THREE FATAL CRASHES IN 1956

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 06716035
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 28, 2022
• Document Release Date: November 28, 2017
• Case Number: F-2016-00885

pproved for Release: 2017/11/22 C06716035
THE CENTRAL
INTELLIGENCE
AGENCY AND
OVERHEAD
RECONNAISSANCE
The U-2 and OXCART
Programs, 1954- 1974
Gregory W. Pedlow and
Donald E. Welzenbach
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Secret NOFORN
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Koon, call the commander of Kirtland AFB near Albuquerque.
General Koon told the base commander about the sealed orders and
explained that an unusual aircraft would make a deadstick landing at
Kirtland within the next half hour. The general then instructed the
base commander to have air police keep everyone away from the craft
and get it inside a hanger as quickly as possible.
After a half hour passed, the base commander 'called the
Pentagon to ask where the crippled aircraft was. As he was speaking,
the officer saw the U-2 touch down on the runway and remarked,
-It's not a plane, it's a glider!" Even more surprised were the air po-
lice who surrounded the craft when it came to a halt. As the pilot
climbed from the cockpit in his "space" suit, one air policeman re-
marked that the pilot looked like a man from Mars. The pilot, Jacob
Kratt, later reported to Cunningham that, from the beginning of the
first flameout until the landing at Albuquerque, the U-2 had covered
over 900 miles, including more than 300 by gliding."
Aside from this extraordinary gliding ability, however, the U-2
was a very difficult aircraft to fly. Its very light weight, which enabled
it to achieve extreme altitude, also made it very fragile. The aircraft
vs also very sleek, and it sliced through the air with little drag. This
feature was dangerous, however, because the U-2 was not built to
withstand the G-forces of high speed. Pilots had to be extremely care-
ful to keep the craft in a slightly nose-up attitude when flying at
operational altitude. If the nose dropped only a degree or two into the
nose-down position, the plane would gain speed at a dramatic rate,
exceeding the placarded speed limit in less than a minute, at which
point the aircraft would begin to come apart. Pilots, therefore, had to
pay close attention to the aircraft's speed indicator because at 65,000
feet there was no physical sensation of speed, without objects close at
hand for the eye to use as a reference."
THREE FATAL CRASHES IN 1956
The first fatality directly connected with flying the U-2 occurred on
15 May 1956, when test pilot Wilburn S. Rose, flying article 345A,
had trouble dropping his pogos, the outrigger wheels that keep the
Bissell interview (S): Cunningham interview (TS Codeword): Brig. Gen. Leo A. Geary.
interview by Gregory W. Pedlow, Colorado Springs, Colorado, 12 October 1988 (S).
" James Cherbonneaux, Carmine Vito. and Hervey Stockman (former U-2 pilots), inter-
view by Donald E. Welzenbach, Washington. DC, May 1986 (S).
Secret
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wings parallel to the ground during takeoff. Once airborne, Rose
made a low-level pass over the airstrip and shook loose the lefthand
pogo. When he attempted to make a righthand turn to come back over
the runway to shake loose the remaining pogo. Rose stalled the U-2
and it plunged to earth, disintegrating over a wide area. Three months
later, on 31 August 1956, a second fatal crash occurred during a
night-Hying exercise. Frank G. Grace stalled article 354 at an altitude
of about 50 feet when he tried to climb too steeply at takeoff. The
craft fell, cartwheeled on its left wing, and struck a power pole near
the runway. More experienced U-2 pilots always cut back abruptly on
the throttle as soon as the pogo sticks fell away in order to avoid such
stalls.
Before the year was out, two more U-2s were destroyed in
crashes, one of them fatal. On 17 September 1956, article 346 lost
part of its right wing while on its takeoff ascent from Lindsey Air
Force Base in Wiesbaden. Germany. The aircraft disintegrated in mid-
air, killing pilot Howard Carey. The loss of article 357 on 19
December 1956 resulted from pilot hypoxia. A small leak prema-
turely depleted the oxygen supply and impaired Robert J. Ericson's
judgment as he flew over Arizona. Because of his inability to act
quickly and keep track of his aircraft's speed, the U-2 exceeded the
placarded speed of 190 knots and literally disintegrated when it
reached 270 knots. Ericson managed to jettison the canopy and was
sucked out of the aircraft at 28,000 feet. His chute opened automati-
cally at 15,000 feet, and he landed without injury. The aircraft was a
total loss!'
COORDINATION OF COLLECTION REQUIREMENTS
From the very beginning of the U-2 program, it was apparent that
some sort of an interagency task force or office would be needed to
develop and coordinate collection requirements for the covert over-
head reconnaissance effort. In a three-page memorandum to DCI
Dulles on 5 November 1954 setting forth the ideas of the
Technological Capabilities Panel's Project 3 on this subject, Edwin
Land wrote:
It is recommended that... a permanent task force, including Air
Force supporting elements, be set up under suitable cover to
provide guidance on procurement, to consolidate requirements
U-2 Accident Reports. folders 4. 10. and 14. OSA records. job 67-13-415, box I (S).
Secret
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