Air National Guard

Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker

The aircraft was returning to Geilenkirchen NATO AFB following a refueling mission over Germany on behalf of the 141st Air Refueling Wing in Fairchild, WA. On final approach by night, the crew apparently initiated a go-around procedure when the aircraft pitched up to an angle of 7,5°, stalled and crashed in a wooded area. The aircraft was destroyed and all four occupants were killed.

Fairchild C-123 Provider

The crew was completing a supply mission from Elmendorf AFB, carrying various equipments for scientists based at the Cape Romanzof Weather Station. On approach, the crew encountered whiteout conditions and the pilot-in-command was unable to locate the runway so he decided to make a go-around when the airplane struck a ridge located few miles northwest of the airfield and crashed. The airplane was destroyed and all five crew members were killed. The flight was performed by the Air National Guard.

Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter

For undetermined reason, the four engine aircraft made a wheels-up landing at Palmdale AFB, slid for several yards and came to rest. There were no injuries but the airplane was damaged beyond repair.

Fairchild C-123 Provider

Shortly after takeoff from Valdez Airport, while climbing by night and in heavy snow falls, the airplane went into a nose-down attitude then plunged into the sea about a mile off shore. All six crew members were killed. They were conducting a local training flight on behalf of the Air National Guard.

Douglas C-47 Skytrain (DC-3)

On behalf of the Montana Air National Guard, the aircraft departed Helena Airport bound for Cut Bank, carrying a crew of three and three members of the Montana Government who were en route to a speaking engagement. Weather conditions worsened and the crew encountered heavy winds and snow falls. Control was lost and the airplane crashed in the Wolf Creek Canyon located about 25 miles north of Helena. The aircraft was destroyed and all six occupants were killed. Crew: Maj Clifford Hanson, pilot, Maj Joseph Devine, copilot, M/Sgt Charles Ballard, mechanic. Passengers: Donald Grant Nutter, Governor of Montana, Dennis Gordon, executive secretary, Edward Wren, commissioner of agriculture.

Douglas C-47 Skytrain (DC-3)

The crew (pilots and instructors) departed Pittsburgh-Greater Pittsburgh Airport at 2230LT for a local training flight (proficiency check). About thirty minutes into the flight, the crew reported an engine fire and elected to return for an emergency landing when the airplane went out of control, clipped trees and crashed in flames near the Snowden Junior-Senior High School. The aircraft was destroyed and all five crew members were killed. Crew: MaJ Leroy E. Smith, Maj Ivan Allen Jr., Maj Frank Connelly, Lt David Slone, Cpt Griffin.

Douglas C-47 Skytrain (DC-3)

The morning of the crash, the crew departed from McChord Air Force Base near Tacoma, Washington, where they had picked up “hitchhiker” Corporal Timmons and then flew northward. Radio difficulties developed necessitating a return to McChord. Soon remedied, they departed once more for their first fuel stop, Annette Island, near Ketchikan, Alaska, enroute to their final destination, Anchorage, Alaska. High winds and severe turbulence prevented them from landing at Annette Island. The crew was given a choice – either return to a Canadian airport behind them or proceed north to Gustavus where runway lights and equipment for instrument landings offered better facilities for night landings than even Juneau in those days. The weather in Gustavus was reported as “clear and no winds” to “very slight winds”. The crew elected to go to Gustavus. Although the California pilot was well-trained in multi-engine instrument approaches, he was relatively new to Alaskan conditions. As the plane approached Gustavus, it was dark and beginning to snow. The passengers on the plane realized they had arrived in the Gustavus area, momentarily spotting lights through the dark and snow as they anxiously looked out the windows. The fuel supply was very low, so there were no options of returning to Annette or proceeding to Anchorage. The captain was leery of making the standard instrument approach to Gustavus because it would have required him to fly well beyond the airfield, far out over Glacier Bay with an aircraft that was running precariously low on fuel. On the next attempt – now the third time over the airport area in what the locals described as a snow squall, Mr. Aase reported that, “The pilot was in line for the runway, but got a bit low and the right wing caught a tall tree that made the aircraft start to spin and (it) nosed into the ground. “The front of the plane was badly damaged. At the same time the plane was twisting, the tail slowly lowered into the trees which cushioned it. It set down gently into the trees so that the fuselage from the wall aft was just about in perfect condition. So apparently, while attempting to keep the airfield in sight, he elected to circle and make a “short” visual approach to the runway. All four crew members were killed and the seven passengers were injured. Crew: Cpt Robert E. Kafader, 1st Lt Dennis V. Stamey, S/Sgt Floyd S. Porter, S/Sgt David A. Dial. Passengers: Lloyd Timmons, 2nd Lt Harry S. Aase, Cpt Robert D. Ellis, W/O Richard J. Mueller, M/Sgt James E. O’Rourke, 1st Lt Wallace J. Harrison, 2nd Lt William W. Caldwell. Source and text by Rita Wilson via http://www.gustavushistory.org/articles/view.aspx?id=10000