the Savage Mountain crash, a New Mexico B-52 test showed the vertical stabilizer could fail.
Crash summary
Date January 13, 1964
Type Structural failure
Site Savage Mountain, Garrett County, near Barton, Maryland)
Crew
  • Pilot: Maj Thomas W. McCormick
  • Co-pilot: Capt Parker C. Peedin
  • Radar bombardier: Maj Robert J. Townley[1]
  • Navigator: Maj Robert Lee Payne
  • Tail gunner: TSgt Melvin F. Wooten
Fatalities Three
Survivors Pilot, copilot
Aircraft type B-52D Stratofortress
Operator 484th Bombardment Wing, Heavy (SAC, United States Air Force)
Tail number 55-060 (B-52D-10-BW c/n 464012,[2]
call sign "Buzz 14")
Flight origin Westover Air Force Base
Destination

Turner Air Force Base

Crash site
Barton, Maryland
Crash site in Maryland

The 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.[4] The two Mark 53 nuclear bombs being ferried[5] were found "relatively intact in the middle of the wreckage",[6] and after Fort Meade's 28th Ordnance Detachment secured them,[7] the bombs were removed two days later to the Cumberland Municipal Airport.[8]

Accident description

The B-52D was returning to Georgia from Massachusetts after an earlier Chrome Dome airborne alert to Europe.[9] Near Meyersdale, Pennsylvania, on a path east of Salisbury, Pennsylvania;[10] and after altitude changes to evade severe turbulence;[6] the vertical stabilizer[9] broke off. The greater part of the wreckage was on the Stonewall Green farm[10] covered by 14 in (36 cm) of snow.[5] The crash site is a private meadow of Elbow Mountain[11] within Savage River State Forest along the public Savage Mountain Trail just north of the Pine Swamp Road crossing[12] and about 1,000 yd (910 m) from[10] the quarry at 1236 Pine Swamp Road.[13]

Crew

As the only crew member who did not eject, the radar bombardier[1] died in the crash and was not located until more than 24 hours afterward.[14] The navigator and tail gunner died of exposure in the snow. The navigator's body was found two days[1] after the accident, six miles (9.7 km) from the crash and three miles (4.8 km) away[15] from where his orange parachute was found near Poplar Lick Run[10]:1 -- he had left his unused survival tent and "meandered" into and out of an open barn as with hypothermia stages 2 & 3.[1] After landing in the "Dye Factory field", the tail gunner trekked in the dark with a broken leg and other injuries[1] over 100 yards (91 m) to the embankment of Casselman River -- in which his legs were frozen when his body was found five days later, 800 yards (732 m) from a Salisbury street light.[10]:2,4

The pilot parachuted into Maryland's Meadow Mountain ridge near the Mason–Dixon Line and, after being driven to the Tomlinson Inn on the National Road,[10]:2 notified the United States Air Force of the crash. The co-pilot landed near New Germany Road and remained "cozy warm" until rescued.[10]:2

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Johnson, Richard Riley (1995). Twenty Five Milk Runs (And a few others): To Hell's Angels and back. Victoria, Canada: Trafford Publishing. pp. 261–2. ISBN 1-4120-2501-X. http://books.google.com/books?id=LNCcrP6ANi8C&pg=PA261. Retrieved 2009-10-30. 
  2. ^ Baugher, Joseph F., "1955 USAF Serial Numbers", Encyclopedia of American Aircraft, http://home.att.net/~jbaugher/1955.html, retrieved 2009-11-08 
  3. ^ "Crew Bails Out As Jet Crashes". Fort Walton Beach, Florida: Playground Daily News, Volume 17, Number 244. 14 January 1964. p. 1.  (United Press International wire)
  4. ^ Sagan, Scott Douglas (1995). The Limits of Safety: Organizations, Accidents, and Nuclear Weapons. Princeton University Press. p. 202 (footnote 125). ISBN 0-691-02101-5. http://books.google.com/books?id=4pV_wbOnphsC&pg=PA202. Retrieved 2009-11-23. 
  5. ^ a b Oskins, Michael H. (2008). Broken Arrow - The Declassified History of U.S. Nuclear Weapons Accidents. p. 195. ISBN 1-4357-0361-8. http://books.google.com/books?id=gi7HARO8vTcC&pg=PA195. 
  6. ^ a b "Narrative Summaries of Accidents Involving U.S. Nuclear Weapons: 1950-1980" (pdf). United States Department of Defense. 200-03-12. http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/reading_room/965.pdf. Retrieved 2009-11-06. 
  7. ^ Dearth, Dan (November 10, 2010). "Soldier secured nukes at B-52 crash in 1964". Hagerstown, Maryland: Herald News. http://www.herald-mail.com/?cmd=displaystory&story_id=256480&format=html. Retrieved 2010-10-19. 
  8. ^ Whetzel, Dan (2002). "A Night to Remember" (pdf). Mountain Discoveries: 48–51. http://www.mountaindiscoveries.com/images/fw2007/b52.pdf. Retrieved 2009-11-02. 
  9. ^ a b "Accident Description". AviationSafetyNetwork.net. http://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=48311. Retrieved 2009-11-16. 
  10. ^ a b c d e f g Wood, David. "B-52 Crash". SalisburyPA.com: Newhouse News Service. pp. 5 pages. http://www.salisburypa.com/buzzonefour.html. Retrieved 2009-11-02.  (article + 5 pages of photos & clippings)
  11. ^ "Crew Bails Out As Jet Crashes". Fort Walton Beach FL: Playground Daily News (UPI). Tuesday Morning, 14 January 1964--Volume 17, Number 244. p. 1. 
  12. ^ Dreisbach, Mike (2009-11-11), visitor information, Savage River Lodge  (The "Savage River State Forest Trail Map" inaccurately names & depicts the "1962 B-52 Crash Site" as 1/6 mile on the incorrect (east) side of Westernport Road & 1/6 mile south of Swamp road.
  13. ^ {citation |last=Garmin 530HCx user |authorlink=Garmin#Two-way Radios |date=2009-11-11 |title=GPS Measurements }}: 1) on top of temporary Savage Mountain Trail signpost at Pine Swamp Road for temporary logging detour (), 2) on top of Payne "tombstone" (which mistakenly claims he "died here", 3) on face of Mountain District American Legion Monument & 4) on Nov 19, 2010, on top center of Wooten monument
  14. ^ "Secrecy Still Shrouds Plane Crash". Utica Observer-Dispatch. Tuesday, January 14, 1964. http://fultonhistory.com/newspaper%202/Utica%20NY%20Daily%20Observer/Utica%20NY%20Observer%201964%20pdf/Utica%20NY%20Observer%201964%20-%200344.PDF. Retrieved 2010-11-26. 
  15. ^ Beitler, Stu (August 6, 2009). "Cumberland, MD (near) Bomber Crash, Jan 1964". http://www3.gendisasters.com/maryland/13479/cumberland-md-near-bomber-crash-jan-1964. Retrieved 2009-11-12. 
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