Disaster KC-135 in Wichita (1965)

After the incident in the Gulf of Tonkin on August 2, 1964, the United States openly entered the Vietnam War , starting the bombing of North Vietnamese targets. At the same time, the bombers made significant flights from the base on the island of Guam to targets and vice versa, therefore, they were actively used for refueling in the air , because of which the abbreviation NKAWTG - Nobody Kicks Ass Without Tanker Gas ( Rus. won't kick ass without a tanker ). This refueling operation was officially called Flying Fish ( Russian Flying Fish ), but the crews in an ironic form called it Operation Lucky Number ( Russian Operation "Lucky Number" ). Among those participating in this operation was the 70th bomber wing based at Clinton-Sherman Airbase ( Oklahoma state), but its crews often flew to McConnell airbase in Wichita (Kansas), where they worked together with the crews of the 22nd refueling aviation wing ^[3] .

The plane that performed the fatal departure was the Boeing KC-135A-BN Stratotanker with registration number 57-1442 (factory - 17513, serial - 122), which received the nickname Raggy 42 among the crews. Its four jet engines were the Pratt & Whitney J57-P models. This aircraft was assigned to the Clinton-Sherman Air Base ^{[4] [5]} .

The tanker’s flight crew consisted of 4 people ^{[4] [6]} :

• The commander of the ship is Captain Cheslaw "Chester" Schmuk ( Eng. Czeslaw "Chester" Szmuc ), 35 years old. He was considered an experienced and disciplined pilot, although picky, for which he was respected among colleagues ;;
• Assistant Ship Commander - Captain Gary J. Widseth , 26 years old; Prior to the transition to the jet Boeing, he piloted a screw KC-97 in .
• Navigator - Second Lieutenant Arthur W. Sullivan ( born Arthur W. Sullivan ), 22 years old.
• Flight Engineer - Staff Sergeant Reginald R. Went , 34 years old.

Also on board was a refueling team of 3 people ^[6] :

• Staff Sergeant Joseph W. Jenkins , 29 years old.
• Private 1st Class Air Force (A1C) Daniel "Danny" E. Kenenski ( born Daniel "Danny" E. Kenenski ), 20 years old.
• Private Air Force 2nd Class (A2C) John L. Davidson ( born John L. Davidson ), 20 years old.

The flight crew was from the 902nd aviation refueling squadron , and the refueling team - from the 70th organizational and operational squadron; both of these squadrons were from the 70th wing ^[4] .

On Tuesday, January 12, at 17:20, as part of the Flying Fish operation, the crew of Schmuck flew from their Clinton-Sherman base and successfully completed the task of refueling in the air, after which they landed at 21:50 at McConnell Air Base, where they stayed for the night. In a row, this was already the 19th mission in the operation, and just a few days earlier, Clinton-Sherman airbase was issued an incentive for 6 years of trouble-free operation. On Thursday, the crew had to perform another refueling in the air, after which they returned to Oklahoma, however, due to the cold front passing over Kansas at that time, the weather worsened, including winds with a speed of up to 40 knots (21 m / s), so the departure moved to Friday and then to Saturday ^[7] . At the same time, the commander Shchmuk was against such transfers, since he wanted his crew to spend Saturday at home with their families ^[4] .

On Saturday morning, January 16, the weather improved, so at about 08:30 the flight crew took up duty and pre-flight briefing by 08:50, after which they entered the airfield at 09:00 and headed for the plane on which they were to fly 1442. The refueling crew immediately boarded, while the flight crew performed a thorough external inspection of the tanker, which took an hour ^[8] . The fuel supply for the bombers aboard the Raggy 42 was 31,000 pounds (14,100 kg) of GP-4 kerosene, and the total take-off weight was estimated at 397,000 pounds (180,100 kg). When starting the engines, there was a small problem with engine No. 1 (far left), in which the power for 10 minutes was only 40% of normal before being equal to the rest, but for the new KC-135 at that time this was normal . The Boeing drove out of the parking lot and headed towards the beginning of the strip , and at 10:18 the crew requested permission to fly. The dispatcher replied that the take-off will be carried out from the “36 left” strip, and the resolution is valid until 10:26. At 10:26 the crew performed a normal take-off ^[9] .

After taking off from the ground, the plane flew 4 miles (6.4 km ) in a straight line when it requested permission for a left turn, which the dispatcher gave. However, then at 10:29, Captain Schmuck suddenly announced a distress signal . The dispatcher immediately reported that the plane was located 7 miles (11 km ) northeast of the airfield, after which he asked what problems were on board, but there was no answer ^[9] . At the same time, residents in northeast Wichita heard a rumble of buzz, and looking out the windows with horror they saw a large gray plane rushing towards their houses, leaving behind a train of black smoke - a characteristic exhaust of J57 engines ^[10] . One of the people on board tried to escape just before the fall by jumping with a parachute, but the canopy of the parachute that fell into the satellite stream did not open and the person died ^[6] .

The crew probably tried to take the out-of-control car toward the wasteland ^[11] , but at 10:31, only 4 minutes after take-off, the Raggy 42 crashed into a residential area at the intersection of 20th street and street with a deep left bank. Payatt ( Eng. Piatt ) ^[12] . On board were about fifty tons of jet fuel, which detonated produced a powerful explosion, the strength of which was later compared by some to the explosion of an ammunition depot, while the blast wave knocked out glass at a considerable distance ^[13] . Spilled fuel caused a fire on an area of ​​5 acres (2 ha ), and the flame height reached almost 50 feet (15 m ) ^[13] .

As a result of the fire, 14 houses were destroyed in 3 blocks, and another 68 houses were damaged; 30 cars were also burned ^[13] . A crater 15 feet (4.6 m ) deep was formed at the crash site ^[2] . The catastrophe claimed the lives of all 7 crew members (their bodies could not even be identified) and 22 people on earth, including 8 children under the age of 12 years. At least 27 people were injured, including 3 severely injured. One of the dead - 25-year-old Laverne Warmsley ^[6] - was pregnant, so her unborn child was officially recognized as the 30th victim ^[14] .

The investigation of the causes of the incident was handled by a commission from the air force, which 9 months later published the conclusion that the disaster occurred due to the failure of the rudder ^[2] . Also, according to some reports, the remains of the braking parachute that could remain in the runway were found in engine No. 1 after the B-52 bomber taking off in front of the KC-135 detached it from the recently landed F-105 fighter bomber ^{[ 5]} .

The city authorities paid compensation to the relatives of the dead residents. According to some reports, each family was paid $ 400 for a dead child, and $ 700 for a dead adult; survivors received a little more to compensate for the damage. Numerous courts were launched, but following the results of 30 lawsuits, each of the families who filed a lawsuit received no more than $ 13,000 , while 1/5 of this amount went to pay the salaries of lawyers. According to many, such small compensations were due to the fact that the disaster occurred in the area where only the colored population lived ^[2] .

In 1971, at the crash site, the Piatt Memorial Park was opened ^[15] . On July 14, 2007, a monument to the victims of the disaster was unveiled, made in the form of wings made of black granite, which lists the names of all those who died in the tragedy 42 years ago ^[16] .

Based on the Wichita tragedy, in 2013, the book Mayday Over Wichita: The Worst Military Aviation Disaster in Kansas History was written ( Russian : Wichita Disaster: The Worst Military Aviation Disaster in Kansas History ) ^[17] .

• Accidents with Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker

• DW Carter. Mayday Over Wichita: The Worst Military Aviation Disaster in Kansas History . - The History Press, 2013 .-- 144 p. - ISBN 1-62619-052-6 .

• Crash of a Boeing KC-135A-BN Stratotanker in Wichita: 30 killed . Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives. Date of treatment February 23, 2019.