1967 — April 25, USAF Super Constellation engine fire/crash, off Nantucket Island, MA-15

–15 Associated Press. “AF Radar Picket Plane Crashes Off Nantucket,” April 26, 1967.
–15 Aviation Safety Network. Accident Description. United States Air Force, 25 April 1967.
–15 Bennington Banner, VT. “Air Force Investigators…Crash off Nantucket.” 4-27-1967, p. 5.
–15 Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives. “Crash of a Lockheed C-121H…off Nantucket…”
–14 Baugher. 1953 USAF Serial Numbers. 10-27-2011 rev.

Narrative Information

Aviation Safety Network: “The EC-121 plane took off from Otis AFB at 18:58. Eight minutes later the crew reported a fire in the nr. 3 engine. They would attempt an emergency landing at Nantucket, but did not make it. The airplane crashed just offshore into the sea.” (Aviation Safety Network. Accident Description. USAF, 25 April 1967.)

Baugher: “Lockheed RC-121D….549 crashed into sea off Nantucket, MA Apr 25, 1967. 14 of 15 onboard killed.” (Baugher. 1953 USAF Serial Numbers. 10-27-2011 rev.)

Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives:
“Date & Time: Apr 25, 1967 at 1905 LT
“Type of aircraft: Lockheed C-121 Super Constellation
“Operator: USAF
“Registration: 53-0549
“Flight Phase: Flight
“Flight Type: Survey / Patrol / Reconnaissance
“Survivors: Yes
“Site: Lake, Sea Ocean, River
“Schedule: Otis – Otis
“MSN: 4364
“Location: Nantucket, Massachusetts
….
“Crew on board: 4
“Crew fatalities: 4
“Pax on board: 12
“Pax fatalities: 11
“Other fatalities: 0
“Total fatalities: 15
“Circumstances: The four engine airplane departed Otis AFB at 1858LT on a maritime patrol
flight. Shortly after takeoff, the crew informed ground about the failure of
the engine number three that caught fire and was cleared to divert to
Nantucket for an emergency landing. While approaching Nantucket Island,
the airplane went out of control and crashed into the sea. A passenger
survived while all 15 other occupants were killed. The plane was piloted by
Col James P. Lyle Jr., commander of the 551st Airborne Early Warning and
Control Wing based at Otis. The survivor was the navigator, Lt Joseph H.
Guenet from Montreal, Quebec.
“Probable cause: Engine fire during initial climb.”

Newspapers

April 26, AP: “Nantucket, Mass. (AP) – A big Air Force radar picket plane, its right wing afire, plunged down over Nantucket Island Tuesday night and exploded as it crashed into the sea a mile from shore. One survivor was picked up by a helicopter and was taken to Nantucket Cottage Hospital….The plane had taken off from Otis Air Force Base on Cape Cod, 50 miles away at 6:30 p.m. with a crew of 16 aboard. A half hour later eyewitnesses on Nantucket Island heard the plane roaring over their homes at Maddaket on the western end of Nantucket. One eyewitness…said an engine apparently fell from the flaming right wing of the plane. Another saw flames coming from the bottom of the four-engine Super Constellation. The witnesses said the plane exploded when it crashed into the Atlantic a mile or so off the beach….” (Associated Press. “AF Radar Picket Plane Crashes Off Nantucket,” April 26, 1967.)

April 27, UP: “Nantucket, Mass. (UP) — The search for bodies and wreckage was over today but the investigation of a flaming crash and explosion of a four-engine Air Force Radar picket plane with 16 men aboard was gathering momentum. The huge plane, crammed with super sensitive radar gear, went down Tuesday night about a mile south of this resort island. Fifteen crew members were lost while one crewman was rescued.

“The bodies, of two crewmen were found off the southern shoreline but 13 remained missing when the Air Force, Coast Guard and Navy air and sea search was ‘suspended pending further developments’ Wednesday night.

“It was third crash of the giant EC121H type of aircraft, a modified Super Constellation, in 21 months and second in six months. Fifty airmen have died while just four crewmen have survived.

“An eight-member air force team was named and began studying wreckage Wednesday at Nantucket Airport. Debris was found scattered across parts of the island as well as in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

“Col. James P. Lyle, a much decorated World War II and Korean War veteran from Springtown, Tex., who made it his personal mission to inform relatives of the 19 crewmen lost in the November crash, was at the controls Tuesday night. He radioed Otis Air Force base on Cape Cod, home of the 551st Airborne Early Warning and Control Wing which he commanded, there was a fire in the right engine nearest the cabin. The communication, 28 minutes after takeoff, was the last message from the plane.

“Witnesses reported Lyle fought to control the huge craft and he headed it the length of the Island, dropping bits of flaming debris as it headed to open water. It exploded on impact.

“First Lt. Joseph L.H. Guenet, 29, of Montreal, navigator on the plane, was the lone survivor but told doctors he could not recall how he got out of the burning plane.

“Part of the Dist. Early Warning (DEW) air defense network, the plane was starting a routine patrol when it went down. Lyle, as commanding officer of the 551st — a post he assumed last July 22, could schedule himself to fly any mission he desired and he had penciled himself aboard the fatal flight.

“Rep. Hastings R. Keith, R. Mass., one of the state’s congressional delegation which sought the congressional investigation, charged ‘Pentagon cost analysis is no justification for the use of dangerously obsolete equipment by our air force.’ The EC121H has been used by the Air Force since 1954.

“While commercial airlines are phasing their aging constellations out of service, he said, ‘the military is still using them on a continuing basis.’

“Funeral services for the 15 crewmen, who left 11 wives and 21 children, were scheduled for Saturday at Otis.” (Bennington Banner, VT. “Air Force Investigators Seek Cause of Radar Plane Crash off Nantucket.” 4-27-1967, p. 5.)

Sources

Associated Press. “AF Radar Picket Plane Crashes Off Nantucket,” 4-26-1967. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/freepdfviewer.aspx?img=10546067

Aviation Safety Network. Accident Description. United States Air Force, Lockheed EC-121H Super Constellation, 25 April 1967. Accessed 3-2-2009 at: http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19670425-1

Baugher, Joseph F. 1953 USAF Serial Numbers. Oct 27, 2011 revision. Accessed 1-12-2012 at: http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1953.html

Bennington Banner, VT. “Air Force Investigators Seek Cause of Radar Plane Crash off Nantucket.” 4-27-1967, 5. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=48491153

Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives. “Crash of a Lockheed C-121H Super Constellation off Nantucket: 15 Killed.” Accessed 4-21-1967 at: https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-lockheed-c-121h-super-constellation-nantucket-15-killed