1995 Alaska Boeing E-3 Sentry accident
Elmendorf Air Force Base | |
Crew | 24 [1] |
---|---|
Fatalities | 24 |
Survivors | 0 |
The Alaska Boeing E-3 Sentry accident was the September 22, 1995 crash of a
Accident
The Sentry was being operated by the
Investigation
The investigation concluded that the probable cause was the ingestion of Canada geese into the number 1 and 2 engines. Other factors included the insufficient efforts of the air base to deter the birds, and the failure of the air traffic control tower to report to both the Sentry and the airfield management that birds were present on the airfield.[1]
The sequence of events during impact was also determined. The aircraft struck the ground nose first and slid to the top of a hill, where the empennage (tail section) broke off. "As the [aircraft] cleared the second hill, it rolled over. The fuselage broke up as the [aircraft] rolled. The outboard right wing impacted on the left side of the wreckage, the right-hand wing broke off and the rotodome section impacted on its back, breaking up the rest of the aircraft."[3]
Investigators reviewed the flight and wreckage path of the accident aircraft. "The [aircraft] lifted off and flew approximately [1.28 kilometers (0.8 mile)] before contacting trees," the report said. "The [aircraft] then flew approximately [0.72 kilometers (0.45 mile)] before making contact with the ground and crashing in a fireball."[3]
Aircraft
The
This aircraft was used on the first day of the
The aircraft was also involved in the April 14, 1994
See also
- 2010 Alaska USAF C-17 crash, a 2010 accident that also took place at Elmendorf AFB, crashing a mere 700–800 feet (210–240 m) away from where the E-3 had crashed 15 years prior.
References
- Notes
- ^ Aviation Safety Network
- ^ a b Pither 1998, pp. 403-404
- ^ a b "Military Boeing 707 Strikes Birds After Liftoff;Damage to Engines No. 1 and No. 2 Results in Loss of Power and Impact with Terrain" (PDF). flightsafety.org. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
- Sources
- Pither, Tony (1998). The Boeing 707 720 and C-135. England: ISBN 0-85130-236-X.