23rd February 1969

N8660Y 10 miles west of Ocean Station 'J' 1006, over OS'J' 1107 at 1,500' 53n 15w 1125 53n 10w 1253 ETA Shannon 1311

Piper PA-30 Twin Comanche on delivery, N8660Y, later became G-AXCO

[Looking at his altitude, sounds like he was suffering icing problems!]

21st February 1969

FT 446 55.30n 40w 2218 F260 51.30n 50w 2333 outside temp' -48C fuel remaining 52,000 lbs

Flying Tiger CL-44D, N446T


This aircraft was delivered to Flying Tiger Line on 3rd March 1962 and later sold to Conroy Aircraft Co in December 1968 for conversion to 'O' standard (i.e. Standard Guppy). In February 1969 it was leased to Mobil Oil for service in Alaska. However it was written off on 1st May 1969 as the result of a belly landing at Anchorage, Alaska. N446T´s undercarriage collapsed after heavy landing, the plane cart-wheeled and caught fire. All 4 crew survived.
Later the NTSB wrote: - "The main cause for the accident can be seen in the fact that the co-pilot did not level off correctly and that supervision by the captain was inadequate."
Though this accident was regarded as pilot error it should be mentioned that an accident in Norfolk, Virginia was identical. After these accidents operators developed special landing techniques, such as keeping power on the inboard engines to keep airflow over the elevators.
The aircraft was scheduled as Mobile Flight 109 and was engaged in transporting fuel to an oil-drilling site on the Alaskan arctic coastline.When Captain Talford Bray and his crew arrived , the last of the twenty-seven 250 gallon tanks in the body of the aircraft was being filled. The crew rapidly filed the flight plan with the airport controllers and checked on the enroute weather conditions. They returned to their CL-44, started up the engines, and departed. After landing at West Kaparukat about 5.00 a.m.. and waiting around until the fuel was off-loaded (which took about an hour) the crew returned to their positions in the cockpit and took off for the return flight to Anchorage. At 8.10 a.m., clearance was given to land on Runway 6L and about a minute later the wheels touched down. At this very instant, the right hand undercarriage beam bogie snapped, the right wing came down on the runway, the two right engine propellers slashed their way into the runway surface and finally the plane swerved to the right onto the grass, snapping off the right wing.
Fire had broken out before the plane had run off the runway. Witnesses estimated that it broke out at the same time as the right wing failed. Soon, the whole of the aircraft was enveloped in flames, and it was a miracle that the co-pilot and the engineer escaped with only minor injuries, though the pilot and a mobil fuel-loader suffered serious injuries including burns. [From the Book "Runway" by John Godson c1973]

15th February 1969

9Q-CFN 60n 10w F095 STN/Stornoway next, at 10w call Scottish on 133.2 VHF

Piper PA-27-250 Aztec, 9Q-CFN, copied on 8913 at 12:30 approx'
[I know, it sounds like it should be a C-46!]

13th February 1969

N96 63n 18.40w 1831 F350 61n 14w 1821 VM/Vestmannaeyjar next, ETA Keflavik NAS 1846

Federal Aviation Administration Boeing 717-148 (C-135K), N96. (It was earlier noted at Goose Bay on 7th January 1969.)

Built under the USAF serial 59-1518, this aircraft was delivered to the USAF on October 19, 1960, the same day it was transferred to the FAA, registered N96 and named "Ol' Smoky". Together with N98 it served with the FAA checking air routes and navigation aids throughout the USA.

It was returned to the USAF in 1976, and converted to one of only three EC-135K "Head Dancer" command posts, the other two conversions were 55-3118 and 62-3536. All three were operated by the 8th Tactical Deployment Control Squadron.

In 1996 59-1518 was converted to C-135K and assigned as a VIP transport to the 15th Air Base Wing, 65th Airlift Squadron, Hickham AFB, Honolulu, Hawaii. It was retired March 7, 2003 and flown to the AMARC in Phoenix, Arizona, USA, where it can be seen on "Display Row" (also known as "Celebrity Row").

4th February 1969

Air Force 53120 59.23n 01.10e 1723 F350 60n 06w 1758 60m 10w next

USAF (Air Force Cambridge Research Laboratory) NKC-135A, 55-3120

[Photo: © Gerrit Kok, Flickr collection]

 This aircraft was modified and participated in nuclear readiness programs during the summer of 1962 as part of the 'Fish Bowl' nuclear tests. It also conducted ionospheric scatter tests for VHF teletype transmitters, with adequate transmissions out to 1,500 miles. At the start of 1963 it underwent modification for participation in airborne gravity research. By May 1967 it was reconfigured as a flying infrared laboratory. In 1973 it is reported to have installed the equipment used in 'Project Hula Hoop', part of the SAC 'Burning Light' mission. By the late 1980's it was known as the Flying Infrared Signatures and Technology Aircraft (FISTA), and participated in such IR projects as 'Hi Camp' and 'Teal Ruby'. By the end of 1993 the aircraft was declared 'excess' and retired to AMARG, AZ with the inventory code CA095 applied.