On this date in 1944 – A huge airborne armada, nine planes wide and 200 miles long, carries American and British troops across the British Channel for the D-Day invasion of Europe. In 1971 – USMC F-4B, en route from NAS Fallon, Nevada to MCAS El Toro, California, has mid-air collision with Hughes Airwest Flight 706, DC-9. Collision at 15,150 feet altitude killed F-4 pilot (inoperable canopy release), the RIO ejected and landed near Azusa, California. All 44 passengers and five crew members were killed aboard the DC-9. Although visibility was good, with no clouds, both crews failed to see and avoid each other. The DC-9 was under radar control, but the F-4B fighter was flying with an inoperable transponder that made it invisible on air traffic control radar screens. The RIO, Lt. Christopher E. Schiess, 24, of Salem, Oregon, admitted to inquiry board that the F-4B had performed a 360-degree slow roll about a minute before the collision.
Posted on: Thu, 06 Jun 2013 13:25:45 +0000
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