1964 Savage Mountain B-52 crash

Savage Mountain B-52 crash
The test of B-52H 61-0023 demonstrated the loss of vertical stabilizer in strong winds.
A Boeing B-52D, similar to the accident aircraft
Accident
Date13 January 1964 (1964-01-13)
SummaryStructural failure
SiteSavage Mountain, Garrett County (near Frostburg, Maryland)
39°33′55″N 79°04′33″W / 39.565278°N 79.075833°W / 39.565278; -79.075833 (1964 Savage Mountain B-52 crash)
Aircraft
Aircraft typeBoeing B-52D Stratofortress
Operator484th Bombardment Wing, Heavy (SAC, United States Air Force)
Registration55-0060
(c/n 464012,[1] call sign "Buzz 14")
Flight originWestover Air Force Base
DestinationTurner Air Force Base
1964 Savage Mountain B-52 crash is located in Maryland
Crash site
Crash site
Barton, MD
Barton, MD
Crash site in Maryland
Crew5:
  • Pilot: Maj Thomas W. McCormick
  • Co-pilot: Capt Parker C. Peedin
  • Radar bombardier: Maj Robert J. Townley[2]
  • Navigator: Maj Robert Lee Payne
  • Tail gunner: TSgt Melvin F. Wooten
Fatalities3
Survivors2 (Pilot, copilot)

The 1964 Savage Mountain B-52 crash was a U.S. military nuclear accident in which a Cold War bomber's vertical stabilizer broke off in winter storm turbulence.[3] The two nuclear bombs being ferried were found "relatively intact in the middle of the wreckage", according to a later U.S. Department of Defense summary,[4] and after Fort Meade's 28th Ordnance Detachment secured them,[5] the bombs were removed two days later to the Cumberland Municipal Airport.[6]

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