1952 — Dec 20, USAF Globemaster takeoff crash (wing hit ground), Larson AFB, WA– 87

— 87 Aviation Safety Network. Accident Description. USAF Globemaster II, Dec 20, 1952.
— 87 Gero. Military Aviation Disasters: Significant Losses Since 1908. 1999, 56.
— 87 Wikipedia. “List of Accidents and Incidents Involving Military Aircraft (1950-1974).

Narrative Information

Aviation Safety Network: “The Douglas Globemaster was operating as part of Operation Sleighride, an airlift to bring home Korean War veterans and enlisted men from Northwest bases. On departure from Larson AFB (LRN), the left wing struck the ground. The plane cartwheeled, broke up and caught fire. It was concluded that the elevator and rudder gust locks had not been disengaged before departure.” This was the deadliest aviation disaster in U.S. history at the time. (ASN, USAF Globemaster II, Dec 20, 1952)

Gero: “Operated by the Tactical Air Command (TAC) and on a joint operation to carry personnel on Christmas leave to US air bases in Texas, Tennessee, South Carolina and Florida, and to pick up a helicopter and aircraft parts, the four-engine trans¬port crashed and burned at Larson Air Force Base about a minute after it had taken off. Killed in the disaster were 87 of the 115 American servicemen aboard; among the survivors, which included five members of the aircraft’s crew of 10, all but six suffered injuries. The crash occurred in pre-dawn darkness and as a light snow was falling. The sky was overcast, with an indefinite ceiling of 500ft (150m) and a visibility of 2 miles (3km), and the wind blowing out of the north at 13 knots. It was determined that the aircraft’s rudder and elevator gust locks, designed to keep these control surfaces fixed in windy conditions while on the ground, had not been disengaged by the crew prior to take-off (the activating handle only having been advanced enough to release the throttle and aileron locks). This would have prevented free movement of the flight controls and this the transport from gaining height after becoming airborne, accounting for the fact that it never got higher than approximately 100ft (30m) above the ground. Following the accident, a directive was sent out to all US Air Force commands flying the C-124 emphasizing strict compliance with the existing requirement that pilots take steps to assure free movement of the control surfaces before taking off.” (Gero 1999, 56)

Wikipedia: “20 December – A United States Air Force Douglas C-124A Globemaster II, 50-100, crashed on takeoff from Larson AFB, Moses Lake, Washington, United States. 115 on board (105 Passengers, 10 Crew); 87 killed (82 Passengers, 5 Crew). This was the highest confirmed death toll of any disaster in aviation history at the time.” (Wikipedia. “List of Accidents and Incidents Involving Military Aircraft (1950-1974).)

Newspapers

Dec 20, UP: “Moses Lake, Wash. (UP) – A C-124 Globemaster carrying 131 persons, most of them troops on Christmas furlough, crashed and burned on takeoff in a snowstorm today and the air force said that 102 persons were killed. It was the worst air disaster in world aviation history. The air force at near-by Larson Air Force base said there were 29 survivors…. The plane ‘fluttered like a wounded eagle’ and crashed two and one-half miles off the end of the Larson runway. It plowed into a level stretch of snow-covered sagebrush in the Columbia basin desert…. The crash occurred shortly after 6:30 a.m.” (San Mateo Times, CA, “102 Die in Plane Crash – Big Transport Takes Holiday Group to Death,” December 20, 1952.)

Dec 22, AP: “Moses Lake, Wash., Dec. 22 (AP) – A military investigation of history’s worst airplane crash was under way today as demands rose for a civilian probe of the accident that claimed 86 lives here early Saturday. Civilian officials in and out of the government called for investigations and action to reduce the number of military plane crashes.

“Saturday’s crash, which killed all but 30 of the men aboard the U.S. military’s biggest airplane, was the 10th in a recent series which has snuffed out more than 300 lives. Calls began immediately for grounding of military aircraft while safety precautions and place checks are taken.

“At Larson Air Force Base, starting point of the flight, the grim and tedious job of identifying the dead continued. The process was slow because many of the victims were mangled and burned beyond recognition.” (Fitchburg Sentinel, MA, “Army Opens Probe of Plane Crash That Cost 86 Lives,” December 22, 1952, p. 1)

Sources

Aviation Safety Network. Accident Description. United States Air Force, Globemaster II, Dec 20, 1952. Accessed 12/20/2008 at: http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19521220-0

Fitchburg Sentinel, MA. “Army Opens Probe of Plane Crash That Cost 86 Lives,” December 22, 1952. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/freepdfviewer.aspx?img=39472152

Gero, David. Military Aviation Disasters: Significant Losses Since 1908. UK and Newbury Park, CA: Patrick Stephens Limited, an imprint of Hayes Publishing, 1999.

San Mateo Times, CA. “102 Die in Plane Crash – Big Transport Takes Holiday Group to Death,” 12-20-1952. At: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=47404797

Wikipedia. “List of Accidents and Incidents Involving Military Aircraft (1950-1974). 10-16-2009 at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_accidents_and_incidents_involving_military_aircraft,_1950-1974