Mainsail
Member
We study the accidents because we don't want them to happen again, and in my flying career I have listened to several disturbing cockpit voice recordings of crews during the horrific moment they realized they were not coming home. The recordings or transcripts (some were even accompanied by computer generated graphical representations of the mishap plane in flight) can be intense because they put you there in the midst of the event. But it's different when you know the people.
In 1997 the C-141s were being retired out of Charleston AFB in South Carolina. Pilots, Flight Engineers, and Loadmasters that were not going to fly the new C-17s were offered the choice of either of the two remaining (active duty) Starlifter bases; McGuire AFB in New Jersey or McChord AFB in Washington. So the Charleston crews were divided between those two bases.
I had only arrived in Washington a few months prior, and was living in a little apartment in Steilacoom a few miles from the base. Dave, a friend and fellow Flight Engineer, called me to tell me about McGuire tail 65-9405; it had been reported missing. We knew very little on that morning, and Dave was scheduled to fly a local training mission, so he asked me to call our friend Bob over at McGuire figuring he would know more than the network news. He gave me Bob's home phone number and asked me to call and see if he knew anything about the plane.
Once the line was clear I lifted the receiver and dialed the number. For reasons I don't understand and cannot describe or explain, I hung up the phone before it could ring the number. I've given up trying to describe the feeling, but I just felt like I shouldn't be calling. A few days later we found out that our friend Bob was the Instructor Flight Engineer on REACH 4201 and I had almost called his widow.
We've lost a lot of Starlifters over the years; most to crew error, some to bad air traffic control, and even a few to plain bad luck. McChord lost two aircraft and 13 crew members during an inflight refueling mishap only a few years before I had arrived there. Bob was the only one I ever knew personally. He was a good guy and the cockpit voice recorder that captured the sound of the impact also chronicled his fortitude and bravery in the face of incomprehensible confusion about what had just happened to them.
The USAF had been stalling on the installation of TCAS systems for its heavy airlifters, and one of the widows fought for that cause after the accident. We all knew another problem that continued to be overlooked; the upper anti-collision lights on the fleet of C-141Bs had been disabled for maintenance reasons. We'll never know if that would have made a difference.
When you join the military you're writing a check for an indeterminate amount of your life, up to and including your very life itself. Memorial Day is remembering the fallen heroes who were asked to pay in full. Rest in peace brothers.
PILOT Capt Peter Vallejo
PILOT Capt Gregory Cindrich
PILOT Capt Jason Ramsey
IFE SSgt Robert Evans
FE SSgt Scott Roberts
FE SrA Gary Bucknam
LM SSgt Stacy Bryant
LM A1C Justin Drager
Crew Chief SrA Frankie Walker
LINKS:
C141HEAVEN - All there is to know, and lots more, about the Lockheed C141 Starlifter!
ASN Aircraft accident Lockheed C-141B Starlifter 65-9405 Namibia
In 1997 the C-141s were being retired out of Charleston AFB in South Carolina. Pilots, Flight Engineers, and Loadmasters that were not going to fly the new C-17s were offered the choice of either of the two remaining (active duty) Starlifter bases; McGuire AFB in New Jersey or McChord AFB in Washington. So the Charleston crews were divided between those two bases.
I had only arrived in Washington a few months prior, and was living in a little apartment in Steilacoom a few miles from the base. Dave, a friend and fellow Flight Engineer, called me to tell me about McGuire tail 65-9405; it had been reported missing. We knew very little on that morning, and Dave was scheduled to fly a local training mission, so he asked me to call our friend Bob over at McGuire figuring he would know more than the network news. He gave me Bob's home phone number and asked me to call and see if he knew anything about the plane.
Once the line was clear I lifted the receiver and dialed the number. For reasons I don't understand and cannot describe or explain, I hung up the phone before it could ring the number. I've given up trying to describe the feeling, but I just felt like I shouldn't be calling. A few days later we found out that our friend Bob was the Instructor Flight Engineer on REACH 4201 and I had almost called his widow.
We've lost a lot of Starlifters over the years; most to crew error, some to bad air traffic control, and even a few to plain bad luck. McChord lost two aircraft and 13 crew members during an inflight refueling mishap only a few years before I had arrived there. Bob was the only one I ever knew personally. He was a good guy and the cockpit voice recorder that captured the sound of the impact also chronicled his fortitude and bravery in the face of incomprehensible confusion about what had just happened to them.
The USAF had been stalling on the installation of TCAS systems for its heavy airlifters, and one of the widows fought for that cause after the accident. We all knew another problem that continued to be overlooked; the upper anti-collision lights on the fleet of C-141Bs had been disabled for maintenance reasons. We'll never know if that would have made a difference.
When you join the military you're writing a check for an indeterminate amount of your life, up to and including your very life itself. Memorial Day is remembering the fallen heroes who were asked to pay in full. Rest in peace brothers.
PILOT Capt Peter Vallejo
PILOT Capt Gregory Cindrich
PILOT Capt Jason Ramsey
IFE SSgt Robert Evans
FE SSgt Scott Roberts
FE SrA Gary Bucknam
LM SSgt Stacy Bryant
LM A1C Justin Drager
Crew Chief SrA Frankie Walker
LINKS:
C141HEAVEN - All there is to know, and lots more, about the Lockheed C141 Starlifter!
ASN Aircraft accident Lockheed C-141B Starlifter 65-9405 Namibia
