1963 — Aug 28, apparent mid-air collision, two USAF tankers, off East Coast (~SC) –all 11
— 16 Planecrashinfo.com. “1963. Accident Details…USAF/USAF…Off Miami…Aug 28…”
— 11 Aviation Safety Network. USAF KC-135 Stratotankers collide 28 Aug 1963 off W. Bermuda.
— 11 Baugher, Joseph F. 1961 USAF Serial Numbers. 10-29-2011 revision.
— 11 Gero. Military Aviation Disasters: Significant Losses Since 1908. 1999, p. 84.
— 11 United Press International. “Jet Debris Spotted in Atlantic,” August 29, 1963.
Narrative Information
Baugher: “Boeing KC-135A-BN Stratotanker….0319 (c/n 18226) lost Aug 28, 1963, North Atlantic in possible midair collision with 61-322 after refueling B-47s. 6 on board, no survivors….
“0322 (c/n 18229) lost Aug 28, 1963, North Atlantic in possible midair collision with 61-319 after refueling B-47s. 5 on board, no survivors.” (Baugher, Joseph F. 1961 USAF Serial Numbers. 10-29-2011 revision.)
Gero: “The two Strategic Air Command jet tankers had just finished refueling three B-47 jet bombers, whose crews reported that they had turned west before losing sight of them when their own aircraft entered a deck of cirrus clouds. Nothing further was heard from either KC-135, and the following day searchers sighted flier-type life jackets floating in the water some 700 miles (1,125km) north-east of Homestead Air Force Base, in Florida, US, itself located about 25 miles (40km) south-west of Miami and where both were stationed. Some debris identi¬fied as belonging to both tankers was subsequently recovered from the water, but no trace could be found of the 11 crewmen assigned to the two aircraft, six from 0319 and five from 0322. In an investigative report, the loss of the two tankers was ascribed to an ‘apparent’ mid-air collision, the exact circumstances of which were unknown.” (Gero 1999, 84)
Planecrashinfo.com: “Aboard: 16 crew…A mid-air collision occurred approximately 700 miles east of Miami, Florida.” (Planecrashinfo.com.)
Newspaper
Aug 29, United Press International: “Miami – UPI – Debris believed to be from two missing jet tankers was spotted in the Atlantic today by the freighter SS Azalea City and the Air Force dispatched a team of paramedics to the scene in hopes of finding 11 missing crewmen….The tankers…were returning to Homestead Air Force Base when radio contact was lost with them yesterday afternoon. They had refueled in the air two B47 jets from Schilling AFB in Kansas. The B-47s returned safely to Schilling.” (UPI. “Jet Debris Spotted in Atlantic,” 8-29-1963.)
Sources
Aviation Safety Network, Flight Safety Foundation. USAF KC-135 Stratotankers collide 28 Aug 1963, 300 miles west of Bermuda. Accessed 8-4-2022 at: https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19630828-0
Baugher, Joseph F. 1961 USAF Serial Numbers. 10-29-2011 revision. Accessed 2-23-2012 at: http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1961.html
Gero, David. Military Aviation Disasters: Significant Losses Since 1908. UK and Newbury Park, CA: Patrick Stephens Limited, an imprint of Hayes Publishing, 1999.
Planecrashinfo.com. “1963…Accident Details…USAF/USAF…Off Miami…Aug 28…” Accessed at: http://www.planecrashinfo.com/1963/1963-42.htm
United Press International. “Jet Debris Spotted in Atlantic,” August 29, 1963. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/PdfViewerTags.aspx?img=52906797&firstvisit=true&src=search¤tResult=1