- Date: Thu, 30 Mar 2000
From: Bob Nyden
I was "there" for the 71/72, 72/73, and 73/74
seasons. The 917 crash site pretty well covered the
length of the skiway at pole and it was quite a mess
for the rest of the year after the accident, but
because the loss put us down to only two Hercs (319
and 320), air ops were severely curtailed. For SAR
purposes, both planes had to be mechanically up for
either to fly, and by that time of year most of the
flights were turnarounds to ChCh. By the time we got
back the next year (73), there was no trace of the
wreck. The w/o crew had apparently dragged it all
off and repaired the skiway. I was told then that
the thing was buried, and I think another navigator
gave me the subject picture to prove that it wasn't.
At any rate, it wasn't obvious from the skiway or
the parking area in front of the dome loading area.
It may be that they truly buried it all before the
press all showed up for the dedication in 75.
- Bob N.
Date: Fri, 14 Apr 2000
20:39:54 -0700
Bob Nyden
Subject: 917 crash aftermath
- Here are the pictures I have of 917 after it
crashed at Pole. These were taken the day after the
accident by a fellow navigator named Mike Draper,
who was on the first investigation/rescue flight out
from McMurdo. As you can see, it was a day of heavy
overcast, and he used a cheap point-and-shoot
camera. Still, some of these shots are pretty
dramatic, and with a little color/exposure
correction they can be made to look okay.
The story of the crash that went around at the time
was that a thin layer of ice fog was reported a few
hundred feet over the station.
The plane was making a GCA approach, but the ice fog
was thin enough that from above you could see right
through it. As the controller handed over landing to
the pilot Major Allen (Correction by
Patrick Yoas) (Maj George
MacGlaughlin (sp?)), the copilot said he
had the skiway visually. Major Allen
(Maj Mac) looked up and
saw nothing but fog. By the time he reacted (i.e.,
added power and rotated up to go around), he was too
low and bashed the tail on the snow right at the
ramp. The plane slammed down, wingtips and props hit
the snow and came off. In some of the pix you can
see that it looks as if the plane sort of walked out
of its shoes. The impact cracked open the fuselage
at the paratroop doors, and the 500 gallon MOGAS
bladder that was strapped to the ramp came loose,
fell out, and was ignited by flames streaming from
the broken wing tanks. It burned a hole way down
into the snow and was still steaming hours later.
-
- The crew did everything right after landing:
even though everyone piled out through every
available orifice without delay (!), it was reported
that all the power and and engine controls were off
or safe as specified--although there wasn't much
left to shut down.
The only thing still on when the cockpit was checked
later was the Inertial Nav System, which was still
trying to run on its battery.
Bob N
