1973 — Apr 12, NASA Convair (11) & Navy Orion (5) approach collision ~Moffett NAS, CA– 16

–16 Aircraft Crashes Record Office (Geneva, Switzerland). California 1970-1979.
–16 Gero. Military Aviation Disasters: Significant Losses Since 1908. 1999, p. 113.
–16 Kimura. World Commercial Aircraft Accidents 3rd Ed., 1946-1993, V.1. 4-11-1994, p. 2-14.
–16 VPNavy. U.S. Navy Patrol Squadrons. VP-47 Memorial.

Narrative Information

Gero: “As they were approaching to land at Moffett Naval Air Station [~15:00], the NASA research jet [N711NA], a modified airliner known as the ‘flying laboratory’, and the turboprop patrol aircraft [157332] collided in mid-air about 10 miles (15km) north-west of San Jose, and both then crashed and burned on a golf course. Among the 16 persons killed were eight scientists and technicians plus the three-member flight crew aboard the NASA jet, and five Naval personnel from the patrol aircraft. A sixth Navy crewman, the sole survivor of the accident, was seriously injured.

“A Moffett Field ground controller had mistakenly cleared both aircraft to land on the same runway. The Convair 990, which was supposed to use Runway 32-Right, had been given the wrong instructions, and as a result settled atop the P-3, the collision occurring at an approximate height of 300ft (100m) above the ground.” (Gero 1999, 113)

Sources

Aircraft Crashes Record Office (Geneva, Switzerland). California 1970-1979. Accessed 3-3-2009 at: http://www.baaa-acro.com/Pays/Etats-Unis/Californie-1970-1979.htm

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

Kimura, Chris Y. World Commercial Aircraft Accidents 3rd Edition, 1946-1993, Volume 1: Jet and Turboprop Aircrafts. Livermore, CA: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Risk Assessment and Nuclear Engineering Group. 4-11-1994.

U. S. Navy Patrol Squadrons. VP-47 NASA Memorial. “VP-47/NASA Crew – In Memorium – VP-47/NASA Crew. Accessed 4-9-2020 at: https://www.vpnavy.com/vp47mem_20nov2000.html