1963 — Dec 23, USAF B-52 Stratofortress crash after takeoff from Columbus AFB, MS–all 9

— 9 Aviation Safety Network. USAF B-52F Stratofortress 23 Dec 1963 near Aberdeen MS.
— 9 Delta Democrat-Times, Greenville, MS. “Investigation…SAC…Crash…” 12-24-1963, 2.
— 9 “B-52 Stratofortress.” 2-2-2012 (photographs of the nine aviators are shown.)

Narrative Information

Baugher: “Boeing B-52F-105-BO Stratofortress….043 (454th BW) w/o Dec 23, 1963 after takeoff from Columbus AFB, MS. Plane went into clouds shortly after takeoff and came out of the clouds inverted and dove into the ground. All onboard killed. Cause of accident may have been failure of artificial horizon.” (Baugher, Joseph F. 1956 USAF Serial Numbers. 1-21-2012 revision.)

United Press International: “Columbus. (UPI) – A ‘thorough investigation’ was underway today in the crash of a B-52 jet bomber which exploded after takeoff from Columbus Air Force Base Monday, killing all nine crewmen aboard. Col. F, P. Sabin, acting wing commander at the Strategic Air Command (SAC) base here, said Lt. Gen. David Wade of Barksdale Air Force Base, La., commander of the Second Air Force, was one of the investigators.

“Witnesses on the ground reported seeing the SAC Stratofortress explode in mid-air. Wreckage was scattered over a three-mile area of snow-covered woodland 15 miles northeast of here.

“Pilot of the craft, which officials said was on a routine training flight, was Maj. Carl M. Funk of Abilene, Kans., commander of the crew.

“Other victims were identified as:

Capt. Elbert J. Andoe of Tulsa, Okla., the co-pilot;
1st Lt. Anthony J. Linzi of Memphis, Tenn., the navigator;
Capt. Fred R. Curtis of Fayetteville, Ark., the radar navigator;
Capt. Harry E. Bell of Sioux City, Iowa, the instructor navigator;
1st Lt. Liam Rafferty of Newark, N.J., electronics warfare officer;
M. Sgt. Lacy Potter of Pikeville, Ky., tail gunner;
1st Lt. Harry L. Grebe of Altoona, Pa., an extra navigator; and
2nd Lt. Leonard J. LeRose of Chicago, an extra co-pilot.

“A stratofortress normally carries a crew of six, but the air force said a nine-member crew was not unusual for a training flight.

“Land where part of the wreckage fell to the ground is owned by Monroe County Sheriff Paul Brasfield of Aberdeen. He said the explosion demolished a small barn and pieces of the wreckage knocked holes in the top of a tenant house. Brasfield quoted a…farmer…as saying he saw the plane ‘blow up’ about 65 feet off the ground….

“The plane took off in 20-degree weather, at a time when snow and sleet had halted most civilian air traffic in Mississippi. The Air Force declined comment on the possibility of the weather having anything to do with the crash.

“The crash scene was a wooded and swampy area about 10 miles south of Aberdeen, and about 1 ½ miles west of the Tombigbee River….

“It was neither snowing or sleeting when the crash happened, but ice-glazed roads hampered military and civilian agencies which rushed vehicles to the scene.” (Delta Democrat-Times, Greenville, MS. “Investigation Ordered in SAC Plane Crash Which Killed All Nine Crewmen.” 12-24-1963, p. 2.)

Former Airman 1/c Charles M. Neal, Jr: “In reference to the B-52F which crashed near Columbus, MS on December 23, 1963. There were no ejections! I was stationed at the base at the time and participated in the recovery efforts. The belief is that maintenance had been performed on the flight attitude position indicator and the check-out was one of the objectives of the flight. Rumor was that the indicator mal-functioned shortly after takeoff, and the A/C (Funk) received incorrect flight attitude reading. There was a heavy fog at the time and no chance for visual ground orientation.” (Former Airman 1/c Charles M. Neal, Jr., 11-27-2008 email, “B-52 Stratofortress.” 2-2-2012.)

Sources

Aviation Safety Network, Flight Safety Foundation. USAF B-52F Stratofortress 23 Dec 1963 near Aberdeen MS. Accessed 8-2-2022 at: https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/48384

Delta Democrat-Times, Greenville, MS. “Investigation Ordered in SAC Plane Crash Which Killed All Nine Crewmen.” 12-24-1963, p. 2. Accessed 8-2-2022 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=52996912