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Forty-four years ago on Saturday morning, 2 February 1957, most USAF personnel assigned at RAF Sculthorpe were still sleeping or having breakfast and contemplating what they were going to do with their families that weekend. However, three different KB-29 crews had awakened much earlier, donned their flight suits, driven to the base in the damp chilly winter darkness and, as they weaved through the narrow winding country roads leading to the base, encountered occasional patches of ground fog. They gathered in 420th Operations, received a briefing for a routine air refueling mission of F-100s over Bordeaux, France. Meanwhile, Capt. Jack Kendrick, 420th navigator and squadron intelligence officer, finished his cup of coffee at home and reflected that he too could have been at the briefing since he had been invited by lst Lt. Jim Erwine (navigator on one of the departing crews) to go along and build up flying time. Kendrick declined Erwine’s invitation because he had promised to take his wife somewhere special since she had been "cooped up" all week at home with their little boy. According to the briefing, the fighters would have taken off from their base in West Germany and, assuming the air-to-air refueling went well, they would continue on TDY to Nouasseur Air Base, Morocco for a week of combat readiness training in gunnery and bombing. After the briefing, the KB-29 crewmembers proceeded to their aircraft and completed their

aircraft preflight. Their takeoff was scheduled for about 0800 hours. Two KB-29s, one led by Capt. Grover Townsend (with eight other crewmembers) and the other aircraft led by Capt. Elton "Mac" McClure (with nine other crewmembers) got off the ground OK. Onboard these two aircraft were a total of 19 well-trained men; however, only five of the 19 would live to see Sculthorpe again. The takeoff of the third aircraft, led by lst Lt. Mike Luna, was delayed for a short while due to minor maintenance problems. By the time, Luna got off, Townsend and McClure were far ahead and out of visual contact but Luna pushed his "throttles to the wall" in an attempt to catch up.

The majority of this tragic story was given to me recently by the only available and surviving crewmember of the accident, (then) 1st Lt. Bob Leonard. All ranks and grades reflected in this story

were those as of the date of the accident. Leonard’s recollection of events was collaborated two ways. The first way by Capt. Grover Townsend (now deceased), the aircraft commander of Leonard’s crew. Before returning to the United States at the end of my tour, I had the good fortune to fly with Townsend on several extended TDY missions and he had told me about his narrow escape from the aircraft. The second method of collaboration was to obtain inputs from several other 420th aircrew members (not on this fateful mission) who were assigned to the squadron at the time the accident occurred and who remember reasonably well the many discussions which took place in squadron ops after the accident.

After 44 years, it is logical and quite understandable that I would receive a few conflicts in the information provided to me by the various sources. I have deliberately avoided: (1) portions of the sStory that would highlight these minor conflicts; and (2) placing blame on primary crewmembers for creating causative factors which led to the accident. Obviously, the interests of the surviving families must be respected and protected. If, in the judgment of some readers, errors have occurred in the story to follow, these errors are unintentional and should be regarded as sins of omission rather than sins of commission. I have tried to capture the personnel aspects of this story (i.e. those which relate to the affected crewmembers and their friends) rather than add to, amend, or quarrel with whatever determinations and findings may be found in the sealed files of the official USAF accident investigation board which convened soon after the date of the accident.

Before the two KB-29s arrived at the rendezvous point and before air-to-air refueling commenced, Townsend, in the lead aircraft, called McClure on his UHF radio to report that his #2 engine was having a problem. At this point in their flight, both aircraft were about 250 nautical miles from RAF Sculthorpe and therefore almost fully loaded with aviation gas and JP-4. Bob Leonard’s account stated that he believed the #2 engine was leaking oil and that the leak was not causing any loss of power or airspeed in the aircraft’s performance. Another source claimed that he thought the #2 engine was smoking. The pressure altitude of both KB-29s at the time was about 16,000 feet. Townsend asked McClure to come up from behind, cross over, take a look at the engine, and try to see where the oil was coming from. Whatever the problem was, it seems logical to me that the instruments in the cockpit and on the flight engineer’s panel were not revealing any helpful information. If these instruments had provided useful information, it seems unlikely that Townsend would have ever asked McClure to take a close look. I can recall an inflight engine accessory fire that I experienced once in a B-26 light bomber where the cockpit gages and aircraft performance gave us no indication of a problem. The tower at Langley AFB, VA called us on final approach and surprised us by reporting that one of our engines was on fire and that we had been dropping flaming parts over nearby Hampton, VA.

Townsend’s crew were positioned in the lead aircraft as follows: (Note: Crew positioning is important to fully appreciate the miracle of survival for five men in this same crew which would occur a few seconds later.)

In the front compartment were: Major Dean Harmon in the pilot’s seat (left side); Capt. Townsend in the co-pilot’s seat (right side) even though he was the designated aircraft commander of this crew; 1st Lt. Hal Schonhans riding in the bombardier’s nose position (Schonhans was the regular co-pilot on Townsend’s crew); T/Sgt. Ed Kostamo in the Flight Engineer’s position; S/Sgt. Francis "Pat" Buffum in the radio operator’s position; and 1st Lt. Mike Kearns in the navigator’s position.

During the period I was putting this story together, Buddie Ballard (ex-420th radio operator) sent me an E-mail message containing his memories about the accident. In this message, Ballard stated that Buffum had volunteered to take this particular mission in place of Ballard in order to "repay" Ballard for several flights Ballard had flown for Buffum. Apparently, the Operations Officer had originally designated Ballard to fly this mission as part of Townsend’s crew but Ballard and Buffum negotiated a deal where Buffum (the regular crew radio operator) agreed to fly the mission. The Operations Officer would have no objection to this switch as long as both men agreed. Ballard ended his remark with the statement "And, that’s how Pat Buffin was on board the plane that day, instead of me."

In the rear compartment were: lst Lt. Bob Leonard in the radar operator’s position; A1/C Bill Fultz at the right scanner’s position; and M/Sgt. Larry Gregory at the left scanner’s position. (but in the tail gunner’s position during air-to-air refueling). It’s interesting to note that Bob Leonard (crew radar operator) and Mike Kearns (crew navigator) in the front compartment were very close friends. Mike was best man at Bob’s wedding and Bob was best man at Mike’s wedding. "Pat" Buffum (crew radio operator) had flown with Kearns and Leonard ever since the crew was first put together. Townsend insisted on professionalism, crew integrity, and mutual respect for each other. This crew was tightly integrated and they were all close friends. The same observation can be made for McClure’s crew.

McClure’s aircraft approached from the rear and crossed over Townsend’s aircraft. At that same moment, M/Sgt. Gregory cautiously alerted everyone over the intercomm: "Hold steady, they are going over us." The time was exactly 1017 hours (Bordeaux, France time). 1st Lt. Bob Leonard then vividly recalls the horrible metallic thud and crunch as McClure’s aircraft settled down on (and/or collided with) the top of Townsend’s aircraft. Whatever happened during the preceding seconds must have been completely unanticipated. We can speculate all day what may have been the primary cause of this accident. Could it have been severe turbulence caused by flying into the prop wash of the lead aircraft? In such severe prop wash, did the wing of one aircraft tip into the other aircraft? Because of the short vertical separation between these two aircraft, was this a phenomena that only Boeing B/KB-29 test pilots would have known? Whatever the cause, it was extremely fast and unexpected. After impact, Leonard found himself suddenly pinned to the upper right hand side of the rear compartment as his aircraft began to drop in a spin. Immediately thereafter, he recalls thinking "what a helluva way to die" as he slid down the rear section of the falling aircraft. Leonard then remembers that he and Airman Bill Fultz were both at the left hatch desperately trying to get it open. Fultz eventually got it open and bailed out. I’m sure Fultz must have concluded a few days later that it took him forever to get that hatch open. Seconds spent in a scenario of panic and sheer terror can seem like several minutes to the afflicted afterwards. Recollections of time actually consumed in these moments of peril are often quite inaccurate. A severe explosion occurred and Leonard ended up in the tail of the aircraft (at the far end of the compartment) recovering from explosive shock and a momentary state of unconsciousness. Smoke and fire filled the rear section of the aircraft and Leonard was unable to see M/Sgt. Gregory. Leonard frantically tried to open the back entrance hatch but it was jammed shut. He then crawled back through the spinning wreckage to the left hatch where Fultz had bailed out. Remember that all this time, major sections and pieces of the aircraft were falling to the ground with Leonard trapped inside a major section. Finally, Leonard pulled together all the strength he had left and vacated the aircraft through the same open hatch used by Fultz. Leonard’s personal thoughts about successfully escaping this entrapment appeared in a newspaper article that he mailed to me recently. The article quotes Leonard as saying quite conservatively "God gave me a little push." In a handwritten letter received with the newspaper clipping, Leonard reflected that he may have pulled the ripcord on his parachute too soon because he remembers an engine passing by him about 100 feet away and to his right. Other chunks of the aircraft were falling around him. He also remembers (as I do in a somewhat similar situation) stating his "Our Fathers" and "Hail Marys" while falling through the air. From his writing, I can tell that Bob Leonard is certainly a God fearing man and no atheist. For those readers who are atheists, remember the famous World War II adage "There are no atheists in foxholes when the artillery shells are dropping around." I submit there are no atheists in falling and flaming aircraft.

Meanwhile, up in the front compartment, when the explosion occurred, Townsend stated that 1st Lt. Hal Schonhans was blown from the nose of the aircraft and into his lap. Townsend told me he desperately pushed Schonhans off his lap in order to escape the aircraft. Somehow Townsend, Schonhans, and T/Sgt. Ed Kostamo (the flight engineer) disengaged themselves from the falling wreckage, pulled their ripcords, and parachuted safely to the ground. Perhaps, the entire front section of the aircraft broke apart when the explosion occurred and/or they were all blown clear of the falling wreckage. Leonard remembers Kostamo stating that he jumped out of the nose of the aircraft, which was blown off. For some reason, Major. Harmon, in the pilot’s seat (left side) never made it. Perhaps Harmon was rendered unconscious by the blast of the explosion or was killed instantly. It’s clear to me that God gave these three crewmembers in the forward compartment, in Bob Leonard’s words, "a little push" (maybe a big push) as well. Another miracle is that none of the five survivors were clobbered by falling aircraft wreckage while parachuting to the ground and after landing. Townsend reported that when he hit the ground, wreckage was all around him and pieces of the aircraft were still falling.

Mike Luna, in the third KB-29 trailing behind, saw the brilliant explosion ahead but wasn’t close enough to provide any more details about the accident. He and his crew returned safely to RAF Sculthorpe after (most probably) jettisoning -- over the Atlantic Ocean -- most of the JP-4 in their bomb bay tank.

I don’t want to speculate what the pilots of the F-100s may have seen and/or thought before the air-to-air refueling operations commenced. They must have been somewhere in the immediate area. If they had witnessed this midair collision and subsequent deadly explosion, it would be interesting to hear their thoughts about air-to-air refueling.

This accident may have been a factor in the acceleration of the program to replace all KB-29s at RAF Sculthorpe with more modern KB-50s. Also, "backpack" parachutes were mandated for all KB-50 crewmembers. This was not the case for KB–29s where some crewmembers regularly used harnesses with detachable parachute packs. It is clear to me that when the two KB-29s collided (or merged together) and the explosion occurred, the men who didn’t have their front parachute packs already attached never had a chance to survive even if they had successfully escaped the falling aircraft wreckage. The five survivors volunteered to remain at RAF Sculthorpe after the accident, flying as KB-50 crewmembers until their tours in England were completed. What a testimony to individual character strength, emotional stability, and professionalism their decision was.

When Leonard hit the ground with his parachute in the plowed field of an isolated French farm, he immediately went to his knees with a prayer of thanks to the Lord. French farmers in the immediate area also went to their knees and joined with Leonard in prayer. The owners of the farm, Monsieur and Madame Gaston Duchemins, then took a rather shaken up and slightly bleeding Bob Leonard into their home and put him to rest in an upstairs bedroom. Later at this same farmhouse, a local chemist, who could speak English, put some clips into Leonard’s head wound and assured him that his aching back was not broken. It turned out later that Leonard did incur a back injury but the problem was not so serious that it precluded him from flying with the 420th AREFS a month or so thereafter. Hours later, a French ambulance showed up at the Duchemins’ farm house with 1st Lt. Hal Schonhans already in the ambulance. The ambulance took them both to a nearby Franco-American hospital for food and treatment of their wounds. The next day, a helicopter took Leonard and Schonhans to Caen AFB where they were admitted into an Air Force hospital for observation and treatment. After remaining at this hospital for a few days, they were flown back to RAF Sculthorpe in an Air Force C-119 "Flying Boxcar".

In compliance with an old Air Force custom, whereby survivors of bailouts are honor bound to reward the responsible person who packed the parachute they used, Bob Leonard gave a fifth of whiskey to his parachute rigger. The informal procedure adopted by TAC when I flew with their squadrons was to reward the parachute rigger with either a fifth of whiskey (brand of his choice) or a case of beer (brand of his choice) whichever the parachute rigger preferred. In retrospect, this was a very small gift for being responsible for saving one’s life. May God bless all parachute riggers who take their jobs seriously.

I have no information on how and when Townsend, Kostamo, and Fultz were returned to RAF Sculthorpe; however, one can rest assured that the French citizens and gendarme in the area of the accident did all they could to take these three American airmen to proper USAF authorities. Again I want to stress that there were only five survivors out of the nineteen crewmembers in the two aircraft that collided together, three miles high, over the channel town of Morigny, France, and 20 miles from the famous World War II battleground of St. Lo. Jack Kendrick, now living in Ft.Worth, Texas, soberly reminded me that he would not be with us today had he accepted Jim Erwine’s kind invitation to fly on "Mac" McClure’s aircraft 44 years ago. A similar observation can be made about Buddie Ballard. These two men are indeed very lucky. Should any of our readers know the present whereabouts of Hal Schonhans, Ed Kostamo, and Bill Fultz (assuming they are still alive), we would certainly like to hear from them -- better still to see them at our forthcoming reunion in New Orleans. Please write to Bill Dietz if you know their current addresses.

A somber memorial service for the fourteen men who perished was held in the RAF Sculthorpe chapel on 6 February 1957. I received a copy of the memorial service program from Bill Dietzel, the editor of our newsletter, who in turn, received it from Mrs. Lorraine McClure, widow of Capt. "Mac" McClure. The program listed the four men who perished in Grover Townsend’s aircraft (previously identified) as well as the ten men who perished in McClure’s aircraft (i.e. Capt. Elton McClure; 1st Lt. James Erwine; 1st Lt. John Milligan; 1st Lt. Richard Shobert; 1st Lt. Harvey Starling; M/Sgt. George Clarke; S/Sgt. William Burley; S/Sgt James McCray; A2/C Arthur Kosier; and A/3C Franklin Schweigert).

During the period I was doing the research to write this story, I became aware that 1st Lt. James Erwine was the very same Jim Erwine (U.S. Military Academy graduate, Class of 1952) that I knew so well in basic navigator training at Ellington AFB, TX during 1952 and 1953. Since I arrived at RAF Sculthorpe after this accident occurred, I never had the opportunity to renew our previous friendship. Clearly, this WAS the saddest day ever at RAF Sculthorpe. However, a couple of bad days for different KB-50 crews would follow a couple of years later. These accidents will be the subject of another story at another time if our readers and editor encourage such action.

Crew personnel replacements for the lost crewmembers began trickling in to the 420th Air Refueling Squadron a few weeks after this midair accident. 1st Lt Len Moreland was the first to arrive, then 2nd Lt Bill Gorman and 2nd Lt Jerry McMullen, then 1st Lt Walt Larimer. All four had been previously assigned as navigators to the 582nd Air Resupply Squadron at RAF Molesworth. The 582nd flew C-54, C-119, and SA-16 aircraft on classified air resupply and cargo airlift missions all over the USAFE area and throughout the Middle East until the squadron was officially disbanded in mid-1957 at RAF Alconbury. All four soon became qualified as KB-50 and KB-50J navigators and all knew the unusual circumstances which brought them to their final assignment in England -- the 420th AREFS at RAF Sculthorpe.