For Forgotten Props: AD-5N BuNo 132533's fate
Wed Feb 21, 2024 1:26 am
I was on the Newspapers site looking for photos by Mell Kilpatrick in the Orange County (CA) Register, and came upon this story from January 15, 1957:
No BuNo listed, of course, so I checked Forgotten Props and found a match:
So there's more info for the listing (paging Scott Rose): Bailout due to engine fire, pilot and three on ground killed (the woman mentioned as critical did not make it), radarman survived.
(This was also an eerie precursor to another tragedy just two weeks later when an Air Force F-89 and a new DC-7 collided over the San Fernando Valley; this time sadly one falling plane did hit a schoolyard. Similarly, the Scorpion's radarman bailed out and survived but its pilot didn't, again along with three on the ground.)
No BuNo listed, of course, so I checked Forgotten Props and found a match:
Forgotten Props/Nathan Decker wrote:Douglas AD-5N (A-1G) Skyraider/Bu. 132533
*1957: VMCJ-3 as TN-xx.
*1/14/1957: Written off.
So there's more info for the listing (paging Scott Rose): Bailout due to engine fire, pilot and three on ground killed (the woman mentioned as critical did not make it), radarman survived.
(This was also an eerie precursor to another tragedy just two weeks later when an Air Force F-89 and a new DC-7 collided over the San Fernando Valley; this time sadly one falling plane did hit a schoolyard. Similarly, the Scorpion's radarman bailed out and survived but its pilot didn't, again along with three on the ground.)
Re: For Forgotten Props: AD-5N BuNo 132533's fate
Wed Feb 21, 2024 9:38 am
A different time for sure - listing the dead and thier family along with the home address. . . .
Tragic accident.
Tom P.
Tragic accident.
Tom P.
Re: For Forgotten Props: AD-5N BuNo 132533's fate
Thu Feb 22, 2024 6:42 am
Service and sacrifice. RIP to all those affected by this tragedy.
Ken
Ken
Re: For Forgotten Props: AD-5N BuNo 132533's fate
Thu Feb 22, 2024 10:59 pm
wendovertom wrote:A different time for sure - listing the dead and thier family along with the home address. . . Tom P.
And the surviving crewmember giving an interview to the press describing what went on before the crash.
Re: For Forgotten Props: AD-5N BuNo 132533's fate
Sat Feb 24, 2024 11:49 am
Chris Brame wrote:(This was also an eerie precursor to another tragedy just two weeks later when an Air Force F-89 and a new DC-7 collided over the San Fernando Valley; this time sadly one falling plane did hit a schoolyard. Similarly, the Scorpion's radarman bailed out and survived but its pilot didn't, again along with three on the ground.)
Odd bit of trivia: the DC-7 wreckage landed in the playground of a school attended by 15 year old Ritchie Valens. He wasn't in school that day, but nightmares of the accident led to his fear of flying.
Re: For Forgotten Props: AD-5N BuNo 132533's fate
Sat Feb 24, 2024 1:11 pm
wendovertom wrote:A different time for sure - listing the dead and thier family along with the home address. . . .
Tragic accident.
Tom P.
Struck me too - not sure if UK papers ever did that; more recently you might have seen a road mentioned but usually it's just the town - perhaps it was before the days of press intrusion.
17f wrote:Odd bit of trivia: the DC-7 wreckage landed in the playground of a school attended by 15 year old Ritchie Valens. He wasn't in school that day, but nightmares of the accident led to his fear of flying.
Ironic to say the least...