1965 — Jan 16, USAF tanker crash after takeoff into homes, fire, Wichita, KS –29-30

— 30 Aircraft Crashes Record Office (Geneva, Switzerland). Iowa.
— 30 Larsen, McConnell AFB. Heritage and Legacy: A Brief History of the 22d…. 2009, p.23.
— 30 Salina Journal, KS. “Tanker Falls on Wichita. Homes Are Pyre For 30.” 1-17-1965, p. 1.
— 29 Aviation Safety Network. Accident Description. USAF Stratotanker 16 Jan 1965.
— 29 Baugher, Joseph F. 1956 USAF Serial Numbers. 1-21-2012 revision.
— 29 Gero. Military Aviation Disasters: Significant Losses Since 1908. 1999, p. 86.
— 7 Crew
–22 Ground personnel in a residential area (one of whom was pregnant).
–~24 Lawrence Journal World, KS. “Jet Hits Wichita Homes. At Least 24 Killed.” 1-16-‘65, 1.
— 23 NFPA. “The Major Fires of 1965.” Fire Journal, Vol. 60, No. 3, May 1966, p. 53.

Narrative Information

Aviation Safety Network:
“Date: Saturday 16 January 1965
“Time: ca 10:30
“Type: Boeing KC-135A Stratotanker
“Operator: United States Air Force – USAF
“Registration: 57-1442
“MSN: 17513/122
“First flight: 1958-07-18 (6 years 6 months)
….
“Crew: Fatalities: 7 / Occupants: 7
“Passengers: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 0
“Total: Fatalities: 7 / Occupants: 7
Ground casualties: Fatalities: 22
….
“Location: 11 km (6.9 mls) NNW Wichita-McConnell AFB, KS (USA)
“Phase: Initial climb (ICL)
“Nature: Military
“Departure airport: Wichita-McConnell AFB, KS, United States of America
“Destination airport: Wichita-McConnell AFB, KS, United States of America
“Narrative:

“The KC-135 entered considerable yaw attitude after takeoff and the crew attempted to return to the airport. The crew entry door was reportedly jettisoned after which the plane rolled to an inverted attitude and crashed into the 2000 Block of Piatt street at 20th Street.

“A preceding B-52 may have blown a drag chute from a F-105 Thunderchief against the departing KC-135. The drag chute had been accidently left on the runway.

“Classification: Loss of control.”

(Aviation Safety Network. Accident Description. USAF Stratotanker 16 Jan 1965.)

Baugher: “Boeing KC-135A-BN Stratotanker….1442 (c/n 17513) crashed after takeoff at McConnell AFB, KS into residential area Jan 16, 1965. 7 on board plus 22 on ground killed. After takeoff, aircraft transmitted distress signal and attempted to return but did not make it. Remains of parachute found in No. 1 engine, which may have led to asymmetric thrust condition.” (Baugher, Joseph F. 1956 USAF Serial Numbers. 1-21-2012 revision.)

Gero:
“Date: 16 January 1965 (c.09:30)
“Location: Wichita, Kansas, US
“Operator: US Air Force
“Aircraft type Boeing KC-135 (57-1442)

“The Strategic Air Command jet tanker [57-1442] crashed and exploded in a residential section of the city approximately 5 miles (10km) north-north-west of McConnell Air Force Base, from where it had taken off about 3½ minutes earlier, on an aerial refueling mission.

“All seven crewmen of the aircraft and 22 persons on the ground, the latter including a pregnant woman, perished in the disaster, while 17 others suffered injuries. In the impact and resulting fires, 14 houses were demolished. The scene of the tragedy was 10 blocks west of Wichita State University.

“Following its departure from Runway 36-Left, the aircraft had climbed to an approximate height of 500 to 700ft (150-200m) before it started to descend. A ‘Mayday’ distress message was trans¬mitted from the tanker, and the crew escape hatch had been jettisoned prior to the crash, further indication of an in-flight emergency. According to witnesses, the KC-135 initiated a left bank while proceeding in a southerly direction, trying to return to the base, and completed a rotation of about 180 degrees as it plunged to earth in a steep nose-down attitude.

“The weather at the time was clear and cold, with high cirrus clouds and a north-north¬easterly wind of 5 knots.

“Remains of a parachute were found in the No. 1 engine of 57-1442, which could have resulted in an asymmetrical thrust condition. The control difficulties that may have factored in the crash would have been even worse had it also become entangled in one of the aircraft’s ailerons.” (Gero 1999, pp. 86-87.)

Larsen: “16 January 1965. A KC-135 from Clinton-Sherman AFB, Oklahoma, crashed into a Wichita residential area shortly after takeoff. Thirty people died in the crash including the seven crew members.” (Larsen, Steve A. Office of History, 22d Air Refueling Wing, McConnell Air Force Base. Heritage and Legacy: A Brief History of the 22d Air Refueling Wing and McConnell Air Force Base. 2009, p. 27.)

Newspapers

Jan 16: “Wichita, Kan. (AP) – A KC135 tanker plane crashed into a residential area about 9:15 a.m. here today and it appeared that the death toll would run as high as 17 civilians plus the 7 military men on the plane. A Wichita Beacon reporter at the scene said an Air Force chaplain told him he had administered last rites to at least eight victims. The jet tanker crashed into a northeast Wichita residential area, identified as 20th and Piatt. A fire resulted and appeared to be under control by 11:30 a.m. The locale is about 2½ blocks southwest of the Institute of Logopedics and ¾ of a mile directly west of the Wichita University Field-house. The bodies were being assembled at a temporary morgue set up in the area. Police began patrolling the area with police dogs to prevent looting “and to keep people out so the crash can be investigated.”

“Apparently at least eight houses burned, set afire by fuel the tanker was carrying. One eyewitness said “there are charred bodies all around.” Firemen estimated at least 15 homes were afire when they arrived, and they said as many as 75 could be damaged.

“Gilbert Roman, a Sedgwick County sheriff’s officer who was on patrol near the crash site said another plane with military markings appeared to be following the crashed plane but he saw no indication of a collision.

“Some 50 persons were reported injured.

“The Beacon said the plane had just taken off from the Boeing Aircraft plant. There was no indication whether it was on a refueling mission.

“One man said he saw the bodies of two children in the wreckage of one house. A resident of the neighborhood, Rev. J. E. Mason, said he saw one child literally burn up. He said a little boy ran out of a house and “curled up in flames.”

“The tanker was understood to carry a crew of eight, and it was assumed all had perished.

“The dead children would be additional fatalities.

“The plane had taken off from McConnell Air Force Base and was flying in a northwesterly direction.

“Louis Ells, who lives a block from the scene but whose home escaped damage, said “it sounded like an earthquake. As soon as we heard the noise we started running away from it.” So did hundreds of other residents in the area of one-story frame houses in the $10,000 class. They dashed into near freezing temperatures.

“A pall of smoke hovered over the area for a long time after the crash. Wreckage of the plane was picked up as far as three blocks away. Most of it consisted of small pieces.

“At least a block of houses was set afire. Early reports said at least four houses were completely destroyed.

“A number of witnesses saw the plane crash into the homes near the campus of Wichita State University.

“A Wichita Beacon reporter said he saw a number of frantic residents crying as they stood looking at the row of burning houses across the street. “My boy’s in there, my boy’s in there,” one man cried. He was led away to an ambulance for treatment for shock. It was not immediately known how many might be trapped in the burning houses…

“McConnell Air Force base here said the plane carried a crew of seven and was flying in support of a B52 mission.

“Gilbert Roman, a Sedgwick County sheriff’s officer who was patrolling near the Wichita State campus said he saw the plane go down. He said it was an altitude of about 1,000 feet and was banking to the west when suddenly its motor cut off and he saw a metallic object or fragment fall
from its tail. The plane then nosed over and plummeted to the ground.” (Lawrence Journal World, KS. “Jet Hits Wichita Homes. At Least 24 Killed After Fiery Crash..” 1-16-1965, 1.)

Jan 17: “Wichita, Kan. (AP) – An Air Force jet tanker plane in trouble and apparently trying to reach the base it just left, fell into a residential area Saturday, killing at least 30 persons. At least 17 persons were injured and scores of persons were left homeless.

“Fourteen homes were wiped out in the crash, explosion and fire that spread from the plane. At least 30 other houses were damaged.

“The bodies of 23 civilians were taken to a temporary morgue set up in the auditorium of the city-county health department. The bodies of six Air Force personnel were taken elsewhere by military authorities.

“The Air Force identified seven men on the plane. None got out.

“Center of the crash was near the intersection of 20th St. and Piatt Ave., six blocks from Wichita State University in northeast Wichita. The area is a predominantly Negro neighborhood…

“The plane took off from McConnell Air Force Base, six miles south of the crash scene, three minutes before it fell, it was on a test mission with a B-52 bomber.

“Col. Tom Murphy, director of safety for the Second Air Force, said the tanker took off north-bound. It started dumping fuel over Wichita State University and made a turn of almost 180 degrees. It struck the ground while in the turn. Murphy said that members of the plane crew blew open an escape hatch just below the nose of the plane before it crashed….

“Officers from McConnell said a radio operator there heard only the word ‘May Day’ – a distress signal, before the crash….

“The Stratotanker was based at Clinton-Sherman Air Force Base, Oklahoma….

“The KC135 is a four-jet tanker which flies more than 600 miles an hour. It has a 120-foot wing span, is 136 feet long and 38 feet high. It can carry 31,000 gallons of jet fuel and fully loaded is 297,000 pounds. It has a 4,000 mile range. It is the military counterpart to the Boeing 707.

“Miami, Fla. (AP) – A former Miami youth whose wife is expecting a child momentarily was among the seven crewmen killed Saturday in the crash of an Air Force tanker plane at Wichita, Kan. He was 22-year-old 2nd Lt. Arthur W. Sullivan, navigator aboard the KC135 craft. His father…said young Sullivan had been in the Air Force about two years. The elder Sullivan said his daughter-in-law, Virginia Healy…is in the Clinton Sherman Air Force Base Hospital in Oklahoma, expecting a child.” (Salina Journal, KS. “Tanker Falls on Wichita. Homes Are Pyre For 30.” 1-17-1965, p. 1.)

Jan 17: “Wichita, Kan. (UPI). A faltering Air Force jet tanker spewing thousands of gallons of fuel in a death dive, slammed into a vacant lot, skidded through a row of homes Saturday and enveloped a city block in an inferno of flame and smoke….Only black rubble remained where 11 houses stood. Fifty others were damaged….The streets ran curb-deep with water and foam spayed by firemen who battled the intense blaze for two hours in 14-degree temperatures before they could control it.” (UPI, “Disaster Strikes Northeast Wichita,” January 17, 1965.)

Sources

Aircraft Crashes Record Office (Geneva, Switzerland). Iowa. Accessed 3-9-2009 at: http://www.baaa-acro.com/Pays/Etats-Unis/Iowa.htm

Aviation Safety Network, Flight Safety Foundation. Accident Description. United States Air Force, Boeing KC-135A-BN Stratotanker, 16 Jan 1965. Accessed 3-9-2009 at: http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19650116-0

Baugher, Joseph F. 1956 USAF Serial Numbers (56-957/6956). 1-4-2012 revision. Accessed 2-21-2012 at: http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1956_2.html

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

Larsen, Steve A. Office of History, 22d Air Refueling Wing, McConnell Air Force Base. Heritage and Legacy: A Brief History of the 22d Air Refueling Wing and McConnell Air Force Base. 2009. At: http://www.mcconnell.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-061109-040.pdf

Lawrence Journal World, KS. “Jet Hits Wichita Homes. At Least 24 Killed After Fiery Crash..” 1-16-1965, 1. At: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=169261023

National Fire Protection Association. “The Major Fires of 1965.” Fire Journal, Vol. 60, No. 3, May 1966, pp. 52-54.

Salina Journal, KS. “Tanker Falls on Wichita. Homes Are Pyre For 30.” 1-17-1965, p. 1. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=99226808

United Press International. “Disaster Strikes Northeast Wichita,” January 17, 1965.