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| Date: | Tuesday 29 August 1961 |
| Time: | 12:28 |
| Type: |  North American A3J-1 Vigilante |
| Owner/operator: | US Navy |
| Registration: | 147855 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Off end of Runway 26, Kirtland Air Force Base, NM -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Take off |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Little or no information is available |
Crashed at the Naval Weapons Evaluation Facility (NWEF) near Albuquerque, NM. Caught fire on takeoff and rolled out of control. Crew did not eject.
Aircraft crew was attached to the US Naval Weapons Evaluation Facility at Kirtland AFB.
Purpose of the accident flight was a high-altitude, high-speed delivery of a Mk43 nuclear-type store from the left-hand external pylon at Tonopah Range in Nevada (it was actually an inert BDU-8B MK43 practice bomb). The flight was cleared from Kirtland AFB to Palmdale, CA.
The Vigilante is designated a YA3J-1 in the accident report. It was new to Kirtland and aroused a considerable amount of attention. Numerous people had stopped to watch this flight.
As the Vigilante took off on Runway 26, shortly after gear retraction, yellow fuel-fed flames were seen coming from the lower left, aft section of the fuselage. Upon reaching an altitude of 200’ the aircraft rolled slowly to the left and started to lose altitude. The angle of bank increased to almost 90 degrees and it struck the ground in a nearly vertical left bank, left wing tip first, slightly nose down. There was a violent explosion and fire.
While in the descending left turn the BN/Bombardier-Navigator ejected. Due to the angle of bank and low altitude he did not have time to separate from his seat before striking the ground. The pilot did not eject.
That same morning the same crew and aircraft had delivered a BDU-8B Mk43 practice bomb at Stallion Site, White Sands Missile Range with no discrepancies in the same configuration (full internal fuel tanks, 3 full bomb bay cans and the external store).
On two previous occasions in this aircraft the pilot control stick had jammed with the electric flight control system ON. This was only alleviated when switching off the FCS to Manual operation.
It was also noted in the accident report that the Engine Fire Switch is located in line with the Flap Switch. It could be easily actuated to the CRUISE position if the pilot was reaching for the Engine Fire Switch. During take-off or landing, inadvertently moving the flap handle to CRUISE “could be fatal”.
The left J79 engine had “extensive discrepancies” (a total of 29 maintenance work orders) and had been installed in this aircraft on 29 July 1961. It had 153.6 total hours with 73.4 since overhaul.
The actual cause analysis and determination in the US Navy accident report is censored.
Aircraft had been delivered on 8 December 1960. Total Flight Hours was 114.6 over 77 flights.
Pilot was Lt Commander James A. Gugenbiller
BN was Lt George F. Biehl
Sources:
http://www.forgottenjets.warbirdsresourcegroup.org/A-5.html
Aerofax Minigraph 9 pg 9 and interview of witness.
US Navy accident report
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 19-Jul-2022 05:42 | Anon. | Updated [Total fatalities, Total occupants, Location, Source, Narrative] |
| 22-May-2024 11:39 | ChrisB | Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Location, Phase, Source, Narrative] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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