1976 — Sep 26, USAF KC-135 (61-0296) Stratotanker Plane Crash, near Alpena, MI — 15

— 15 Aircraft Crashes Record Office (Geneva, Switzerland). Michigan.
— 15 AP. “Weekend Airplane Crashes Take 35 Lives.” South Haven Daily Tribune, MI, 9-27-1976, p1.
— 15 Baugher, Joseph F. 1961 USAF Serial Numbers. 10-29-2011 revision.
— 15 Ferrara, Grace M. The Disaster File: The 1970’s. New York: Facts on File, 1979.

Narrative Information

Baugher: “Boeing KC-135A-BN Stratotanker…0296 (c/n 18203) struck high terrain near Alpena, MI after cabin pressurization problem Sept 26, 1976. 15 of 20 onboard killed. (ASN)” (Baugher, Joseph F. 1961 USAF Serial Numbers. 10-29-2011 revision.)

Ferrara: “AF crash in Michigan. An Air Force KC-135 tanker plane, the military equivalent of a Boeing 707, crashed and exploded Sept. 26 near Alpena, Mich., on the Lake Huron shore. Fifteen persons, all military personnel, were killed. Five survived.” (The Disaster File: The 1970’s. p. 20.)

Newspaper

Sep 27, Associated Press: “Fifteen Air Force men on a training flight…were among 35 persons killed in plane crashes during a deadly six-hour span….Air Force officials said there were five survivors of the crash of a KC135 tanker jet which went down in a wooded area when Wurtsmith Air Force Base last had radar and radio contact with the pilot. Two manors, nine captains, two 1st Lieutenants and two sergeants died. Three captains and a 1st lieutenant from Kincheloe AFB and an airman 1st class from K.I. Sawyer AFB were admitted to Alpena General Hospital, where four were listed in serious but stable condition and the other in very good condition early today.

“The plane, carrying five crew members and 15 passeng3rs, ripped a swath 50 yards wide and half a mile long before crashing into a swamp a mile from the nearest road, witnesses said. The largest remaining recognizable part of the aircraft, the military equivalent of a Boeing 707, was a 20-foot section of tail structure.

“Survivors were airlifted to the hospital, and the 15 bodies were evacuated to a temporary morgue set up in the same building.

“Capt. Charles Pinkard of Wurtsmith, near the crash site in Lower Michigan, said the jet was en route from K.I. Sawyer in the Upper Peninsula to Offutt AFB, Neb., with a stop over at Kincheloe. He said most of the victims were scheduled to participate in a special training program at Strategic Air Command headquarters….” (Associated Press. “Weekend Airplane Crashes Take 35 Lives. Fifteen Die in Michigan.” South Haven Daily Tribune, MI, 9-27-1976, p. 1.)

Sources

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

Associated Press. “Weekend Airplane Crashes Take 35 Lives. Fifteen Die in Michigan.” South Haven Daily Tribune, MI, 9-27-1976, p. 1. Accessed 10-9-2021 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/south-haven-daily-tribune-sep-26-1976-p-1/

Baugher, Joseph F. 1961 USAF Serial Numbers. 10-29-2011 revision. Accessed 2-23-2012 at: http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1961.html

Ferrara, Grace M. The Disaster File: The 1970’s. New York: Facts on File, 1979.