Researching historic aviation accidents and locating crash sites in the Peak District & throughout the British Isles
McDonnell F-101C Voodoo 56-0013 of 78th Tactical Fighter Squadron, 81st Tactical Fighter Wing, US Air Force, crashed on Maol Odhar near Strontian on 7th May 1964
F-101C 56-0013, taken by Connie Manos (Crew Chief for 56-0014), seen shortly before being lost, though not before having a different colour scheme applied to its fin, three diagonal stripes (Blue / Yellow / Red) with white stars on the blue and red bands and black stars on the yellow. My thanks to Connie Manos and Linn Barringer (Twin Bases)
Morris Haughton Reed III
Captain
Pilot
Killed
The aircraft was one of a flight which had taken off from RAF Bentwaters in Suffolk for a cross country exercise. While heading south west along the Great Glen near Fort William the other members of the flight lost contact with Captain Reed. According to press reports the aircraft had been flying at 23,000ft when it disappeared though this cannot be confirmed as no copy of the USAF accident report has been traced, despite attempts by their Flight Safety Center. A search was initiated with RAF Mountain Rescue teams being sent to the mountains around Fort William along with helicopters and fixed wing search aircraft from the RAF, Royal Navy and USAF. The search dragged on for nine days before the weather cleared sufficiently for the remains of the missing aircraft to be spotted from the air by one of the search aircraft. It would appear that the aircraft had flown into the mountain mere feet below its summit, it is possible that press were miss briefed on the altitude the formation were at as an indicated altitude of 2,300 feet is much closer to that of the crash site.
Most of the larger pieces of aircraft cascaded down the steep scree covered slope into Coire nam Frithallt some 600 feet below the point of impact where it still lies to this day.
A view taken in about 2001 up the glen the aircraft crashed in, snow can be seen near to where the aircraft impactedA front view of the combustion stage of one the J57-13 engines.The same section of the other engine from the side.The crushed jet pipe from one of the engines.This is the back of a compressor stage from one the two engines, from the rear, the pipe work are the fuel lines which delivered fuel to the injection nozzles in the combustion cans.The same section of engine seen in September 2014.This is part of the tail unit from just below the tailplanes, the large bolt is the locking pin for the tailplanes The area below the tailplanes was in the yellow painted area.Seen in September 2014, in much the same condition it was in when I first visited this site in August 2001.A short distance away from it is the base of the rudder, showing the red band which was on the lower part of the tail and one of the white stars.This is what remains of the stencilled US AIR FORCE that would have been just below the cockpit.The same panel 13 years later looking back down the glen towards Glen Tarbet and the Strontian – Ardgour road.This is part of the rear fuselage, from just behind the afterburners, the effects of heat can be seen on the metal.This is a view of the same section of fuselage that is in the above photo, soot from the engines is clearly visible even 37 years after the aircraft crashed.This is part of one of the flaps, and one of the few items at the site from the wings.This is part of an airbrake, the front section of the airbrake is missing.Lying next to the airbrake is one of the main wheel tyres. As can be seen from the photo it took quite a batteringAnd still present on the tyre is the US stamp as well as the manufacture’s stamp, Royal Airplane.Off to one side of the collection of larger items of wreckage is the aircraft’s tail cone which once contained its brake parachute.Leading up the slope from the main collection is a fairly continuous trail of debris from the aircraft, eventually leading to the point of impact. This part, which I first saw on my second visit to the site in 2002 is the remains of the arrestor hook. While the F-101 was a land based aircraft they were still fitted with an arrestor hook which was intended to be used to bring the aircraft to a halt during an emergency landing, it still bears some of the red and white bands which were painted around it.Almost all of the way up are pieces from the engines, this being one of the combustion cans, about 300 – 400 feet above the larger engine parts.The point of impact is in the centre of this photo just below the sky line.Looking down the mountain from the point of impact, in the scar are hundreds of tiny fragments.Above the impact scar on steeper ground is an area of disturbed grass, soil and rock on which were visible pieces of wreckage.Such was the force of the impact, and its proximity to the summit that some pieces travelled the few extra feet coming to rest on the flat grassy plateau where they have since been gathered into a collection.Other pieces on the summit have been built into the cairn which marks the highest point of the mountain. The cairn has collapsed a little since I was first here in 2003 but most of the wreckage is still around it, other pieces have probably been blown over the precipitous edge only a few yards to the right.
Below are two newspaper articles from the Oban Times from the 14th of May and 21st of May 1964 (the newspaper is printed weekly so the earliest article is from a week after the crash)
