1985 — Jan 22, USAF Plane Crash in Sea on approach to Trujillo Airport, Honduras — 21
— 21 Altoona Mirror, PA. “Hope dims…plane crash survivors off…Honduras.” 1-24-1985, 3.
— 21 Altoona Mirror, PA. “Ten bodies recovered.” 1-28-1985, p. 7.
— 21 ASN. Accident description. USAF Lockheed C-130A Hercules off Trujillo-Capiro AP
— 21 Baugher, Joseph F. 1956 USAF Serial Numbers (56-001/956) 11-12-2011 revision.
— 21 Gero, David. Military Aviation Disasters: Significant Losses Since 1908. 1999, p. 139.
— 21 Oelwein Daily Register, IA. “International – Plane search.” 1-23-1985, p. 1.
— 21 Syracuse Herald Journal, NY. “3 of 21 bodies from U.S. plane found.” 1-26-1985, 2.
— 21 United States Air Force. 440th Airlift Wing. “History of the 440th Airlift Wing.”
Narrative Information
ASN:
“….Registration: 56-0501….
“First flight: 1957
“Crew: Fatalities: 5 / Occupants: 5
“Passengers: Fatalities: 16 / Occupants: 16
“Total: Fatalities: 21 / Occupants: 21….
“Location: 13 km (8.1 mls) NW off Trujillo-Capiro Airport (TJI) (Honduras)….
Departure Airport: Balboa-Howard FB…Panama
Destination airport: Trujillo-Capiro Airport…Honduras
“Narrative: The Hercules struck the sea in a left-wing low attitude with gear and flaps retracted.[1] The airplane was positioning for a visual approach to the coastal airport of Trujillo. Weather at the time of the accident was a 1500 feet ceiling and a visibility of 2,5km.”[2]
(Aviation Safety Network. Accident Description. United States Air Force Lockheed C-130A Hercules off Trujillo-Capiro Airport 22 Jan 1985.)
Baugher: “Lockheed C-130A-7-LM Hercules….501 (c/n 182-3109, 95th TAS) crashed in sea on approach to Trujillo APT, Honduras Jan 22, 1985. All 21 onboard killed.” (Baugher, Joseph F. 1956 USAF Serial Numbers (56-001/956) 11-12-2011 revision.)
Gero: “Date: 22 January 1985 (c. 09:35)
“Location: Near Puerto Castilla, Colon, Honduras….
“Flown by an Air Force reserve unit, the four-engine turboprop transport crashed in the Caribbean Sea approximately 8 miles (13 km) northwest of Trujillo airport, where it was to have landed, an en-route stop during a scheduled re-supply mission originating at Howard Air Force Base, in the Panama Canal Zone, and ultimately bound for Comayagua, also in Honduras. Including a crew of five, all 21 American military personnel aboard were killed. The bodies of about half of the victims were found.
“During the initial phase of the approach, the C-130 was observed to turn right towards the open sea, and examination of recovered debris indicated that it struck the surface of the ocean in a left wing-low attitude, with its undercarriage and flaps still retracted. Despite the retrieval of a considerable amount of wreckage, its prolonged immersion in the salt water, which was some 100ft (30m) deep at the site of the accident, had corrosive effects that greatly hindered its evaluation. No evidence could be found, however, of in-flight fire, explosion, or of any deficiencies in the aircraft’s flight controls, instruments or power plants. There was an indication of a structural failure in the starboard wing and horizontal stabilizer, but if this occurred, it must have been almost simultaneous with, or resulted from, impact. At the time, the local weather was overcast, with a ceiling of 1,500ft (500m), and a visibility of 1 1/2 miles (2.5km). The wind was estimated at 20 to 25 knots from a north-north-westerly direction.” (Gero, David. Military Aviation Disasters: Significant Losses Since 1908. 1999, p. 139.)
USAF:“….The 440th in the 1980s. The low point of the 1980s occurred on Jan. 22, 1985 when C-130A (#56501) commanded by Maj. Mike Durante crashed in the sea off the northern coast of Honduras while trying to land at Trujillo, Honduras. The plane carried a seven-man crew and 14 passengers. There were no survivors.” (United States Air Force. 440th Airlift Wing. “History of the 440th Airlift Wing.”)
Newspapers at the Time
Jan 23: “Tegucigalpa, Honduras (AP) – Fog and stormy weather during the night forced U.S. officials to interrupt the search for a U.S. Air Force plane carrying 21 Americans that went down in the Caribbean about 500 yards off Honduras’ coast, a U.S. Embassy spokesman said. Robert Callahan, the embassy’s press attaché, said the C-130A transport was on its way to the Honduran coastal town of Trujillo from Howard Air Force Base in Panama when it splashed into the water about 11 a.m. EST Tuesday.” (Oelwein Daily Register, IA. “International – Plane search.” 1-23-1985, 1.)
Jan 24: “Tegucigalpa, Honduras (UPI) — Frogmen scoured the shark-infested waters off the northern Honduran coast today for 21 Americans presumed killed in a U.S. military plane crash after rescue parties found parts of the aircraft. U.S. Embassy spokesman…said Wednesday the U.S. Navy frigate McCloy located parts of the C-130A Hercules in the Caribbean Sea off Honduras’ northern coast, some 300 and 500 yards from where it was scheduled to land.
“The U.S. Southern Command in Panama said search parties on a beach north of Puerto Trujillo found a sleeping bag, an unused life raft with the serial number of the aircraft, aircrew helmet bags and helmets.
“The transport plane disappeared Tuesday morning en route from Panama to the landing strip at Puerto Trujillo, 270 miles northeast of Tegucigalpa, and was believed to have gone down in the Caribbean. U.S. and Honduran air force rescue teams, using airplanes and helicopters, began searching the coast early Wednesday, but their efforts were hampered by bad weather and rough seas. The weather has since cleared.
“A team of 30 divers flown in from the U.S. Southern Command in Panama and other specialists based in Panama and two U.S. military bases in Honduras today were continuing their search in the shark-infested sea….
“[Spokesman] Callahan said the plane’s final destination was to have been the U.S. Air Base at Palmerola, 50 miles north of Tegucigalpa. The aircraft was stopping in Trujillo to unload material and mail for U.S. soldiers at the Regional Training Center in nearby Puerto Castilla…
“During the last radio contact with Tegucigalpa airport, at 10:02 a.m. EST Wednesday, the pilots asked permission to descend at 22,000 feet to 20,000 feet, supposedly because of unfavorable visual conditions above Trujillo. Trujillo has no ground control tower.
“The C-130 Hercules left the Howard Air Force base in Panama at 7:53 a.m. EST…
“The plane was attached to the 440th Tactical Airlift Wing of the Air Force Reserve out of Billy
Mitchell Field in Milwaukee and was on “rotational duty” in Panama, the Pentagon said.
“U.S. troops began military maneuvers with Honduras in February 1983 to display U.S. strength in the region and prevent what Washington views as the spread of Marxist subversion from neighboring Nicaragua.” (Altoona Mirror, PA. “Hope dims of finding plane crash survivors off coast of Honduras.” 1-24-1985, 3.)
Jan 26: “The Associated Press. Tegucigalpa, Honduras — American officials say searchers have recovered the bodies of three of 21 Americans aboard a U.S. Air Force plane that crashed into the Caribbean Sea off northern Honduras.” (Syracuse Herald Journal, NY. “3 of 21 bodies from U.S. plane found.” 1-26-1985, 2.)
Jan 28: “Tegucigalpa, Honduras (UPI) — Frogmen found the bodies of two more of the 21 Americans killed in an Army plane crash off Honduras, bringing the number of bodies recovered to 10.
“Col. Angel Ricardo Luque, who is directing the Honduran search, said, a joint- team of U.S.-Honduran frogmen pulled two unidentified bodies from the wreckage of the C-130A Hercules plane Sunday afternoon.
“The transport plane crashed some 2,700 feet off the northern Honduras coast in bad weather Tuesday. The 20 men and one woman aboard — all military personnel — were killed as the plane plunged into the Caribbean off Puerto Trujillo, where the U.S. Army trains Central American forces in guerrilla tactics.
“Three bodies were found Friday [Jan 25] in the waters off Trujillo, some 150 miles northeast of Tegucigalpa, and another five bodies were found in the area Saturday….” (Altoona Mirror, PA. “Ten bodies recovered.” 1-28-1985, p. 7.)
Sources
Altoona Mirror, PA. “Hope dims of finding plane crash survivors off coast of Honduras.” 1-24-1985, 3. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=73135010
Altoona Mirror, PA. “Ten bodies recovered [USAF Hercules off Honduras].” 1-28-1985, p. 7. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=73135097
Aviation Safety Network. Accident Description. United States Air Force, Lockheed C-130A Hercules off Trujillo-Capiro Airport 22 Jan 1985. Accessed 2-21-2012 at:
http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19850122-0
Baugher, Joseph F. 1956 USAF Serial Numbers (56-001/956) 11-12-2011 revision. Accessed 2-21-2012 at: http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1956.html
Gero, David. Military Aviation Disasters: Significant Losses Since 1908. UK and Newbury Park, CA: Patrick Stephens Limited, an imprint of Hayes Publishing, 1999.
Oelwein Daily Register, IA. “International – Plane search [USAF Hercules].” 1-23-1985, p. 1. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=103964471
Syracuse Herald Journal, NY. “3 of 21 bodies from U.S. plane found [USAF, off Honduras].” 1-26-1985, 2. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=22514865
United States Air Force. 440th Airlift Wing. “History of the 440th Airlift Wing.” Posted 4-15-2009 at: http://www.pope.afrc.af.mil/library/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=3696
[1] Commanded by Major Mike Durante. (USAF. 440th Airlift Wing. “History of the 440th Airlift Wing.)
[2] Cites as source: Gero.