1975 — Jan 9, USAF Convair and Cessna Collide 4 miles west of Newport News, VA — 9

— 9 ASN. Accident description. USAF Convair T-29D (CV-240), Newport News, VA, 1-9-’75
— 9 Baugher. 1952 USAF Serial Numbers. 10-29-2011 revision.
–7 USAF Convair (all)
–2 Cessna (all)
— 9 NTSB. AAR. USAF Convair VT-29D…and Cessna 150H…Newport News, Virginia…
— 9 NTSB. NTSB Identification: DCA75AZ008…Convair VT-29D, registration: USAF5826.
–5 USAF Convair (all)
–2 Cessna (all)
— 9 Progress-Index, Petersburg VA. “23 Apparently Killed in 2 Plane Collisions.” 1-10-1975, 1
— 9 Progress-Index, Petersburg VA. “Salvage Work Planned to Recover Airplanes.” 1-11-1975
— 9 Pulaski Southwest Times, VA. “Air Crash Salvage Under Way.” 1-12-1975, p. 2.
— 9 Sturkey. Mid-Air: Accident Reports and Voice Transcripts from Military… 2008, p. 249.
–7 USAF Convair (all)
–2 Cessna 150 Cavalier Flyers Inc., local pleasure flight (all)

Narrative Information

Aviation Safety Network:
“….First flight: 1954….
“Total: Fatalities: 7 / Occupants: 7
“Collision casualties: Fatalities: 2….
“Location: 6.5 km (4.1 mls) W off Newport News, VA….
“Flight number: M32
“Narrative: The USAF Convair was returning from Meridian when it approached Langley AFB at night. At the same time a Cavalier Flyers Cessna 150H light aircraft, N50430, was in the area. Both aircraft were on a collision course but due to the reduced nighttime conspicuity of Cessna against a background of city lights, the USAF crew did not see the plane. Both aircraft collided and crashed.

“PROBABLE CAUSE: “The human limitation inherent in the see-and-avoid concept, which can be critical in a terminal area with a combination of controlled and uncontrolled traffic. A possible contributing factor was the reduced nighttime conspicuity of the Cessna against a background of city lights.” (Aviation Safety Network. Accident description. United States Air Force Convair T-29D (CV-240), Newport News, VA, 09 Jan 1975. 10-24-2003.)

Baugher: “Convair T-29D….5826 (c/n 52-25) crashed 4 mi W of Newport News, VA Jan 9, 1975 after midair collision with Cessna 150H N50430. All 7 aboard the T-29D as well as 2 aboard the 150H were killed.” (Baugher. 1952 USAF Serial Numbers. 10-29-2011 revision.)

National Transportation Safety Board: “Abstract: About 1836 e.s.t., on January 9, 1975, a United States Air Force Convair VT-29D (CV-340) and a Cessna 150H collided in flight over the James River near Newport News, Virginia, at an altitude of 1,500 feet. The five crewmembers and two passengers aboard the Convair and the pilot and passenger aboard the Cessna were killed. Both aircraft were destroyed by the collision and subsequent impact with the water.

“The Convair was executing a precision radar approach to Langley Air Force Base and was under the control of the Langley Ground Control Approach final controller. The Cessna was on a local pleasure flight; it was operating in accordance with visual flight rules, and was not on a flight plan.

“The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the human limitation inherent in the see-and-avoid concept, which can be critical in a terminal area with a combination of controlled and uncontrolled traffic. A possible contributing factor was the reduced nighttime conspicuity of the Cessna against a background of city lights.

“As a result of this accident, the National Transportation Safety Board made four recommendations.” (NTSB 1975, ii.)

“History of the Flight

“United States Air Force…Convair VT-29D, (CV-340) Serial No. 52-5826, call sign Motel-32 (M-32), departed from Langley Air Force Base (AFB), Hampton, Virginia, at 0955 on January 9, 1975. It was operating as an administrative flight to transport military personnel from Langley to Shaw AFB, Sumter, South Carolina, and Key Field, Meridian, Mississippi….” (NTSB 1975, 1)

“The final controller established contact with M-32 when the aircraft was about 10 nmi from Langley. At 1834:20, he informed the flightcrew that further communication from them was no longer required, and he continued to vector the aircraft to intercept the final approach course. At
1835:09 and just prior to the 8 nmi range call, the final controller advised M-32, ‘Traffic at one o’clock, two miles, northwest bound.’ There was a response from M-32 about 5 seconds later, which, to the controller, sounded like the word ‘Roger.’

“The controller later stated that he first observed this traffic on his search radarscope. At the time he advised M-32 of its presence the traffic had not yet appeared on his precision scope. After advising M-32 of the traffic, he rotated the elevation antenna full right towards the unknown traffic and the target appeared on the elevation display of his precision scope. He estimated that the unknown traffic was at a range of about 5.5 nmi, moving away from the antenna, about 500 to 700 feet above the glidepath, and flying in a northwesterly direction…” (NTSB 1975 2)

“According to the controller, when M-32 reached 8 nmi, the unidentified traffic appeared on his elevation display and shortly thereafter on his azimuth display. At 1835:25, he told M-32 that the traffic appeared ‘slightly higher than you on precision radar.’ M-32 acknowledged with ‘Roger.’ This was the last known radio transmission from the flight….

“According to the owner of Cavalier Flyers, the pilot of N50430 had rented the aircraft from him on several previous occasions. The owner stated that on the night of January 9, 1975, the pilot had planned a local flight of about 1 hour. He also said that the aircraft was not equipped with a transponder.

After performing a routine preflight inspection of N50430, the pilot and his passenger boarded the aircraft and prepared to depart. The pilot did not, nor was he required to, file a flight plan.

“At 1802, N50430 departed from runway 5 at Norfolk Regional Airport on a local visual flight rules (VFR) flight. At 1803:22, N50430 requested, and was cleared for, a downwind departure from the airport traffic area. This was the last known contact….” (NTSB 1975, 3)

“The bodies of the seven occupants of the Convair aircraft were recovered….The body of the passenger in the Cessna was recovered on February 25, 1975….The pilot of the Cessna had not been located as of the date of this report….” (NTSB 1975, 7-8)

[Cessna] Pilot Bruce David Pollock

“Pilot Bruce David Pollock, Seaman E-1, USN, aged 19, held a private pilot certificate…with ratings in airplane single engine land aircraft. According to the operator of Cavalier Flyers, Inc., Mr. Pollock had approximately 195 total flying hours of which over 12 hours were at night….” (NTSB 1975, 18)

“Appendix H….Safety Recommendations….

“The Safety Board believes that this accident again points out the hazards of an IFR-VFR traffic mix, and the inadequacies of the ‘see and avoid’ concept in terminal areas, in which moderate to heavy traffic exists. The very nature of operations within a terminal area defeats the viability of the ‘see and avoid’ doctrine since the flightcrew in at least one, or possibly both, aircraft become involved with the duties and problems of landing. Within these areas, aircraft must be protected, and the only method is the control of traffic by the air traffic control system.

“The Tidewater area around Norfolk, Virginia, should have a terminal control area. There are six major civil and military airports within 35 nmi of each other: Norfolk Regional Airport, Patrick Henry Airport, Oceana Naval Air Station, Norfolk Naval Air Station, Langley Air Force Base, and Felker Army Airfield. Numerous general aviation airfields are situated throughout the Tidewater area. These fields generate a traffic mix ranging from small general aviation aircraft, helicopters, and air carrier aircraft (both prop-jet and turbine), to the various tactical aircraft of the military.

“During 1974, there were 205,600 IFR operations in the Tidewater area. Based on data compiled by the Langley Air Force Base Air Traffic Control Board, the Safety Board has estimated that the combined IFR and VTR operation in this area totaled about 709,000, and that these will increase to about 886,000 in 1975.

“The Safety Board believes that the traffic situation in the Tidewater area and at Langley Air Force Base requires corrective action to avoid a recurrence of such midair collisions. We also believe that the nature of the traffic mix and the volume of the traffic within the Tidewater area warrant the establishment of a terminal control area which would encompass the area’s major airfields.

“Therefore, the Safety Board recommends that the Federal Aviation Administration:

1. Establish a Group II traffic control area to encompass the following airports in the Tidewater area: Oceana Naval Air Station, Norfolk Naval Air Station, Norfolk Regional Airport, Langley Air Force Base, Patrick Henry Airport, and Felker Army Airfield. Should this prove impractical, we recommend that the FAA and Department of Defense (DOD) Joint Review Group coordinate and establish a Terminal Radar Service Area (TEA), similar to the one in Sacramento Valley, California, which will encompass the Tidewater area. (Class II)

2. Extend the approach gates to runways 7-25 at Langley Air Force Base to a distance of 12 nmi, (Class 11) The Safety Board’s investigation has disclosed other areas of the military-civilian aviation interface within the U. S. wherein air traffic control procedures could be instituted in a further effort to prevent midair collisions. Therefore, the Safety Board further recommends that the FAA-WD Joint Review Group:

3. Determine which other military bases or areas require the establishment of either a terminal control area or terminal radar service area and establish them. (Class III)

4. Initiate action to enable DOD to establish and maintain Group I type terminal control areas around selected military facilities. (Class III).” (NTSB 1975 25-26)

(National Transportation Safety Board. Aircraft Accident Report. USAF Convair VT-29D (CV-340) and 150H, N50430 Newport News, Virginia January 9, 1975 (File No. 3-0001; Report Number: NTSB-AAR75-10). Wash., DC: NTSB, 29 pages, adopted June 18, 1975.)

Newspapers

Jan 10: “By The Associated Press. In-flight plane collisions over Virginia and California took an apparent toll of 23 lives.

“The Coast Guard resumed a search in shallow offshore waters of the James River in Newport News today for the bodies of nine persons believed to have died when an Air Force plane and a rented private aircraft collided in-flight here Thursday night.

“Fourteen persons died Thursday at Whittier, Calif, in a collision involving a commuter airliner and a small plane….

“Seven persons — a crew of five and two passengers – were aboard the Air Force T29 when it and the single-engine Cessna, with two on board, smashed together and plummeted into the river not far from one of this port city’s best-known landmarks, the Mariner ‘s Museum.

“The crash scene was about 200 yards off the river shore in water that at low tide was only four feet deep. The structure of the fuselage and the tail section of the Air Force plane jutted out of the river when the search for bodies resumed at 8:30 a.m., but there was no sign of the private plane. At the site of’ the crash, the water glowed a bright red, apparently because of the spillage of aviation gasoline when the two aircraft, which a witness said were locked together, plunged into the river about 6:35 p.m.

“The propeller-driven Air Force plane was on a final approach to Langley Air Force Base, where it was stationed, and the Cessna, piloted by an unidentified Navy enlisted man, was ‘just flying around’ without a flight plan, the Coast Guard said, when the aircraft collided.

“One witness reported ‘a flash on the water’ and said there also was an explosion and fire, but this was not confirmed.

“Representatives of the National Transportation Safety Board arrived this morning to head the investigation of the accident.

“The Air Force said the T29 had taken passengers from Langley to Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina Thursday, then had flown to Meridian, Miss., on an administrative flight before heading back to Langley and its rendezvous with disaster.

“The Cessna had been rented from Cavalier Flyers, Inc., of Norfolk….” (Progress-Index, Petersburg VA. “23 Apparently Killed in 2 Plane Collisions.” 1-10-1975, p. 1.)

Jan 11, AP: “Newport News, Va. (AP) – Salvage efforts were to begin today to recover the wreckage of two planes that collided in mid-air and then plummeted into the James River, apparently killing all nine persons aboard. A Langley Air Force base spokesman said heavy fog on the river this morning forced a delay in recovery operations, but authorities were hopeful that the fog would lift this afternoon. Barges and boats from the U. S. Army’s Ft. Eustis have been brought in to assist the Coast Guard, the Air Force and Newport News police in the recovery efforts, the spokesman said.

“The Coast Guard abandoned efforts by divers Friday afternoon to recover bodies from the partly submerged wreckage and called in the U.S. Army to raise the wreckage so the bodies could be reached. By mid-afternoon Friday, only two bodies and part of another had been recovered from
the remains of the planes, which a helicopter pilot said appeared to be ‘welded into a ball of debris.’ Authorities said the unrecovered bodies apparently were locked within the tangled wreckage.

“The twin-engine Air Force T29 and a single-engine Cessna 150 collided Thursday night and fell into the river some 200 yards offshore….

“Two were aboard the rented private aircraft, which had left nearby Norfolk Regional Airport about a half hour before the 6:35 p.m. collision.

“The Air Force identified the pilot of the propeller-driven T29 as Lt. Col. James R. Robinson, 47, of Hampton, a 20-year Air Force veteran and father of two. Other crewmen aboard the T29 were Maj. Henry T. McAlhany, 34, the copilot, of Newport News; and T. Sgt. Leonard A. Gigleo, 30, a flight mechanic; S. Sgt. Robert C. Bachman, 29, the flight steward; and T. Sgt. Franklin D.R. Davis, 38, a flight mechanic, all of Hampton.” (Progress-Index, Petersburg VA. “Salvage Work Planned to Recover Airplanes.” 1-11-1975, p. 2.)

Jan 12, UPI: “Newport News (UPI)….Divers from the city police department Saturday found the private plane about 300 yards from the T-29, a spokesman for the Air Force said. Army personnel from Ft. Eustis, equipped with a barge and a crane, prepared to lift the charred and twisted remains of the crafts out of the water. Nine persons were in the two planes….

“There were seven Air Force officers from Langley Air Force Base in the T-29 and two Navy men stationed at Little Creek, Va. in the privately owned plane….” (Pulaski Southwest Times, VA. “Air Crash Salvage Under Way.” 1-12-1975, p. 2.)

Jan 13, AP: “Newport News, Va. (AP) – Rescue operations resumed today in an effort to locate the last two bodies from the wreckage of the collision of an Air Force T29 and a civilian aircraft that plunged both into the waters of the James River and killed nine persons. A salvage team from the U. S. Army base at Ft. Eustis recovered four bodies Sunday, bringing to seven the number found since the two planes collided Thursday night.

“While all the bodies so far found have been in the vicinity of the wreckage of the military plane, a Langley Air Force Base spokesman said it was not certain whether they were those of the seven men known to have been aboard the aircraft. The spokesman said the two bodies recovered last Friday have been identified but added no identities would be released until all the bodies have been found and identified….

“The forward part of the single-engine Cessna 150 which collided with the T29 was found Saturday in about 18 feet of water.

“While authorities concentrated their efforts on recovering the T29, a ball of debris believed to be the remains of the Cessna lay in the river about 300 feet away.” (Progress-Index, Petersburg VA. “Rescue Operations Resume for Bodies.” 1-13-1975, p. 3.)

Sources

Aviation Safety Network. Accident description. United States Air Force, Convair T-29D (CV-240), Newport News, VA, 09 Jan 1975. 10-24-2003. Accessed 1-9-2012 at:
http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19750109-0

Baugher, Joseph F. 1952 USAF Serial Numbers. Oct 29, 2011 revision. Accessed 1-7-2012 at: http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1952.html

National Transportation Safety Board. Aircraft Accident Report. USAF Convair VT-29D (CV-340) and 150H, N50430 Newport News, Virginia January 9, 1975 (File No. 3-0001; Report Number: NTSB-AAR75-10). Wash., DC: NTSB, Adopted June 18, 1975. Accessed 1-9-2012 at: http://prcarc1.pr.erau.edu/awweb/main.jsp?menu=off&flag=browse&smd=1&awdid=1

National Transportation Safety Board. NTSB Identification: DCA75AZ008…Convair VT-29D, registration: USAF5826. Accessed at: http://www.ntsb.gov/aviationquery/brief.aspx?ev_id=46641&key=0

Progress-Index, Petersburg, VA. “23 Apparently Killed in 2 Plane Collisions.” 1-10-1975, 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=100400457

Progress-Index, Petersburg VA. “Salvage Work Planned to Recover Airplanes.” 1-11-1975, p. 2. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=100400466

Pulaski Southwest Times, VA. “Air Crash Salvage Under Way.” 1-12-1975, p. 2. Accessed 10-23-2021 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/pulaski-southwest-times-jan-12-1975-p-2/

Sturkey, Marion F. Mid-Air: Accident Reports and Voice Transcripts from Military and Airline Mid-Air Collisions. Plum Branch, SC: Heritage Press International, 2008.