1990 — Aug 29, USAF C-5A Galaxy Plane Crash, Ramstein US Air Base, Germany — 13
— 13 Associated Press. “Air Force jet crashes; 13 die.” Kokomo Tribune, IN. 8-29-1990, p. 25.
— 13 ASN. Accident description. USAF Lockheed C-5A Galaxy. Ramstein AFB, 29 Aug 1990.
— 13 Baugher, Joseph F. 1968 USAF Serial Numbers. 1-10-2012 revision.
— 13 Galveston Daily News, TX. “Newspaper: USAF crews pushing safety limits.” 8-31-90, 7B.
— 13 Gero, David. Military Aviation Disasters: Significant Losses Since 1908. 1999, p. 152.
Narrative Information
ASN: “The C-5 Galaxy was en route to Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, carrying medical supplies, food and aircraft maintenance equipment for U.S. troops sent to Saudi Arabia following the Aug. 2 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. An intermediate stop was planned at Frankfurt-Rhein-Main AFB (FRF), Germany to have a fuel leak repaired.
“Immediately after lifting off the runway at Ramstein (RMS), the airplane stopped accelerating at a speed of 161 kts. It stopped climbing at 50-100 feet and the crew members experienced severe buffeting of the airplane. The left wing dropped and contacted a large pine tree, ripping off the nr.1 engine. The C-5 rolled left and crashed. Investigators concluded that the there had been an uncommanded and inadvertent deployment of the nr.1 engine thrust reverser during takeoff.”[1] (Aviation Safety Network. Accident Description. United States Air Force, Lockheed C-5A Galaxy, Ramstein AFB (RMS) (Germany), 29 Aug 1990.)
Baugher: “Lockheed C-5A Galaxy….0228 (c/n 500-0031, 60th MAW) crashed after takeoff Aug 29, 1990 at Ramstein AB, Germany. 13 of 17 aboard killed.” (Baugher. 1968 USAF Serial Numbers. 1-10-2012 rev.)
Gero: “Date: 29 August 1990 (00:34). Location: Near Kaiserslautern, Germany….
“Operated by the Military Airlift Command, the wide-bodied jet transport crashed and burned in a field immediately after taking off from Ramstein Air Base, killing 13 of the 17 American military personnel aboard. The survivors, who included one member of the aircraft’s crew of eight, suffered various injuries.
“Bound for Rhein-Main Air Base, also in Germany, the C-5 had just lifted off from Runway 27 when it began to drift to the left, initially clipping a number of trees with its port wing. Ultimately, it struck the ground approximately 3,000ft (1,000m) from the end of the runway and 500ft (150m) south of its extended centreline.
“The accident occurred in darkness, and there was thunderstorm activity in the area at the time, with broken layers of cumulo-nimbus and alto-cumulus clouds at 5,000ft (1,500m) and 10,000ft (3,000m), respectively. Investigation revealed some physical evidence that a power plant thrust reverser had deployed during the take-off, but there was no absolute proof of such an occurrence nor how it could have happened. It was concluded, however, that such a deployment must have involved either its No 1 or 2 engines, and had to be uncommanded. Under the circumstances, the resulting asymmetrical thrust condition would have led to a loss of control.” (Gero, David. Military Aviation Disasters: Significant Losses Since 1908. 1999, p. 152.)
AP, Aug 29: “Ramstein, West Germany (AP) — A giant Air Force cargo jet loaded with supplies for U.S. forces in the Persian Gulf crashed and burned shortly after takeoff today. Officials said 13 people on board were killed. Air Force spokesman Doug Moore said the Lockheed C-5A had 17 military personnel aboard, most of them reservists who had volunteered for the round-the-clock deployment aimed at discouraging further Iraqi aggression.
“The plane, which can lift about a quarter million pounds, crashed in a field a quarter mile from the Ramstein Air Base runway at 12:30 a.m., said Capt. Ed Worley, another Air Force spokesman. He said the jet was headed for Frankfurt’s Rhein-Main base, about 90 miles to the northeast, and then on to the Persian Gulf.
“Cathy Cox, an Air Force spokeswoman, said the death toll climbed to 13 after the recovery of the bodies of two people who had been unaccounted for in the fiery crash. The bodies of 10 others were recovered earlier, and one person died of injuries in the hospital. Ms. Cox said the four others who had been on the plane were in stable condition at the U.S. Army’s nearby Landstuhl hospital. No civilian casualties were reported.
“Journalists were not immediately allowed to see the crash site, where search teams combed through charred wreckage. Col. Brian R. Fullerton, an Air Force spokesman, said the plane was carrying no hazardous cargo. The plane’s cargo included food, medical supplies and aircraft maintenance equipment, according to Moore. The cause of the crash was under investigation.
“Ramstein, the largest U.S. Air Force base in Europe, has been a stopover point for the steady stream of U.S. planes headed to and from the Middle East.
“Worley said the C-5A belonged to the 60th Airlift Wing at Travis Air Force Base in California. He said it was flown by a crew from Kelly Air Force Base in Texas. At Kelly, base spokeswoman Maj. Donna Pastor said 10 reservists with the base’s 433rd Military Airlift Wing were aboard the plane — eight crew members and two maintenance personnel. She said the other seven on the plane were from other Air Force bases in the United States.
“The 433rd had not been called to active duty, but some reservists with the wing were voluntarily participating in Operation Desert Shield after arranging time off from their civilian jobs.
“The C-5A and C-5B are the largest transport planes in the Air Force fleet and each costs about $148 million.
“Under Desert Shield, begun after Iraq’s Aug. 2 invasion of Kuwait, the United States and other Western and Arab countries have sent troops, equipment and warships to the gulf region to protect Saudi Arabia from Iraq and to pressure Baghdad into withdrawing from Kuwait.
“The crash today occurred a day after the second anniversary of a mid-air collision during an air show at Ramstein that killed 70 people. On Aug. 28, 1988, three Italian planes crashed during maneuvers and flaming wreckage flew into the crowd of spectators.
“The crash of a C-5A on April 4, 1975, in Saigon[2] killed more than 200 people, including more than 100 orphan children being flown to the United States in the evacuation from South Vietnam.” (AP. “Air Force jet crashes; 13 die.” Kokomo Tribune, IN. 8-29-1990, p. 25.)
AP, Aug 31: “Frankfurt, West Germany (AP) – The military’s Stars and Stripes newspaper said Thursday that some U.S. Air Force crews flying troops and supplies to Saudi Arabia suffer from fatigue and are pushing safety to the limit.
“Also Thursday, Wolfgang Hofmann, a spokesman for U.S. Air Force Europe at Ramstein Air Base, said it may take weeks to determine the cause of the crash of a U.S. Air Force C-5A transport plane Wednesday that killed 13 people and injured four….
“Stars and Stripes, an authorized but unofficial military publication, interviewed a C-5 crew at Rhein-Main Air Base near Frankfurt just hours after the Ramstein crash. “Considering fatigue, limited crew rest and the long days we’re working, we’ve shaved the safety margin in some instances as narrow as it should be shaved,” the newspaper quoted U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Jack Gray as saying. Gray is the commander of a C-5 flight from Dover Air Force Base, Del. He said
he wouldn’t speculate on what caused the Ramstein crash. But Gray and his crew admitted fatigue has been a major concern during Desert Shield, in which they have flown several missions to Saudi Arabia.
“The newspaper quoted Maj. Tarn Rogers as saying: “You can get burned out very easily. Guys can become walking zombies almost incapable of making good judgments.” Many crews get only a 10-to-l2-hour layover after arriving in Germany from the United States before flying on to Saudi Arabia, Stars and Stripes reported. Officials at Ramstein said the crew of the C-5A that crashed had a 24-hour break, before taking off.” (Associated Press. “Newspaper: USAF crews pushing safety limits.” 8-31-90, Galveston Daily News, TX. 7B.)
Sources
Associated Press. “Air Force jet crashes; 13 die.” Kokomo Tribune, IN. 8-29-1990, p. 25. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=115565503
Associated Press. “Newspaper: USAF crews pushing safety limits.” 8-31-1990, Galveston Daily News, TX. 7B. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=112838967
Aviation Safety Network. Accident Description. United States Air Force, Lockheed C-5A Galaxy, Ramstein AFB (RMS) (Germany), 29 Aug 1990. Accessed 3-5-2012 at:
http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19900829-0
Baugher, Joseph F. 1968 USAF Serial Numbers. 1-10-2012 revision. Accessed 3-5-2012 at: http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1968.html
Gero, David. Military Aviation Disasters: Significant Losses Since 1908. UK and Newbury Park, CA: Patrick Stephens Limited, an imprint of Hayes Publishing, 1999.
[1] Cites: Mike Miller E-mail, 2-19-2012; and Aviation Week & Space Technology, 12-17-1990/
[2] Not included in our compilation in that this event occurred in a war-zone.