| A
tragic event for Chelveston.... |
Some
of the guys who were stationed at Chelveston A. F.
B......
have been trying to remember the events..
concerning a plane that crashed at the base in the
early ' 60s.. |
| The
plane was an "RB-66C"... tail
number 54 - 460... |
| rhmearnssr@charter.net |
My
name is Robert H [ Bob ] Mearns. At the time of
the crash I had just rotated back to the States
for discharge. I was an assistant crew chief/ ECM
operator on flight status prior to my rotation.
I was advised of the accident by a very close
friend A1C Richard [ Pappy ] Adams..
460 had been near and dear to me dating back to
Spangdahlem..
I believe the cause of the flameout was icing of
the fuel filters
There were new filters fitted to prevent flameout.
Both the housings and the filters had been
redesigned..
It was theoretically impossible to install the
original filter in the new housing.
However someone proved it could be done as the
fuel filter on 460 had the new housing with the
original filter..
Once that was discovered, wing conducted a
complete inventory of all similar units,,
Further investigation indicated that at least part
of the problem was at depot level..
Supposedly a one time inspection was done of all
spare and operational assets
and only new housings with the new filters
were retained..
The problem at Bruntingthorpe was equally
needless..
According to the accident report that was caused
by the wrong fuel selector switch being
installed..
A new selector switch had been retrofitted to all
B - 66 aircraft that had one or two [ I forget
which ] flats on the shaft.. The original
switch had no flats. When the set screw loosened,
the selector switch could slip on the shaft. There
was more than one bird that had problems due to
this, prior to the one at Bruntingthorpe. At any
rate both engines flamed out and the airplane
bellied in on the runway. If I remember correctly
investigation
revealed that the fuel selector switch was the
original model with no flats on the shaft..
The fuel selector knob was pointing to the correct
position where all fuel passed through the
the alt tank to the engines and the CO system
could maintain the correct CG imbalance before the
forward and aft tanks. BUT the knob had loosened
on the shaft and slipped and the fuel selector
switch was
in the FWD position and the engines flamed out
when the fwd tank ran dry..
I always figured it must have been late in the
flight because surely the A/C would have
noticed the developing CG imbalance before the
tank ran dry unless the wings were empty
and the fwd and aft were down to the point the the
fwd could run dry before the A/C noticed the
developing imbalance. The reason I remember this
incident as well as I do..
is that after I read the accident report..
I checked 460 and it had the wrong switch in it. I
cited the TCTO and ordered another switch
which was received, verified to be the correct
switch and installed.
I believe Skip had all the other 42nd birds
checked and 460 was the only one with that
problem..
|
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| In
a Northamptonshire field.... February
7th 1962.... |
 |
|
rescue personnel and firemen.... and 54 -
460 |
 |
Research done by...
former Assistant Fire Chief.. Hank Howard
is posted below....
Here is what he has found out.. plus his own
recollection's.. of that day..
[ if anyone has anything to add... or change.. please let me
know.. ]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
|
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The plane was an RB - 66C. Tail number 54 -
460....
|
|
The aircraft took off at 11.07am... on
Wednesday.. 7th February 1962...
On the west end of the airfield..... [ the
Rushden side]
The aircraft was flying an instrument approach low pass...
at less than 400ft above the runway... at
1.40pm...
Both engines flamed out over the runway..
The Gunner S/Sgt. Leroy Daughenbaugh.. ejected from the cockpit area of
his position on the aircraft.
He was killed in the ejection...
Three of the rear Raven EWO officers.. 1/Lt. Reynolds
McCabe.. 1/Lt.Bill Becraft.. 1/Lt. Jim Weymark
downward ejected and were killed in the failed ejection
attempt...
They were found in their ejection seats and in disarray
on the west end of the runway and overrun apron..
Navigator.... Richard "Moose" Morris..
ejected safely....
[ Sadly, he was later killed in the crash of an
F100 at Myrtle Beach S.C. ]
The disabled aircraft... with Captain
"Skip" Jones... [pilot] rode out the crash...
The remaining Raven EWO officer
1/Lt.Norbert "Nez" Maier was still in
the rear, after his ejection seat failed to fire..
somehow, miraculously, he crawled the length of
the planes fuselage to the front of the cockpit area..
and likewise escaped the now burning rear of the
aircraft...
The Chelveston U.S.A.F. fire fighters made their way
to the crash site...
and were able to extinguish the fire
with foam application....
|
|
|
Rescue effort.... by, Hank
Howard...Asst., Fire Chief..
hazmatking@aol.com
-----------------------------------
On the initial dispatch of rescue
vehicles...
there were various problems with getting to the
end of the runway....
in which the crash occurred.... as the
runway dropped right off into the direction of the
farmers field..
and was not accessible for the large crash vehicles....
The trucks were ordered back to the front gate..
by the duty chief..
We then regrouped and went out through the main gate
with the crash vehicles...
passing base housing... taking a road
towards Newton Bromswold... via Rushden..
Once we got near the site.. where the plane
was... we experienced a problem of accessing the
field..
we could see the plane on fire... several of us
went in on foot... over the hedgerow..
We found the pilot "Skip" Jones... and
"Nez" Maeir..
thankfully they had escaped ... albeit to say they
were quite shaken...
E.O.D and the crash recovery team came in...
I remember sitting out there for the next four days..
after the crash..
with the wreckage...it was quite ghostly...
A RAM team was sent in from the USA to take the
plane apart...
The Ministry of Defence assisted with the crash
removal..
I think the plane was shipped back stateside ... for
disposal...
|
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Hank Howard on top of the wing... can't
identify the others....
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The
Crew......
|
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The members of the crew of the plane that crashed were as follows...
|
---------------------------------
3 men survived the crash....
Pilot..- Captain Charles E. " Skip" Jones.. [ who was also the maintenance
officer]
Navigator -1st/Lt., Richard A. "Moose"
Morris...
E W O 1st/Lt., Norbert J." Nez" Maier...
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4 men were lost in the crash.....
Gunner
S/Sgt Leroy Daughenbaugh Jr.,...
EWO 1ST/Lt., William R."Bill"
Becraft...
EWO 1st/Lt James T."Jim"
Weymark...
EWO 1st/Lt., Reynolds W. McCabe....
[ our thoughts are with any family members of the
crew of the aircraft ]
|
|
|
Cambridge
memorial chapel....
England....
|
|
The
crash as
reported by the Evening Telegraph.....
thanks Hank...
|
8th
February 1962...
U. S. A. F. 10th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing
Headquarters...
Alconbury... names dead and injured airmen..
----------------------------------------------
|
1st
Lt. James T. Weymark.. 26.. information
officer
he lived at.. Tudor Gate, Finedon..
married to.. Judith Ellen Weymark..
been at Chelveston since.. January 1960..
originally came from Bay Village, Ohio.....
-----------------------------------------------------------
|
1st
Lt. William Becraft.. 27.. radar
operator..
he lived at.. Clifton House, High
Street, Olney.. married to.. Jean Anne
Becraft..
been at Chelveston since.. August 1959..
hometown... Suffern, New York..
---------------------------------------------
|
1st
Lt. Reynolds W. McCabe.. 30.. single...
radar operator..
been at Chelveston since.. November 1960..
lived in the flats near the Lightstrung...
hometown.. Lemon Grove, California..
------------------------------------------------------------
|
S/Sgt.
Le Roy Daughenbaugh jr., .. 28.. flight
engineer..
he lived at.. 15, Washbrook road.. Rushden..
married to.. Alice H Daughenbaugh..
been at Chelveston since.. August 1959..
hometown.. Stephenson, Illinois..
-------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
The
three members of the crew who received minor injuries
were..
|
Captain
Charles E Jones III.. 30.. pilot..
lived in base housing.. married to.. Carolyn
Sue Jones..
been at Chelveston since.. August
1959..
hometown.. Chambersburg, Pennsylvania..
|
1st
LT Richard A. Morris.. 26.. navigator..
been at Chelveston since.. August 1959..
hometown.. Alhambra, California..
|
1st
Lt Norbert J. Maier.. 25.. radar operator..
lived at 24, Upper Park Avenue.. married
to.. Rosemary Maier..
been at Chelveston since.. November 1960..
hometown.. Pittsburgh, Pennslyvania..
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The
following are...
site readers information.. and memories... concerning
this tragic event...
--------------------------------------
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okctrirs@aol.com
|
Re
RB66C crash.. of #54 - 460....
Sgt L Dauhenbaugh.. was riding in the ex - gunners
seat....He was not a gunner...
J Zilitis and myself... were the last
gunners with the 42nd at Chelveston...
We departed Chelveston in April 1961... the seat was
then used by engineers...
Just wanted to set the record straight...Pat
Patterson....
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
John
P Walker's.. memories....
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jandj@stic.net
-----------------------------------------------------------
I
was almost ready to leave your site.. having visited it
for the first time today,
when I noticed the link to 54 - 460... brought back a
lot of memories...
I was standing outside the A & E building on
Chelveston and watched the crash...
In the RB - 66C models the pilot, navigator and gunner
all ejected up...
I watched the navigator and gunner eject... the
pilot stayed with the aircraft....
The fourth radar operators ejection seat malfunctioned..
and he moved into the crawl space of the
aircraft.. and that probably saved his life...
Two days after the crash.. I was one of several people
sent to the crash site..
to recover any radio radar equipment that might
still be in one piece....
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Events,
as remembered by... John M. Kennedy
|
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jkennedy@co.dutchess.ny.us
|
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I
was a Squadron Admin - Officer [ and an EWO crewleader] when
this tragic event occurred....
I too remember many of the details to this
day....
One of the EWO's is identified as Bill Beeman.... his
name I believe was Bill Becraft...
A year or so ago I ran into someone who knew the
family..
possibly his children, but there was no follow
up.....
|
|
I
will do my best to set forth some of my
recollections....
First, as I mentioned earlier, the correct name of the
EWO crewleader was William Becraft...
He was survived by his wife Jean.. and, I believe, one
or more small children..
They lived way off base.. I think in Olney... the
village of the annual pancake race...
As Squadron admin., officer, it was my sad task to
inform the survivors...
I set off to tell Judy Weymark.. and Jean
Becroft....
The Weymarks lived in Wellingborough I believe...
Judy was alone and knew instantly why I had come..
even before I said a word.. I don't remember much
else about the visit...
When I reached the Becraft home there were already
several other officers from the squadron there...
Ned Clark was one of them...
I now live near where Bill came from and am trying
to determine..
if indeed any child of his is living in this
area..
It may be of some interest to note that the
accident was caused as a result of a defective fuel
valve..
[ that should have been destroyed back in the
States,] .. somehow getting back into the supply
channel...
My recollection is that there was at least one other
accident / incident..
at RAF Bruntingthorpe.. due to the same problem...
On a happier note it was great to have found the B-66
and Chelveston sites..
Many familiar names came up including..
Tom Fitzgerald, Bill Starnes, John Rispoli, Gerry
Parker and Harrison Lobdell..
I have sent an e-mail to Tom Fitzgerald and plan
to call Bill Starnes
I was one of the last to leave Spangdahlem and also one
of the last to leave Chelveston..
I went to Law school.. and practiced
for many years..
most recently with the N.Y.S. Department of
Environmental Conservation, from which I retired in
2000..
I am now working for the Dutchess County as Deputy
Elections Commissioner..
and live in Hyde Park, NY., with my wife
Martha and children ages 8, 4 and 2...
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Thanks to the
following people for supplying
information...
J. M. Kennedy..... J. P. Walker..
Hank Howard... who has now been in touch with...
Brigadier General.. [Ret.,] Charles E "Skip"
Jones....
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