MOW
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Post by MOW on Nov 16, 2010 16:18:10 GMT 9
I'm posting this here in the In Memory of section because it refers to whom I believe was a casualty of 59-0142 crash. Here is part of an email I received about the incident and a request for more information from the writer.
I was moved from Geiger Field in may 63 to McChord with the 325th. I believe this particular aircraft that hit the B-57 jet pod was this 59-0142. The pilot was a 1st Lt named Roger Axland, who was married with a new baby. I remember the night it happened. I was assigned to flight line AGE on the2nd shift at McBog. They searched for 2 weeks and found nothing but the canopy cover. It was believed at the time that he went down in American Lake to the west of Tacoma. I never heard anymore about it, so I don’t know if the bird was actually ever found, but I did see the B-57 at General Dynamics in Ft. Worth in 1967, and up to that point, the wing spars were not repaired. If you have anymore information about this, I would like to know. I’ve wondered for years about it.
Don Rodgers A2c 84th FMS 325th FMS Oct 62-May64
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Post by pat perry on Nov 17, 2010 7:22:54 GMT 9
I'm posting this here in the In Memory of section because it refers to whom I believe was a casualty of 59-0142 crash. Here is part of an email I received about the incident and a request for more information from the writer. I was moved from Geiger Field in may 63 to McChord with the 325th. I believe this particular aircraft that hit the B-57 jet pod was this 59-0142. The pilot was a 1st Lt named Roger Axland, who was married with a new baby. I remember the night it happened. I was assigned to flight line AGE on the2nd shift at McBog. They searched for 2 weeks and found nothing but the canopy cover. It was believed at the time that he went down in American Lake to the west of Tacoma. I never heard anymore about it, so I don’t know if the bird was actually ever found, but I did see the B-57 at General Dynamics in Ft. Worth in 1967, and up to that point, the wing spars were not repaired. If you have anymore information about this, I would like to know. I’ve wondered for years about it.
Don Rodgers A2c 84th FMS 325th FMS Oct 62-May64This is the only thing I have found so far. washingtonwreckchasing.blogspot.com/2009_10_01_archive.htmlon Roger C Axlund and the B-57 incident. Scroll down to the 6th paragraph. Pat P.
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MOW
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Post by MOW on Nov 18, 2010 5:21:58 GMT 9
That's a good find Pat. Let me post some of it here for historical purposes. Aircraft Losses In Washington State Sunday, October 4, 2009 F-106A #59-142 Sometime during the afternoon of August 27, 1963, First Lieutenant Roger C. Axlund of the 498th FIS, began his flight planning routine for a night ECM/ECCM intercept training mission against an EB-57E (According to the accident report, it was a TB-57E, though the B-57 did not have a training variant. The B-57E had dual controls and was sometimes used for training and was hence designated a TB-57 in those instances. And some referred to it as a TB-57 at all times. Because it was being used as a defense system evaluator, it will be referred to as an EB-57 here.) temporarily deployed to McChord AFB, Washington from Hill AFB, Utah. Lieutenant Axlund would likely have been taken out to his aircraft about an hour before launch. He was assigned to F-106A #59-142 and took off at 0005 on August 28, 1963, with two+ hours worth of fuel. The EB-57 had departed McChord AFB at five minutes before midnight with 4+ hours of fuel. SAGE (Semi-Automatic Ground Environment, a kind of Air Defense Ground Control) conducted the approach. Both the B-57 and the F-106 (Six) were in contact with the SAGE controller. The B-57 was communicating with voice comm, while the six was using a data-link (only mandatory safety and intercept calls were made by voice). Weather was clear, visibility was six miles in smoke. The mission had been fully briefed between the crews of the Sixes and the B-57, since the ECM equipment in the EB-57 was new to the ADC training inventory. The B-57 turned on all of its jammers (four in number) until one of the generators failed, so the crew turned off the forward two jammers. This would be no problem since all of the attacks were expected to be from the aft quarters. There were two F-106s up conducting intercepts, alternating attacks. The B-57 maintained 250 KIAS (Knots Indicated Air Speed) and headings as directed by the SAGE controller. Axlund called two successful attacks to the SAGE controller, even though there was non-standard language used. Axlund had reported no malfunctions or deficiencies. He made another visual contact on the B-57 and called separation on and visual contact with the other F-106. He then called a lock-on to the ECM jamming source. He en continued to attack the ECM Jamming source and collided with the B-57. The six's vertical stabilizer hit the B-57's number one engine (Left) and the six continued on from under the B-57's wing. The top 52 inches of the vetical stabilizer separated from the F-106. The B-57 reported the collision to the SAGE controller and turned back toward McChord, about 95 miles East. The collision occurred at 0109 local, at 47 degrees 43 minutes N. , 124 degrees 45 minutes West. This was approximately 15 miles off shore, due West of Destruction Island, Washington. Axlund was observed flying straight and level for about a mile, when he began a gentle left turn. He did not transmit after he reported the ECM lock-on. About three minutes prior to the collision. The UHF antenna was destroyed in the collision. The other F-106 had Axlund in sight and watched him begin and accelerated descent, seemingly stabilized on a heading toward shore. Axlund's aircraft began to pitch down and increased speed, in the opinion of the Six observing him, into the trans-sonic region. Somewhere under 20,000 feet, the observer saw a flash from Axlund's aircraft, which he took to be an ejection. Immediately after that, he lost radar an visual contact with Axlund's plane. The B-57 returned to McChord safely. The crew was uninjured, though the pilot had to shut down his number one engine due to fire/overheat indications. It appears, from this partial report, that Axlund was never located. One suspects wreckage from the aircraft was picked up, since the exact measurements of the lost vertical stabilizer appears to be known. The track on the map that came with this partial report shows that the intercepts were conducted from the North Western tip of Washington down to about even with the Kalaloch area, where the collision occurred. The left and right elevons appear to have drifted quite a ways, having been located somewhere in the vicinity of Grays Harbor. The hand drawn map appears to have been copied several times and is of poor condition. As ever, there seems to be very little information here. I know there is more out there. I would like to search newspapers from the era and area to see what they say, but my time and money are always in demand elsewhere. If ANY of you reader have something to add, PLEASE feel free to do so! Do it in a comment or e-mail me. I will do my best to publish it if you request it! washingtonwreckchasing.blogspot.com/2009_10_01_archive.html
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