Griffiss - Griffiss

On May 8, 1972 at 12:00 AM, Griffiss - Griffiss experienced a crash involving Boeing B-52 Stratofortress, operated by United States Air Force - USAF, with the event recorded near Griffiss AFB (Rome) New York.

The flight was categorized as training and the reported phase was landing (descent or approach) at a airport (less than 10 km from airport) crash site.

6 people were known to be on board, 0 fatalities were recorded, 6 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 0.0%.

Crew on board: 6, crew fatalities: 0, passengers on board: 0, passenger fatalities: 0, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is weather. While in a low level rout one of the engines on the left side of the aircraft malfunctioned and became uncontrollable and was shut down. Hours later on final approach to Griffiss, in a driving rainstorm at night, the copilot, following the checklist turned on the starter switches for all the engines including the one that had been shut down. The shutdown engine that was now wind milling somewhere in the descent reignited and started to increase to max power. The pilots were unaware of this. As the aircraft flared out over the runway with the engine heading toward max power and the landing gear barely touching the ground the aircraft was unable to slow down to engage the brakes. The drag shut was released but failed to deploy. Unable to stop the pilot elected to go-around and increased power…but then made the decision there was not enough runways remaining and cut back the power and announced to the crew that they were going of off the end of the runway. The impact resulted in the aircraft breaking in half just behind the crew compartment and skidding down the embankment with the outboard run-away engine still running as the gear, and AGM 28 Missiles were sheared off. The Boeing reprehensive stated that most likely the only reason the aircraft did not explode on impact was due to the mud caused by the heavy rain. All crew members survived. Source: ASN

Aircraft reference details include registration 59-2574, MSN 464337, year of manufacture 1959.