Boeing B-52F Stratofortress - "Fuel Starvation & Bail-Out" - 3/14/61

Thanks to the Rick Prelinger Archives. Things went to hell in a handbasket quickly for B-52F, s/n 57-0166 near Yuba City, CA on March 14, 1961! Nice early "Bifty-Two" scenery. Be sure to check my channel for the best in VINTAGE & RARE airliner videos!
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[@johnmcmahon3346]

Wow, a shot from the past, I was the co-pilot in this reenactment movie and had never seen it! Thanks for saving it. Boeing B-52F Stratofortress - "Fuel Starvation & Bail-Out" - 3/14/61

[@robertmantell1700]

+John McMahon Maybe you can answer the "burning" question lol.....why was it so hot inside of the plane?

[@johnmcmahon3346]

+Robert Mantell Both the pressurization and cooling system obtain bleed air from the later stages of the engine and it is very hot, it is then mixed with cooler air and through an expansion process provides air at the proper temperature and pressure. If the control of that process is lost, the hot air can feed into the cabin at the kinds of temperature this crew experienced. In hindsight it seems pretty obvious they should have aborted the mission and returned to the nearest suitable base.

[@robertmantell1700]

+John McMahon Thank you!! I wasn't going to comment on the "go/no go" since I wasn't there. I'm a Surfman in the USCG with over 19 years in, I understand how things snowball!! We go through Team Coordination Training annually specifically to help us recognize situations so that we can avoid them. With that in mind I still hate when outsiders armchair qb our stuff, they don't understand our policies, mindsets, etc....so I try not to bash other services because I simply wouldn't know. I understand that aborts were a huge deal in early SAC, like might get you relieved of your wings. Maybe that played into decision making here?

[@johnmcmahon3346]

+Robert Mantell Thank you for your service! Stay safe....

[@robertmantell1700]

And you for yours Sir. Thank you :-)

[@imallpissedoff]

We couldn't breathe, everything was so hot we couldn't touch it, we were dehydrated, we were running out of fuel, we had lost pressurization, we were hypoxic...that's when we decided to keep going.

[@andyharpist2938]

thats the Texan spirit!

[@grayman735]

🤔hmmm sounds like reasonable decision.

[@jungletension2835]

Let's wait till it's too late to call for a tanker

[@meh2063]

@@jungletension2835 they were probably forced for reasons unmentioned

[@8G00SE8]

They were on a drug called Dexedrine which could impair their thinking is one possible cause, there were more issues than mentioned in this video if you look up 1961 Yuba City B52.

[@janreznak881]

I wasn't there; but apparently back in these days of SAC the mission was the only priority. NOBODY wanted to be "that guy" who scrubbed his mission only to find he could have continued. Different times, they trained HARD, the equipment was primitive by our standards, and losses were expected and accepted. Hard for us to comprehend now, but there was a danger every time they took off that the nukes would fly. The pressure to get the job done must have been enormous. Much respect for these guys, they did a helluva job.

[@raoulcruz4404]

I'm guessing they were on a Chrome Dome mission. Priority to continue was high. Don't know if a standby bird was available.

[@ThunderAppeal]

Thank you for putting up this video. I've been running low on fuel for the last 2 hours trying to figure out whether I should land this thing or bail out.

[@MrKfq269]

Thats fucking funny. Too many serious people commenting.

[@fun2drive107]

That was the old bleed air system pumping hot air throughout the airplane. Last one I flew was a D model which always worried the crew since blowing a gasket allowed the 400F air in the cockpit.

[@craiglizt8074]

Oh wow! That would be brutally hot!

[@stuartsibitzky4888]

Edub, you're correct on the bleed air temp, about 800*F as it came off the J-57 compressor section. It cooled rapidly as it moved through the duct-work but was still dangerous when it got to the electrical and hydraulic packs. It was routed all through the fuselage and wings (bomb bay too) on all the "tall tails". There was a fire detector located above each pack. On with the show, that was the 4134th Strat Wing (later 320th Bomb Wing). I was there. I don't remember what caused the overheat problem but they descended to around 12,000 feet to dump cabin pressure. I believe the pressurization "control" (not really a controller) was four position, OFF, PRESS, COMBAT and DUMP. Once they descended, the fuel flows shot way up and it became apparent that they were going to need a tanker. Ya can't just order up a tanker like ya can a pizza. It takes time to generate a KC-135 sortie and they didn't have "time". The only tankers ready to launch were the Alert Force tankers that were part of the SAC alert posture. In order to degrade your alert force, a Wing Commander would have to have approval of the SAC Command Post at Offutt. They (local authorities) didn't want to escalate (admit) their "local problem" until it was too late. They did get authority to launch an alert tanker but by the time the bomber and tanker rendezvoused, it was too late. The bomber was "in trail" of the tanker and closing when the B52s engines began to fail with fuel starvation. Bombs? I do not believe it was a Chrome Dome aircraft. Two bombs pretty much equals no Chrome Dome (airborne alert) and that means no weapons aboard. The B-52Fs served their operational life at Mather until they were transferred to Castle in the early/mid 70s. I served as a tail gunner on the B-52F.

[@PelicanIslandLabs]

According to the Wiki page on Chrome Dome program this crash was part of the program.

[@rvnmedic1968]

@@PelicanIslandLabs Could be, but Wiki allows anyone to edit the info. Not exactly a highly accurate source IMHO.

[@hoghogwild]

2:19 One of the 2 available downward firing ejection seats. minimum safe altitude for B-52 downward firing ejection seats is 250 feet. the B-52's 4 upward firing seats are 90/0 or ninety/zero seats. They require 90 knots of speed but require no altitude whatsoever to enact a safe ejection. The 4 upper seats can be used whenever the jet is on the ground, so long as its travelling at 90 knots or greater. the forward velocity is required in order to get the parachute inflated. newer Zero/Zero seats do not require altitude nor velocity.

[@nikerailfanningttm9046]

1:15 “My window shattered” If your flying a B-52, that’s when you know you better get to a lower altitude or tell the crew to abandon ship and bail out if you can’t get her to below 40,000FT quickly.

[@jdbyram31]

I was on the crash investigation team for this accident. The reason for the elevated cockpit temperature was a relay failure on a modulator valve which controlled the mixture of hot air from the engine and cool air to regulate the crew compartment temperature. The valve was stuck in the full-hot position. The aircraft was on a 24 hour mission and Strategic Air Command crews completed their missions ....period. The nuclear weapons on board were not armed so presented no problem.

[@paulrward]

BULLSHIT !! The aircraft suffered a inflight failure of critical system. The lives of the crew were endangered, as well as anyone they were flying over. Failure to Abort the Mission and return to base was a Command Failure, and should have been punished by a sentence recomended by a Court Martial. The aircraft commander, his direct superior, and ANYONE who was involved in the assinine decision to continue the flight should have been removed from the USAF. As for no one on the ground being in any danger, that B-52 crashed out of control in the center of California. If it had struck a home, a school, or a hospital, the loss of life would have been considerable. As it was, the Nuclear Weapons on board disintegrated, and scattered Plutonium all over the landscape. YOU might think that wasn't a problem, but the farmer whose land they contaminated sure as hell thought it was a problem ! And people wonder how we could have been so stupid as to get involved in Vietnam......

[@aileron48]

The word "starvation" caught my eye. It's a mute point, but in aviation terms, the word starvation is when there is fuel on board, i.e. in a fuel tank but the feed is not switched to get it to the engine(s) whereas fuel exhaustion is where there is no fuel remaining. Either way, this was a tragedy.

[@danmulcrone6581]

One hour into a super long flight, they knew something was wrong. I think a return one hour trip at low altitude would have been better than the bailouts and the loss of the aircraft.

[@braddywarbucks]

Typical stubborn military leadership

[@barefooboy17]

Agreed

[@colonelsnyder2413]

D, you have an SFB's 20/20 hindsight. The BUFF notoriously ran hot or cold, or would wildly cycle in-between. Usually ran cold at altitude and then full hot during low-level flight and bombing. It was always miserable--especially when violently bouncing around at 450 GS and 500AGL on the L/L bomb runs. You other two numbnutz who blamed "stubborn military leadership", don't know Jack shit ! We weren't snowflakes like you snatches are now. During 'Nam, it was routinely 120 degrees inside cockpit while pre-flighting, and freezing during A/R and bomb runs. If you returned to base because you were "too hot,", you'd never live that down with your peers. You might also have to spend some time as a copilot again. So, STFU when you pansies don't know what UR talking about.

[@slappy8941]

@@colonelsnyder2413 So you're defending the actions that led to the loss of an aircraft?

[@secondrule]

@@colonelsnyder2413 LOL, fake army man. Troll. Are you really Russian?

[@rogetbeck6097]

As a former BUF Edub we were told the tall tails had 800F high pressure bleed air sent to the hydraulic and generator pac's in the aft fuselage. BUF's can't dump fuel so you have to fly around burning down to landing weight. This incident was warned about in subsequent Dash Ones.

[@thomasmckee9410]

Speak English

[@tomkandy]

@@thomasmckee9410 BUF = big ugly.... feller = b52 edub = EWO = electronics warfare officer dash one = flight manual

[@thomasmckee9410]

Thank you !

[@dystopian..]

Roger maverick

[@BadSneakers]

My dad. Col Charles R Hammack, was second in command during this time at Beale AFB. He flew in many of the scenes in A Gathering of Eagles. This is awesome.

[@BadSneakers]

+BadSneakers PS, isthis Christian??

[@mcdonnell220]

+BadSneakers Hi Jeff, it's me. :-)

[@Logan-th2vs]

@@mcdonnell220 wait are you his dad lmao

[@DemocracyDiesInDarkness]

Cause of the accident was deciding to continue the flight in the first place.

[@johnpotts7846]

A fellow I served with in the Army had been one of the last enlisted men to fly in a B-52 as a tail gunner. He bailed out at over 30,000 feet over Nebraska. When he left the USAF, he joined the Army.

[@thefreedomguyuk]

I've seen guys transfer over from the Army to the Air Force. But I have never heard of any Air Force crew transfering over to the Army!! I was AF, we were always told they over in the Army were yelling at each other, they got all dirty, and had to defecate in the woods....

[@johnpotts7846]

@@thefreedomguyuk Taking a dump in the woods is a mystical experience few understand. We did not get dirty, we got filthy and put on war paint , got lots of tattoos, and we barked at the moon. Indeed, I was awarded a Moon Barking Medal First Class with OLC. Hahahaha!

[@EasternExplorer]

One of these crashed near my house in 1957. The engines are still in the woods.

[@stevecharles5244]

I flew D models 1975-80. In this 1961 incident the Air Cycle Machine, (air conditioning),was stuck in full hot. These planes were among the first jet/pressurized aircraft built and not all the bugs were worked out. I lost my room mate and best friend in a B-52 crash in 1978. We don't know enough details to judge the crew but it's clear mistakes were made.

[@natt2050]

One of the valves was stuck in hot, not the air cycle machine. May have been a hot air bypass valve. I have worked the air conditioning systems on heavies and fighters, but not the b52. They still should have been able to shut it off if necessary, but cabin pressurization is primarily the concern. I have had a fighter have a valve stuck in the got position when the pilot was flying it across the Pacific. This was right after the plane came out of a inspection and I personally checked the valve. The cchief doing the eng run remembered as well. Must have been quite an experience flying those buffs. Congrats.

[@salvatoregiovanni8967]

No, there clearly ARE enough details to judge the aircrew. Any responsible pilot would not have continued.

[@ktcd1172]

This may be a bit late, but for all those pushing the Air Crew should have this and the the Air Crew should have that, you need to remember that 1) this was the Strategic Air Command as envisioned by Gen. Curtis LeMay, while no longer Commander SAC, he was Chief of Staff, USAF during the time that this and some other accidents occurred. Not only that, but there was a whole different mindset for those in SAC at the time. Even 8 years later when I joined the USAF it was "There is SAC and there is the rest of the Air Force". Because of their Nuclear Mission, SAC pretty much did things their own way. This held into the 1980's when I left Minot AFB for Europe.

[@royhoco5748]

I worked on a SAC EC135 aircrew and they definitely do things differently

[@bruceapearce5885]

Given the date, the 24 hour mission, and the fact that nukes were on board, it sounds like a Chromedome mission. If that's the case, they could not land until their replacement was in the air. There were only 3 situations when a B-52 from my base was loaded with nukes: 1) the plane was destined for the alert pad, 2) an ORI or ORIT was being conducted, and 3) Chromedome missions.

[@jamesrudd8705]

I can't begin to describe how much I hated ORIs. It's THE reason I didn't stay in.

[@bobl78]

they could not land... so crashing is better ? They should have declared an emergency, start returning to base...enough time for the replacement to get airborne...

[@kishascape]

All that for a stupid farce the Russians didn’t even care about and did nothing in response to,

[@fargofantom6854]

From Wikipedia: On 14 March 1961, a B-52F from Mather AFB, California carrying two nuclear weapons experienced an uncontrolled decompression, necessitating a descent to 10,000 feet to lower the cabin altitude. Due to increased fuel consumption at the lower altitude and unable to rendezvous with a tanker in time, the aircraft ran out of fuel. The crew ejected safely, while the unmanned bomber crashed 15 miles (24 km) west of Yuba City, California.

[@jdbyram31]

Wrong! The plane was out of Castle AFB and the cockpit temperature was uncontrollable.

[@ScoutSniper3124]

"fortunately only two of the men received MAJOR injuries" depends on your definition of 'fortunate'. Why was the cockpit so damn hot, that's what I'd like to know.

[@watchgoose]

Two is better than MORE.

[@oxcart4172]

Ryan Taylor I wish that were clearer! do they mean a hospital stay-or life changing?

[@willwarden2603]

Heat from engine bleed air went haywire?

[@RubenKelevra]

Well, an aircraft feed fresh air preheated from the engines into the cabin - called bleed air. If something is wrong in mixture of cold and preheated air, you can either decent and turn off the air pressurization, fix it or live with it. Since a decent increase the fuel consumption for the flight and an unpressurized flight have major physical issues without proper pressurized suites, the best option is: live with it, since you can hardly fix the engine issue in flight... The best option would have been to divert and land somewhere safe, since they had two nuclear warheads on board. But what do I know, it's surely not the fault of the commander in ground but fatigue from the flight crew which caused the issue 🤨

[@dagsabot5589]

Mix tape.

[@RCAvhstape]

According to the wiki page on this accident (Yuba City crash) a fireman was killed in a highway accident on his way to the scene of the crash, and 2 nuclear weapons were in the aircraft when it crashed, so this had greater consequences than just injured crew and loss of an airplane.

[@JohnJohnson-dj2dv]

The nukes made the decision to continue under these conditions all the more idiotic! Cause of accident should read: Complete error by Mission Commander to abort mission. It could have been a disaster even worse than "just losing" a major asset. What a dumba$$.

[@hughes2397]

Looks like they got stuck with a real turkey that day.

[@seikibrian8641]

"Nukes don't just blow up in the event of an accident. They don't detonate that way." No, but they can break up and spread weapons-grade plutonium over a large area, disperse tritium into the air, etc.

[@StarchAddict]

Multiple safety interlocks on the weapons stopped them from breaking up and spreading radioactive material.

[@seikibrian8641]

Liam "Multiple safety interlocks on the weapons stopped them from breaking up and spreading radioactive material." No, multiple safety interlocks prevent the weapons from detonating, but they don't do anything to prevent physical breakup from impact damage. That was just a matter of luck and the way the aircraft impacted. If you don't know what you're talking about, don't post nonsense.

[@LateNightCable]

I would imagine so. Uncontrolled/leaking bleed air would be the only thing that could create those temperatures inside.

[@macworks9389]

I was happy to see the low fuel lights come on. I knew that meant the engine fire warning lights would go out in a few minutes…

[@philzambo]

Earl McGill, a retired SAC B-52 pilot, claims that the aircrew, after an inflight refueling session that provided inadequate fuel, refused the offer of an additional, unscheduled inflight refueling, bypassed possible emergency landing fields and ran out of fuel. The crew ejected, the aircraft broke up and four onboard nuclear weapons were released. The weapons' multiple safety interlocks prevented both a nuclear explosion and release of radioactive material. LTC McGill, based on his SAC experience, blames the aircrew failures on the use of Dexedrine to combat fatigue on the 24 hour flight preceding the accident.

[@watchgoose]

"claims"

[@obfuscated3090]

The crew should have had a longer rest interval between flights if that was the case. Aircrew are still prescribed amphetamine for very long flights (it's MUCH less stressful than drinking buckets of coffee and getting headaches and tinnitus from caffeine overload) but crew rest is monitored between sorties.

[@jdbyram31]

This was not the case in this accident at all. McGill knows not of what he proclaims. I ws on the accident investigation team.

[@secondrule]

@@jdbyram31 I am an astronaut :-) At least I play one on the internet.

[@jefftheriault7260]

@@jdbyram31 Could you point us to that document? Would be fascinating reading if it's in the public domain.

[@ScoutSniper3124]

As an INFANTRYMAN in Iraq, where the inside of our HMMWV would be well over 100 degrees, while we were WRAPPED in Body Armor and unable to lower the windows (bullets tend to come in like flies) for 12 to 14 hours a day on Patrol, we would WELCOME a day in such LUXURY as an overheating B-52. At least you flyboys got to take breaks. What the USAF called "HELL" we call Tuesday. SSG. U.S.Army (Medically Retired), Infantryman / Sniper, multiple tours

[@MrKfq269]

Did you guys crash your hummer?

[@nomadjeff1922]

I know what you mean man. I used to hate it when the Satellite TV and Air-conditioning didn't work. God it was awful when our maids went on strike. Didn't have the ASVAB score or what? Should have joined up man. I loved it.

[@fun2drive107]

Back then you took broken aircraft and you would catch hell from your Wing Commander for aborting a flight. These guys had plenty of reasons to abort this flight. What burns me up are the guys that bailed out at Diego Garcia during DS. Totally dominate AC and weak crew caused this accident (ran out of fuel when center body tank had plenty). AC told his crew he would see that anyone that ejected or bailed out before he said so would be court marshaled. They did so many things wrong that the list is endless. But two aircrew dies as a result maybe 3 I just can't remember. My instructor pilot a friend of mine and I discussed this when we gor the report and could not believe they were burning generators out and didn't ell the EW and Navs to shut things down. Once on battery power you can't get fuel except the wing tanks so all the fuel in the center body was not obtainable. Senseless loss of aircraft and aircrew. I did other accident investigations on B-52's and this one was notable for the lack of good crew coordination and domineering AC.

[@RedOcktober]

hey... leave those guys alone... you had to be tough to fly the heavies back in the day... :) thx for the upload... --Mike

[@shayneoneill1506]

Doesn't matter. The Captain failed his crew who where clearly starting to fail under physical stresses.

[@ramairgto72]

ll times are hours and minutes after takeoff. 0:20 - the pilot first noticed excessive hot air coming from the pilots' vents. All attempts to control this hot air were unsuccessful. 6:00 - Mather Command Post contacted the aircraft on HF radio. The heat problem was discussed and wing guidance received. This consisted of several suggested corrective actions which were verified by the pilot as having been used earlier without success. 6:30 - Mather control room called the aircraft on HF radio and discussed the heat problem and the effects of the heat on the aircraft electronics and crew personnel. Wing guidance at this time was to continue the mission. 6:50 - Mather control room contacted the aircraft and Wing guidance was to "continue mission as long as you can; call us back after second refueling tonight and advise us of your status, if it gets intolerable, of course, bring it home." 11:15 - Mather control called Doe 11 to see if he would complete the mission. At that the response was, "We are going to try." 12:35 - Mather control was contacted by Doe 11 and told that Doe 13's refueling was completed and "we are about ready to take off." Control asked, "Your present status . . . has it improved?" The pilot answered "Negative . . . worse . . . number 3 engine setting at 70% . . . we had it once before and it cleared up but at this time it has not cleared as yet." Control advised, "Understand you will proceed on course and we will be looking for you tomorrow." 14:00 - the outside panel of the pilot's L-4 window shattered. The heat in the cockpit was unbearable at this time and had cracked the glass case for the ball on both pilot's and co-pilot's turn and slip indicators. It is estimated that the upper compartment heat level ranged from 125-160 degrees F or higher during this period. A decision was made to depressurize the aircraft and attempt to continue the mission. Altitude was 33,500 feet. 14:20 - after 20 minutes of unpressurized flight, the decision was made to descend to 12,000 feet and continue the mission as far as possible at this altitude. 15:00 - Mather control contacted Doe 11 and asked "Which windshield is cracked and what is your present altitude?" Answer received, "The L-4 window shattered, heat unbearable at altitude, two sick crew members. We have descended to 12,000 feet and plan to go 150 nautical miles north of TP 3.19 and return direct to Mather." They were advised to "proceed as planned, recommend you stay low altitude, give us an estimate on your fuel as soon as you get in close enough to contact us." 16:50 - Mather control contacted Doe 11 via HF radio requesting ETA to Mather. The aircraft reported, "We just passed TP 3.19 at 1212Z, estimate 150 nautical miles north of TP 3.19 at 1239Z, ETA to Mather 1755Z." 18:50 - Mather control contacted the aircraft through HF radio to check his progress. 19:45 - McClellan called for flight plan and altitude required from last position to Mather. 20:30 - aircraft contacted McClellan to ask Early Warning vessel "Hardware" to look out for them and would like a fix. 21:00 - the aircraft contacted Mather control stating, "We would like a tanker up here and get a little fuel. We now figure we will be over the field at 14,000 pounds. That is a little light. We would like to have a tanker." And, control answered Doe 11 "will be cleared for a straight in approach and will have tanker standby . . . we will not launch unless you go below 10,000 pounds." Doe 11's ETA to Mather at this time was given as approximately 22:30 hours after takeoff. For approximately the next hour, several heading deviations up to 30 degrees were made by the pilot of Doe 11 to circumnavigate the weather associated with a front in this area. Turbulence was moderate. It is estimated from study of weather and Doe 11 pilot and navigator interviews that 7 or 8 minutes were lost during this frontal penetration due to these heading deviations. 21:50 - Mather was contacted through HF radio and advised he had, "#1 main tank gauge stuck at 10,030 pounds . . . we are not sure just how much fuel we have in it now. We have #2 and one other 1/4 full warning light on and I think it would be a good idea to get that tanker airborne." Mather Control Room advised, "We have a tanker airborne. Pick him up at Red Bluff VOR and refuel back in this direction. You might keep in mind, if things get a little close up there, head into Beale AFB." Later in this same conversation, Mather control indicated, "We will get it off the ground here ASAP." 22:10 - Democrat contacted the aircraft on HF advising, "McClellan is requesting your present position." The aircraft advised, " . . . just coasted in and looking for our tanker." This was the last contact through Democrat HF radio. 22:10 - the tanker was launched. 22:23 - the bomber and the tanker initiated the head on rendezvous at 70 nautical miles. Normal mileage countdown was used and the bomber turned the tanker at 21 NM. This left Doe 11 flying at 280K IAS approximately 11NM behind the tanker after the tanker rolled out on refueling track. The bomber asked the tanker to slow down. The tanker reduced speed to 200K IAS, and then to 185K IAS. The bomber maintained 280K IAS to approximately 2NM behind this tanker, and then lost power. The pilot had warned the crew earlier of the possibility of bailout and he now alerted them to prepare for bailout. He initiated a 30 degree bank to the west toward a clear area as all engines flamed out together at approximately 22:40 hours after takeoff.

[@ramairgto72]

I been in MOPP level 4 with it over 100 out, very hard to do anything.

[@richardjones2952]

I believe it was 1967 or 1968 a B-52 crashed near Peas Air Force Base in New Hampshire because of a mistake in a word. The crew were flying a simulated bomb run and the Instructor Pilot told the pilot while doing the run to do a "Roll Out". The Radar Navigator mistook "Roll Out" for Bail Out! He ejected out and the Weapons Officer ejected out also. The Pilot and Co-Pilot heard them say "Bail Out" and heard them eject, so they too ejected out. The B-52 went down with the Instructor Pilot "Who didn't have an ejection seat" and the Tail Gunner who was unable to blow off the rear turret," which was his mode of escape" because the plane was in a steep nose dive. So two men lost their lives and a perfectly good aircraft crashed over the mistaking of one "WORD". True Story, This was reported in the Air Force Times and we were briefed of the incident at safety meetings.

[@mikevagg]

+Richard Jones I were at Pease about that time. On December 8, 1964, a B-47E Stratojet bomber (#53-4244) carrying four airmen crashed and burned shortly after takeoff from Pease Air Force Base, another crash in the 50s was caused by an overheated bearing

[@mickrussom]

why couldnt the instructor pilot fly the plane?

[@paullee7467]

That sounds crazy, why would anyone think the instructor pilot on a perfectly good plane would say bailout & then bailout?

[@RubenKelevra]

Richard Jones what a dumb story, why didn't the instructor land the plane? 🤨

[@tommyhvalberg]

Ruben Kelevra Because when 4 people have bailed out of a plane there are 4 big holes in it. The bomber was unpressurized, and most probably unsteerable.

[@mcdonnell220]

Guys, feel free to check out the rest of my channel...I have more RARE aviation films besides just this one!

[@HondaPactStudent]

thanks I just subscribed

[@elkejohanna8611]

+Classic Airliners & Vintage Pop Culture So thought B-53s could still going despite starvation and they could reach safety

[@derekwall200]

you know I will

[@plowboyrick]

Classic Airliners & Vintage Pop Culture

[@thomasthornton5889]

Classic Airliners & Vintage Pop Culture day

[@FLJuJitsu]

Wow, it takes a lot to fuel starve a B-52, the F model even had the updated J57 engines shared on the G model. Given the attitude of SAC I can understand them pushing on with the flight but when the window shattered that should have been the que to head home.

[@obsoleteprofessor2034]

My friend's dad was beet harvesting in the area. He looked over to his pickup and saw someone leaning on it. It was one of the crew members.

[@ripcord1022]

They should have aborted the mission and maybe saved the aircraft by taking corrective action sooner. The good news was that they all got out but what were the major injuries and which crew members i.e Navigator, Bombadier, etc. The plane is expendable. Nice footage.

[@DreePah]

ripcord1022 No, it is exactly the other way around. Life is cheap, bullets are expensive.

[@456swagger]

+ripcord1022 Yeah! But that's not quite good enough. How about They should have disobeyed orders and refused to get in to the aircraft. Yeah! or they should have gone AWOL or better yet deserted their post. No not these guys! Can you believe it? They actually tried to fly the Mission! What were they thinking?

[@kurttappe]

They had nukes on board. You are being facetious but it really is a very good question, "What were they thinking?"

[@vintagethrifter2114]

Even if they made the rendezvous with the tanker, they still may not have made it. Do you have any idea how many B-52s have been lost during mid air refueling?

[@Ulleval73]

Cause of crash was aircraft malfunction...then the physiological factors dominated. Why did the aircraft fail to perform as designed?

[@jcwoodman5285]

And WHY did the temp go so high in the first place?

[@ahz123]

@B2AV3 Too bad you weren't there to show them how it is done!

[@edgyguy5553]

"fortunately, only two of the men received major injuries." lol, that's the way to build the drama...

[@rushfari]

What we have here is a top-10 all-time youtube comment. Thank you. Sadly, most people read what you said and have no idea where it came from or what it means. I remember both Dr. Strangelove & Fail Safe coming out at the same time. Same scenario, with one movie making you laugh and one scaring you to death. My favorite line: President Merkin Muffley says, "Gentlemen. You can't fight in here. This is the War Room!" Priceless.

[@E9clyde9]

This sounds like an undeclared flight emergency. What was the aircraft commander thinking?

[@MikeB3542]

It sure sounded like a real cluster...guessing this was shared as a "lessons learned" matter. A return to base to sort the matter looks obvious in retrospect. Considering the time frame (around the Cuban Missile Crisis), the priority was on having as many bombers as possible at their Failsafe positions over the Arctic Circle 24/7, and for the crews to maintain radio silence. The lesson learned was and remains that there is a bigger mission that can't be fulfilled if you lose aircraft and crewmen; don't wait for the emergency to become unmanageable...betting that the first failure (high cabin temp) won't cause other failures or won't be the only failure is asking for it.

[@jdbyram31]

Someone who knows what really happened ought to post the facts of cases such as this. It is sad to read so many comments and conjecture as to the cause, from the uninformed, especially when they lay the blame where it does not belong. I was on the accident investigation team. I will say that an electomechanical failure caused the overheat problem. It, being a SAC mission, placed the Aircraft Commander in a position where he felt the pressure to complete the mission. Eventually the elevated temperature resulted in him suffering from essentially the same impaired judgement as would be caused by oxygen starvation. The decision makers on the ground got their "just rewards".

[@tedlesher2884]

Jerry Byram: I became combat-ready and started pulling alert at Mather in 1964, when there were still some people around who had been there when this crash occurred. The story I heard was in agreement with this film, with some additional information: there had been a similar incident with runaway cabin heat a few weeks before, the crew aborted and got mercilessly chewed out for it. When the same thing came up again, the A/C told the crew "Sorry, guys, but we have to take it" and off they went. That story rings true, but after nearly 60 years I haven't found any corroboration. Your comment about "just rewards" implies something like this actually happened, and it's a matter of public record that the wing commander, ColFrank Amend, was out of the service altogether a few days later. Any comment? [e-mail]

[@vivekpilot]

The analogue meters were a beautiful sight..

[@A3Kr0n]

Thanks for keeping us safe?

[@rotorheadv8]

As a former Marine pilot, I don’t understand the Aircraft Commander continuing on with the mission when there were obvious major issues with the aircraft.

[@jdbyram31]

You didn't fly for SAC. The AC's were charged to "Complete The Mission" . I was on the Accident investigation team for this accident. I t got highly political.

[@davenally8672]

"Fortunately, only two of the men received major injuries" LMFAO

[@dj6769]

After reading a good portion of the comments it’s obvious who’s probably not a veteran. The purpose of peace time military is to prepare for war time readiness to operate as if being engaged not calling “time out” pushing man and machine outside the envelope; so when in actual war we’re not floundering around wondering what to do oh what to do.... Writing or updating preflight/inflight/emergency checklist to know what to expect what works/don’t work. All of the aviation safety we experience today was paid for by the lives lost in mishaps through the decades.

[@videographer1KIK]

I worked on the B-52 in Andersen AFB, Guam and on the C-130 in Little Rock AFB, Arkansas! SAC STRATEGIC AIR COMMAND Persian Gulf War

[@erikthorsen4466]

Well just what was the cause of the extreme heat in the cabin??

[@mwbgaming28]

maybe the air conditioning failed or was insufficient the bleed air from those engines is pretty damn hot and the bleed air is what is used for pressurisation

[@zzz-x7p]

Just roll the windows down ya dingus!

[@Orca19904]

TANSTAAFL: Yeah, brilliant idea, and have all the air get sucked out of the pressurized cabin. That'll fix the problem alright...

[@mytech6779]

Probably another case of someone in command secretly experimenting on service members. Curious that it didn't effect the nav station.

[@jarheadleatherneck9965]

Why didn't they wind down the windows at 12 thousand feet. Pretty chilly up there at that altitude.

[@michaelreed8495]

Several reasons: 1) internal vs external air pressure difference. Higher internal pressure holds the 2 small windows that can be opened closed, 2) those two small windows don't crank - they slide to open but not inflight ( see #1 above) , 3) the BUFF cruises at approximately .88 mach, which at 25,000 feet means nearly 650 mph wind would be comming through that open window, thats about 3.5 times stronger than an f5 hurricane.

[@MJLeger-yj1ww]

Unless you are a pilot, people don't realize how hot it can get in the cockpit and without pressurization and coolers, it becomes intolerable in short order (unless you're at a high altitude)! I'm not sure why these guys weren't able to get their "Buff" down below 12,000' and open some windows and try to land her instead of bailing and letting that bird crash. But it was 1961, and things were a lot different then! Fatigue is never acceptable in flying, because it causes errors and even slight errors can be deadly. I don't know how it used to be, but today, on very long flights (and I'm talking about 16-26 hours in the air, which is possible due to in-flight refueling) they have additional crews on board who can trade off with the flight crew in the cockpit. There's racks where they can sleep, food, cold drinks (not alcohol of course) and ways to keep cool because the cabin is pressurized and temps can be controlled. Besides, at high altitudes, the air outside is very cold so it wouldn't be as much of a problem.

[@michaelmixon1099]

Was this an experiment? why would the mission continue after the initial problem?

[@JimsEquipmentShed]

+Michael Mixon It was a mission, back n those days, missions got completed, no matter what...... I'd have to say, once the temp hit 140 I'd be forced to mutiny... ;-)

[@kurtiskaskowski5386]

Think about if it was an actual mission and not training.. during war you can't just abort because you're hot. I know this was extreme but I do understand why they went along with the mission.

[@Warhorse500]

I know I'm late to the party here....but the mentality back in those days was to press on, problems be damned. It was near the end of the post-WW2 era; there were still a lot of those guys flying, although by '61 many of them had retired. Coupled with Lemay's general mindset, I think those guys were probably more afraid of a court-martial for failure to carry out orders (i.e. the mission) than they were of dealing with a crippled airplane. These days the mentality is different. Not necessarily weaker; I dare ANYBODY to go up to a B-52/B-1/B-2 pilot and crew and tell them they're a buncha pussies. That conversation won't end well....for you. But mishaps like the one in the video have impressed upon the USAF that ANY loss of equipment---and more importantly, highly trained personnel that are damned difficult to replace---isn't worth the kind of "squeeze" espoused back in the Lemay Era. These days, the overheating cockpit would be a real source of concern; not only is it bad for personnel but the computers definitely would start having issues. A modern crew would have called a "Pause-Ex", done what they could to alleviate the immediate problem, and started troubleshooting ASAP, followed by an RTB. This isn't an ironclad statement; were it an actual combat sortie, there would have been some serious risk management discussions going on between aircraft and ground and a decision made weighing the cost of continuing with an aircraft at less than 100% vs. RTB and non-delivery of the strike package.

[@timhecox7106]

Late to the party perhaps in commenting, but bleed air one way or another was the culprit. It was carrying nukes, you can't just land anywhere. Pilot comfort was not on the list of priorities and this reenact doesn't tell the whole damn story, and probably not 100% accurate besides. But they did say due to the physiological stress, mistakes were made. One of them was not correctly calculating fuel burn at fl120 they only resorted to that altitude when the wind screen began to crack. Otherwise a blowout would have caused massive decompression which is another reason why they couldn't just pop open a window at fl450 or whatever their altitude was. Once they resorted to fl120 their mission was essentially over as they would not be able to go to their assigned target. They were likely attempting to fly to the nearest nuke base or their original base. Remember too to the ignoramuses that said pop open a window at fl120 they are no longer flying at 600mph groundspeed. More likely close to airspeed which would have been around 350mph so getting to where they were trying to go now would have taken twice as long. The crew had become physically and mentally incapacitated. Which is why the the late call for a tanker due to miscalculation of fuel burn at a significantly lower altitude. Lastly, nukes will never go off unless armed, even at a free fall from 10 miles up. And not even likely to cause radiation leakage. This was not the only plane to have ever gone down with nukes on board. None have blown up or created severe radiation leakage. As for las Vegas... the test conducted were far enough away at the current levels of radiation of the day and if I recall they were also carried out only when the wind direction was away from any highly populated area.

[@nomadjeff1922]

Lose ECS (Environmental Control Systems) and you will cook. I was riding backseat in and F-16D model from Denmark to Belgium and our ECS (Air Conditioning) went out. I was boiling with the canopy surrounding me like a magnifying glass! They had to pull me out and get an IV in me and the pilot ASAP. Unreal. I sweated through my flight suit and into my G-suit.

[@e.conboy4286]

Nomad Jeff : Bless your heart. I, among others, am glad that you survived and received prompt treatment. Well done, and thank you.

[@skoko1945]

Somebody made a bad call to keep that aircraft in the air.

[@scotthanson7888]

the excess heat in the cockpit ok, glass window in the fuselage shattered, crew members experiencing mysterious illness, Dude declare an emergency and find someplace to land. Not even Major Kong would push on. Mix us up a couple of pure grain alcohol and rainwaters.

[@christrotter3052]

Oh damn... 😂

[@charlesbonkley]

A little water on the back of the neck too may feel pretty good after that flight!

[@richsmith8035]

I wish more people would appreciate what these fine men and women go through, in serving their country. Most seem blissfully ignorant.

[@thetruth3768]

+rich smith If they knew what they were doing they wouldn't do it.

[@ramairgto72]

+rich smith To this day. 12-B ARMY

[@rogerdunn4993]

They did not mention in this video that the aircraft was carrying 2 nukes.

[@rogerdunn4993]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1961_Yuba_City_B-52_crash

[@philzambo]

Roger Dunn Holy fuck

[@charlessampson3947]

Roger Dunn 4 nukes, perhaps also Hound Dog , which also have nuke warheads. Safety systems will keep the nukes from exploding. RN on the flight was in our squadron (23BS) and said it got very quiet up there. His story was very different. He said they ask for a tanker and the command post wouldn't launch the alert tanker until too late.

[@gordonanderson3111]

Was it really? And so the field they crashed in ...was this the crash in Spain?

[@ryantaylor7619]

Gordon Anderson no, this one came down near Yuba City CA

[@GerardsCorner]

'Fortunately, only two crewman suffered major injuries'. It shouldn't have happened in the first place!

[@digger105337]

Another Gerard, there are but a few of us "Gerard's " If someone calls me Gerald again I'm going to @%$#%&

[@SgtMjr]

Well boys, we got three engines out, we got more holes in us than a horse trader's mule, the radio is gone and we're leaking fuel and if we was flying any lower why we'd need sleigh bells on this thing... but we got one little budge on those Roosskies. At this height why they might harpoon us but they dang sure ain't gonna spot us on no radar screen!

[@alberte.3059]

"Cause of the crash: physiological breakdown" Running out of gas had nothing to with it???

[@mytech6779]

Or the malfunctioning heat equipment?

[@IntrebuloN]

Would they have run out of gas if not for the conditions? Be careful not to put the cart before the horse. Their fuel gauges broke due to the heat. They had to use extra fuel due to the heat. The aircraft did not fail, the crew did due most likely to heat exhaustion aka physiological breakdown.

[@beerbrewer737]

The air that's bled off an engine for air conditioning/ pressurization is not 3500' f. While I don't know the exact temp of the bleed air of the j57 on the cfm56 (5th and/or 9th stage) is between 390- 440' with a bleed trip at 490'f.

[@Enid2Sacramento]

And, remember: No fighting in the War Room.

[@mikefreeman3772]

Are you still living in your mommies' basement?

[@ostrich67]

A pilot captain would rather cut out his own tongue than declare an emergency. Many crashes have resulted from captains refusing to accept that they could not handle a problem themselves and asking for outside assistance. Pilot error is often the result of pilot arrogance.

[@valgo8128]

Not Pilot arrogance. Its the system that basically fucked you over if you declared one.

[@joekelly7505]

Going out on a limb, but didn't they have troubleshooting guides to figure out what was wrong with the ACMs? (big assumption that the 52's had ACMs)

[@joekelly7505]

Never mind -- according to the wikipedia article they tried various countermeasures. I suppose it's the military and crew comfort was considered a particular luxury, but considering the outcome, I wonder if they changed their policy, i.e. when environment becomes to adverse on a non-critical, non-combat mission they scrap it.

[@Rejeckted]

Wow this is fascinating!

[@semco72057]

I wondered how the crew put up with the "D" models in Asia during the Vietnam war as hot as those aircraft was parked. Before the crew came out to the aircraft they used air conditioning units with hoses in the airplanes to cool them down or when ground crew was working on the air plane.

[@razorburns8651]

why was it running hot?

[@Woodscraps-lr5vz]

Of course this training video is going to place the blame on the crew, when this crew actually had strongly requested permission to end the mission early because of the heating problem, but they were denied by their superiors. The commanders deserve most of the blame here by letting an exercise get way out of hand.

[@Johnny11149]

Is that the same narrator as the one doing the "Turbo Incapulator"?

[@obfuscated3090]

A failed Environmental Control System could have leaked bleed air into the crew spaces. The crew would have suffered BOTH heat exhaustion AND hypoxia which would severely reduce their cognition.

[@jdm1039]

I think those circumstances would be what some call a clue.

[@KilonBerlin]

what exactly is meant by fuel starvation?? it is a damn oil thursty aircraft because of the jet engines, that is why the large transporters even today are build with turboprop... A400M, only the Antonow An-225 is a class of its own, you can only rent it I think, only 1 exists, and the data: Empty weight: 285,000 kg (628,317 lb) Max takeoff weight: 640,000 kg (1,410,958 lb) Fuel capacity: 300,000 kg crazy..... but it was used for transports into the desert or mountains in Afghanistan from Germany or other European states, for a while also in Uzbekistan the US had a lease contract for an air field, but Putin intervened and Uzbekistan did quit the contract (I guess Putin took this and paid much more...), since supply was for all 3 coalitions/empires who tried to take it in the last 100 years (British Empire, Soviet Union, "We", USA + NATO) a real problem. Soviet tankers were attacked by RPG-7, US and Saudis gave Stingers, now they have support from other moslems.... Supply routes from Pakistans harbours were done (no weapons!) by private persons, they never knew what they carry and were paid very well for a I think around 3,000 kilometer trip, enough for 6 months average 8-head family or so^^ That they do only carry non-weapon supply, I think the reason is clear^^ but medicine, spare parts for weapon systems the "enemy" even does not understand, food etc is also important... and paying them so much in their local currencies is still much cheaper than air supply in such a area in the middle of nowhere... trucks through the only legal border is the best way, or was.... the weapon transports by air is expensive enough. maybe a few weapon parts were hidden in food boxes or so, but through this strategy the enemy lost interest in attacking the drivers which are muslims too and were often driving with a older kid or so.... I saw a docu, a men and his son, AK-47 always ready to grab and use, and a 2nd reserve weapon... maybe heavy pistol or so, very effective on short range, if caliber is .40 or higher. It pushed Pakistans economy as for the Pashtuns the border does not exist and the south in the Pakistan is simply the southern part of their "country", but much money and taxes for oil, food etc. was landing in Pakistan^^ also increased container ship movements at a time when "we" had real much troops there and much drivers... prices for ~5 tons small trucks were rising 2 or 3-times... later the more fuel efficient were most asked...

[@klatu1956]

why didnt they land the sucker at the nearest base when the problems started?

[@scottskinner577]

Is Harry Bartell the 2nd narrator? Great video by the way

[@henrysmith7276]

any link to full video?

[@PelicanIslandLabs]

WOW, what a cluster F that was. One dead (fireman), one B52 lost, multiple nukes smashed.

[@philmaurer7191]

Note the Fireman died in a car crash on the way to the accident.

[@seti48]

the loss of pressure should have ended the mission right then and there! After all, if they couldn't fly at higher altitude, they would be burning fuel at an exponential rate, which means they might not reach their next refueling position plus the fact that they would be flying slower and lower making them easy targets. Why didn't they figure out the cause of the excess heat? DUH!

[@halleffect1]

why was so hot when it's cold in the upper atmosphere?

[@hotlanta35]

Is there a full version?

[@malvinaps1]

The Pilot was ELVIS

[@psychoclown420]

how can a b52 run out of fuel? where were they flying to? the moon??? nice video bro

[@GilZu]

What could hit the windshield in such a high level of flying ?

[@veg1run]

+gil zur nothing hit the windshield. The heat in the cockpit overwhelmed the integrity of glass. Inside too warm, outside too cold. Then it shattered.

[@GilZu]

+Kit Carson that's make sense

[@G4Disco]

+gil zur Over heating the windows will cause them to delaminate. They will either bubble or spider web. Aircrews liked to turn on window anti-ice on the ground that would over time cause them to fail. But in this instance the extreme temperature difference was the cause.

[@bruceapearce5885]

It doesn't require internal heat and external cold to shatter the glass. We had a KC-135 returning from Europe when the windscreen shattered at altitude just as they were entering the US. The crew performed an emergency descent and continued on to their base. No heat was involved.

[@klatu1956]

why did they tell the polot to land at the nearest usaf base?

[@Dionisio181]

Someone can tell me what are doing cameras in there? It looks like prepared escenes in a movie or documental. This is not from a real accident.

[@whiteknightcat]

You have no idea what a re-enactment is, do you?

[@Dionisio181]

@@whiteknightcat that answer my question right?

[@unclefreddieDied]

This is like those old drivers ed movies..."now pull over or wait for a red light if you need to take your jacket off"

[@mikefreeman3772]

How's your job @ that fast-food joint going?

[@donkeyearrs]

I don't know much about aircraft but isn't it supposed to be freezing cold at the altitude that B-52's fly?

[@raoulcruz4404]

It's about -21 degrees at altitude. Bleed air from the engines is about 200 degrees by the time it reaches the cockpit, if not controlled. Give or take a little. I'm not a B-52 expert but, I think I'm in the ballpark with the number.

[@FSEVENMAN]

at high altitudes I find it hard to believe it could get anywhere near that hot

[@mikefreeman3772]

rube two sticks together and they'll get hot enough to flame. Airspeed, friction, environment, wilma!

[@3replybiz]

Dr Strangelove is a black black comedy which you can watch over & over thanks to the talent of Stanley Kubrick & Peter Sellers. Fail Safe is a very disturbing film kind of on lines of 'Threads.' which is very hard to watch, very chilling. The makers of Strangelove sued Fail Safe at the time for stealing their idea.

[@SuperScratch1]

Does anyone have any idea what caused the the high temperatures that seemed to disable the crew ???

[@JimHoward]

Gee whiz, the window shatters and they don't immediately dump cabin pressure and land? WTF?

[@beerbrewer737]

I'll make a guess why it was so hot: the mix valve which modulates to maintain a desired conditioned air temp was stuck full hot. On modern airliners if that happened the crew would get a "duct overheat" light and the mix valve would drive full cold. If the valve was mechanically stuck and the temperature was still rising the pack would trip off.

[@JackF99]

Once the window shattered and they were depressurized they may as well have just busted it on out and got some fresh air

[@panther105]

Not really wanting to do an in depth analysis here and no disrespect to the aircrew, but wouldn't this malfunction be sufficient to abort the mission and get the plane back on the ground asap to the nearest field that could handle a large aircraft?

[@raoulcruz4404]

Since this was likely a Chrome Dome mission, the impetus from the top brass to continue is very high.

[@daffidavit]

This flight should have been declared an "emergency" by the pilot. That usurps all orders. If the pilot in command believes he is in trouble, no one on the ground should be flying the plane for him. But the pilot was probably afraid of getting in trouble from his superiors. Too bad the military didn't follow the FAA regs that gave the pilot in command the "final authority" to determine whether to declare an emergency.

[@EngineeringNS]

Can someone explain to me why the cockpit got hot like that? The b-52 isnt that fast is it?

[@EngineeringNS]

***** but what could possibly cause that. To make the cockpit 160 degrees?

[@EngineeringNS]

***** but the engines are far from the cockpit, they are what makes the heat... This is a major mystery to me--but it seemed that the airforce was doing a test of some sort--I think they heat might have been a result of whatever test they were doing, otherwise I think they would have landed as it seemed that they were in the United States.

[@giligaini.2137]

-Oops, no playback allowed outside of KZbin. Do you have external link?- [edit] I got it to work. My first guess, without seeing video, is _GlobalWarming_...pollution in the air causing friction like dirt in a 'ball bearing'.  [edit] it's a case of, "that's my story and I'm sticking to it."

[@EngineeringNS]

Giligain I. Lol

[@yobob591]

Giligain I. this was back before that was really a problem

[@DEP717]

It could be that they just were not thinking clearly. The more they were exposed to an oxygen poor and high heat environment, the more it wore on them. The cramps they describe could have been pressure related. WinchesterRanger also mentioned that SAC was very serious about readiness then and maintaining missions. I am guessing a lot of stuff from the debrief never made it into this film.

[@mccitstudent]

These were the early days of aviation. Training and safety protocols would require an early RTB today.

[@mikefreeman3772]

The/our B-52 are not the early days of aviation, wilma!

[@ProChoiceJesus]

I don't understand how it could be that hot at high altitude.

[@mikefreeman3772]

Friction, not fiction.

[@marryellen7713]

The pilot has the right (over all commands) to declare and Emergency and abort. The crew should have been Court Marshaled. He may have to do a lot of explaining. What would have been the outcome over a heavy populated area.