1969 — June 5, USAF Reconnaissance plane crash (structural issue?) off Shemya, AK– 19

— 19 Aviation Safety Network. Accident Description. USAF Boeing RC-135E, 05 Jun 1969.
— 19 Gero. Military Aviation Disasters: Significant Losses Since 1908. 1999, p. 102.
— 19 Lednicer. “Intrusions, Overflights, Shootdowns and Defections…Cold War…” 4-16-2011.

Narrative Information

Aviation Safety Network: “RC-135E ‘Rivet Amber’ was at that time the most sophisticated reconnaissance plane of the US Air Force. It was converted to this configuration in 1963 to fly reconnaissance missions against the Soviet re-entry range off the Kamchatka Peninsula. On June 5, 1969, Rivet Amber departed Shemya [Air Force Base, AK] for a flight to Fairbanks [Fairbanks-Eielson AFB, AK] for routine maintenance. About thirty minutes after departing Shemya, Rivet Amber (call-sign Irene 92) transmitted the following message to Elmendorf AFB: ‘Elmendorf Airways, Irene 92 experiencing vibration in flight. Not certain of the emergency. We have the aircraft under control, Irene 92.’ This was the last radio contact with the flight. Unidentified microphone keying clicks continued until 10:22. The aircraft crashed at sea.” (ASN. AD. USAF Boeing RC-135E, 05 Jun 1969; cites A Tale of Two Airplanes by King Hawes.)

Gero:
“Date: 5 June 1969 (time unknown)
“Location: Bering Sea
“Operator: US Air Force
“Aircraft type: Boeing RC-135E (62-4137)

“Operated by the Strategic Air Command and flying between two Alaskan air bases, from Shemya, in the Aleutian Islands, to Eielson, located near Fairbanks, the four-engine reconnaissance jet vanished with 19 crewmen aboard. A search that began within hours after it was reported missing ended nine days later, with no trace of the aircraft or its occupants having been found. Cleared to a cruising altitude of 25,000ft (7,500m), the RC-135 had last reported being at a position about 200 miles (320km) north of the Amchitka Pass, a passageway between the Rat and Andreanof Islands, before a member of the crew radioed, at 07:36 local time, that they were experiencing vibration. Though uncertain of the emergency, he stated that the aircraft was under control. In response to the ground controller’s query, ‘You say you’re not declaring an emergency’, the crewman responded ‘Roger’. After a long pause, he was heard to say, ‘Crew go to oxygen’. There were no further verbal communications from 62-4137, but there was evidence, through the keying of its transmitter, of continued attempts to send a message, which were heard until 08:42. Communications were probably stifled by a malfunction in the aircraft’s transmitter. At the time and place of the disappearance, the weather was cloudy, with tops at 7,000 to 8,000ft (2,000-2,500,). The visibility was otherwise good, with no reported turbulence and a 20-knot north-north-easterly wind.” (Gero. Military Aviation Disasters: Significant Losses Since 1908. 1999, p. 102.)

Lednicer: “5 June 1969. A US Air Force RC-135E (62-4137) on a Rivet Amber mission disappeared with its 19-man crew while on a flight from Shemya AFB to Eielson AFB. Structural failure associated with the fuselage radome appears to be the likely cause of this loss.” (Lednicer. “Intrusions, Overflights, Shootdowns and Defections…Cold War…” 4-16-2011 rev.)

Sources

Aviation Safety Network. Accident Description. Thursday 5 June 1969 10:22. Boeing RC-135E Rivet Amber. United States Air Force – USAF. Accessed 3-25-2022 at: https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19690605-0

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

Lednicer, David. “Intrusions, Over-flights, Shoot-downs and Defections During the Cold War and Thereafter.” 4-16-2011 revision. Accessed 2-20-2012: http://myplace.frontier.com/~anneled/ColdWar.html