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Peak District Air Accident Research |
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Peak District Air Accident Research |
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| Crew / Passengers | Rank - If Applicable | Position e.g. Pilot | Status |
| Joseph A. O'Leary | 1st Lieutenant | Pilot | Killed |
| George Merrill Foote | 1st Lieutenant | Co-pilot | Killed |
| Claude Jacques Hayden Jr | 1st Lieutenant | Navigator | Killed |
| Noel M. Poppoff | Staff Sergeant | Engineer | Killed |
| Tennant A. Metz | Captain | Radar Operator | Killed |
| John B. Simpson | Corporal | Radio Operator | Killed |
| John P. Finnegan | Corporal | Scanner | Killed |
| Jack W. Kern | 1st Lieutenant | Boom Instructor | Killed |
| Henry H. Hill | Technical Sergeant | Boom Operator | Killed |
| Wallace L. Scott | Staff Sergeant | Boom Operator (u/t) | Killed |
| Reginald Y. Russell | Corporal | Boom Operator (u/t) | Killed |
The aircraft had taken off from RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk at 09:17 (BST) for a Radar Navigation Flight which was to be followed by 4 hours of Air to Air refuelling practice with a Boeing B-50. At 11:03 the aircraft was in contact with the controller at Prestwick, having entered the Scottish Flight Information Region, the pilot reported they were at a altitude of ~14,5000ft in visual conditions. Only 7 minutes later the aircraft was seen be witnesses on the ground descending out of cloud at 1,500 to 2,000ft over Carsphairn on a NNW course. They stated that the engines sounded different to the aircraft which normally over-flew the area. The aircraft then turned onto a SE course before stalling and entering a spin from which it did not recover before impacted the ground in a deep gully at the edge of a field. The fuel tanks, containing an estimated 8,000 US Gallons exploded and completely destroyed the aircraft, scattering it over a considerable area.
Apart from a couple of tiny fragments nothing remains visible at the actual crash site.
The only real clue is the re-aligned section of wall and the remains of the original which was destroyed by the aircraft.
On of the burnt pieces found close to the crash site.
Some distance away is this memorial plaque and collection of wreckage from the aircraft.
This photograph is taken from beside the memorial looking back to the area where the aircraft actually crashed.