1954 — Aug 27, USAF RB-36 landing approach crash 2M ~Ellsworth AFB, Rapid City, SD–26

— 27 Gero. Military Aviation Disasters: Significant Losses Since 1908. 1999, p. 60.
— 26 Baugher. 1951 USAF Serial Numbers. 11-7-2011 revision.
— 26 Bureau of Aircraft Accident Archives. “Crash of a Convair RB-36H-25-CF Peacemaker…”
— 26 Goleta Air & Space Museum. Convair B-36 Crash Reports and Wreck Sites.
— 26 NFPA. “Large Loss Fires of 1954.” Quarterly of the NFPA, Vol. 48, No. 3, Jan 1955, p308

Narrative Information

Baugher: “Convair RB-36H-25-CF Peacemaker….13722 hit hill near Ellsworth AFB 8/27/54 during practice night approach. 26 killed, 1 survivor.” (Baugher. 1951 USAF Serial Numbers. 11-7-2011 rev.)

Gero: “Having already completed five landing approaches to Ellsworth Air Force Base, using plan-position indicator (aerial mapping) proce¬dures, the strategic reconnaissance bomber, operated by Strategic Air Command, was making a sixth when it crashed and burned about 2 miles (3km) north-north-west of the military installation. All but one of the aircraft’s 27 crewmen lost their lives, including two who succumbed within five days of the accident; the survivor was seriously injured. Configured with its undercarriage retracted and flaps set at 20 degrees, the RB-36 was on a south- south-easterly heading towards Runway 12 when it slammed into the ground some 9,000ft (2,700m) from its threshold and approximately 200ft (60m) to the right of its extended centerline. The impact point was on a bluff around 150ft (50m) above airfield elevation. It was dark at the time, although the weather conditions were good, with the sky cloudless and a visibility of 15 miles (25km). The wind was out of the south at 6 knots. No informa¬tion regarding the possible cause of the accident was disclosed by Air Force authorities.” (Gero 1999, 60.)

Goleta Air & Space Museum: “RB-36H, 51-13722 landed short of runway 12 at Ellsworth AFB on August 27, 1954.

“Synopsis of Air Force Accident Report…

“Aircraft Commander Lt Col Wray Cotterill, Pilot 1st Lt Roger Bumps, Co-pilot Captain Neal Williams and a crew of twenty-four took off in RB-36H, 51-13722 of the 77th Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron of the 28th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing from Ellsworth AFB at 4:15 in the morning on August 27, 1954. The crew had just returned from a thirty day leave. Captain Williams had finished a 20-hour mission just 32 hours earlier.

“Their flight took them to Kansas City, Missouri; Little Rock, Arkansas; Dallas, Texas; and back to Little Rock for radar bombing practice. They flew to Kansas City again and then returned to Ellsworth AFB after flying 3,594 air miles.

“At 9:00 in the evening the pilots began to practice Planned Position Indicator Ground Control Approaches (GCA PPI) using Air Surveillance Radar. They entered the pattern for Runway 12. GCA PPI was not as precise as GCA precision approach. The minimum altitude for GCA approach was 3,864 feet.

“The approaches were flown at 145 miles per hour. The landing gear remained retracted. The flaps were lowered to 20 degrees and the landing lights were extended. The night was clear and visibility exceeded 15 miles.

“During the first four approaches, Lt Bumps flew from the right seat and Captain Williams observed from the left seat.

“A pair of North American F-86D Sabre Dogs took off from Runway 30 at 9:30. Their pilots noticed that the red obstruction lights on a low range of hills1-3/4 miles northwest of the runway were not working. The lead pilot notified the Ellsworth tower that the obstruction lights were out. It was not known at the time that they had been disabled by a lightning strike the night before. The civilian Senior Electrician of Air Installations was called shortly before 10:00 P.M. and notified that the obstruction lights needed to be repaired. He assembled a crew at the AIO electrical shop and prepared to drive out to the lights.

“On the fourth approach, ground control advised Lt Bumps that the obstruction lights northwest of the field were not working. After the fourth pass over the airfield, Col Cotterill moved into the left hand seat to fly the next approach. Col Cotterill flew the approach higher than the glide path specified by the GCA operator.

“Before the sixth approach, Captain Williams replaced Lt Bumps in the right hand seat. It is believed that Col Cotterill flew the next approach.

“The RB-36H was flying at 145 miles per hour on a heading of 147 degrees (true), descending at 750 feet per minute when the left wing struck one of the inoperative obstruction lights. Seventy feet beyond the obstruction light the lower fuselage struck the ground 8,777 feet short and 225 feet right of the centerline of Runway 12 at 10:11 P.M. Mountain Standard Time. The impact point was at an elevation of 3,394 feet, 148 feet higher than the runway.

“The tail section broke away from the fuselage and came to rest 275 feet from the first point of impact. The forward fuselage ended up 1,000 feet from the impact. The left wing stopped 200 feet farther along. Debris was scattered for 1,500 feet. A fire broke out in the wreckage. The center section of the RB-36H, including the camera compartment, was consumed by flames. Two acres of pasture on private property were burned.

“Twenty four crew members died in the crash. The destruction of the airplane was so complete that it was not possible to determine which compartment many of them had occupied at the time of the crash. Killed in the crash were:

Aircraft Commander Lt Col Wray Cotterill
Co-pilot Captain Neal Williams
Navigator Major Martin Margolin
Photo-Navigator Major Harold Chambers
Radar-Navigator Captain James MacDaniel
Engineer Captain Roy Wegner
Engineer MSgt William Ratagick
E.C.M. A/1C Glenn Kerri
E.C.M. TSgt Charles Briggs
Radio Operator MSgt Carl Boyd
Radio Operator A/1C James Swanson
Photo A/1C Russell Wilson
Photo A/2C Allen Jenkins
Gunner MSgt Dean McKever
Gunner A/1C John Baker
Gunner A/1C George Gross
Gunner SSgt Dennis Murphy
Gunner A/2C George Hertnecky
Radio Operator A/2C William Lynch
Navigator 2nd Lt Richard Crittenden
Engineer 2nd Lt Joseph Mullan
Photo A/2C Marcel Herbert
Photo A/2C Billy Campbell
Gunner A/2C Donald Wolf

“E.C.M. Captain Philip Toups, 1st Lt Roger Bumps, and E.C.M. A/1C John Harvey were rescued from the wreckage.

“Captain Toups suffered multiple broken ribs on both sides, a compound fracture of his left arm, broken left femur, crushed right ankle, punctured lung, and other internal injuries. He died five days after the crash.

“A/1C Harvey suffered a crushed sternum, multiple broken ribs, fractured pelvis, compound fractures of his left arm and left leg, deformed fracture of his lower right leg, and lacerations of his scalp, arms and left leg. He was given a half litre of type O+ blood (not cross-matched). He was comatose much of the time. Hemoglobinuric nephrosis (red blood cell fragments clogging the kidneys) set in, probably as a result of ‘generalized crush syndrome’. A/1C Harvey succumbed to his injuries after six days.

“1st Lt Roger Bumps survived with a lacerated scalp, broken skull, concussion, broken right clavicle, and a deeply bruised left arm.

“Fire fighters responding to the crash were faced with exploding fuel tanks, tires, landing gear struts, and ammunition. The magnesium skin of the airplane proved impossible to extinguish. Eventually the crash crews were ordered to pull back and let the wreckage burn.

“Several factors contributed to the crash. The altimeter error for the RB-36H was estimated at -160 feet to +270 feet. An additional local terrain effect introduced an additional error of -70 feet to +70 feet.

“The Rapid City GCA radar was miscalibrated. The range value shown on the radar at the point of impact was off by 1/2 mile. Since the GCA radar indicated that the airplane was 1/2 mile closer than it actually was, it placed the glide slope 150 feet low. In the months preceding and following the crash, at least six pilots reported that GCA instructions might have caused them to land short or that GCA had reported them over the end of the runway before they actually reached it.” (Goleta Air & Space Museum. Convair B-36 Crash Reports and Wreck Sites. “RB-36H 51-13722, 2 Miles from Ellsworth AFB, August 27, 1954.” July 30, 2003 update.)

NFPA: “Aug. 27, near Ellsworth A.F.B., S. D. U. S. Air Force, B-36 $3,500,000, 26 killed.

“While attempting a landing at the Ells¬worth Air Force Base, a B-36 struck a small hill and burst into flames. Twenty-four airmen died in the burning wreckage. Of the three who escaped, two subsequently died of burns and injuries. The initial ground con¬tact did not appear to be severe but reports indicate an explosion occurred almost in¬stantly and this scattered the wreckage, with the main fuselage section heavily involved in flame.” (National Fire Protection Association. “Large Loss Fires of 1954.” Quarterly of the National Fire Protection Association, Vol. 48, No. 3, Jan 1955, pp. 201-326.)

Newspaper

Sep 2, UP: “Rapid City, S.D., Sept. 2 – UP – Capt. Phillip C. Toups, 34, Kilgore, Tex., died Wednesday (1st) at the Ellsworth Air Force Base hospital, the 25th fatality from the crash of a B-36 bomber last Friday night. Twenty-four officers and crewmen were killed outright. The two remaining survivors, Airman John W. Hardy of Indianapolis, Ind., and 1st Lt. Roger Bumps, Taftsville, Vt., are in critical condition. Toups was aircraft observer on the bomber.” (United Press. “25th Airman Dies from B-36 Crash.” Brownsville Herald, 9-2-1954, B-7.)

Sources

Baugher, Joseph F. 1951 USAF Serial Numbers. Nov 7, 2011 update. Accessed 1-5-2012 at: http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1951.html

Bureau of Aircraft Accident Archives. “Crash of a Convair RB-36H-25-CF Peacemaker at Ellsworth AFB: 26 Killed.” Accessed 4-29-2023 at: https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-convair-rb-36h-25-cf-peacemaker-ellsworth-afb-26-killed

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

Goleta Air & Space Museum. Convair B-36 Crash Reports and Wreck Sites. “RB-36H 51-13722, 2 Miles from Ellsworth AFB, August 27, 1954.” July 30, 2003 update. Accessed 10-16-2009 at: http://www.air-and-space.com/b-36%20wrecks.htm#49-2658

National Fire Protection Association. “Large Loss Fires of 1954.” Quarterly of the National Fire Protection Association, Vol. 48, No. 3, Jan 1955, pp. 201-326.

United Press. “25th Airman Dies from B-36 Crash.” Brownsville Herald, 9-2-1954, p. B-7. Accessed 4-29-2023 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/brownsville-herald-sep-02-1954-p-22/