Found pics of C-141 I was on when it crash landed.

[Agnostic007]

The internet is pretty amazing. Back in Jan of 1987 I was on a C-141 that was flying from Clark AB P.I. to Kadena AB Okinawa. The weather was bad at Kadena with high crosswinds. After several attempts to land the crew decided to divert to Iwakuni Japan. Once we arrived there fuel was very low and the weather was actually worse with strong winds and snow. After a few attempts with no success the pilot had to land or run out of fuel. We came down hard and the plane started sliding. I actually felt it turn sideways and turned to the guy next to me and said "This ain't right.." and figured we were in big trouble.
As we slid sideways I could feel we struck something hard (Later found out it was 4 pick up trucks parked and unattended and the impact took off the #4 engine and part of the wing. As we came to a stop things were flying around the cabin and people were screaming (families were flying Space Available). The crew was fantastic and worked to calm people down as the cabin filled with smoke. When I got to the door I was surprised to see the steps we needed to get into the plane were no longer needed as the plane was on it's side. I helped people get down along with a crewmember. When the plane was evacuated we all gathered about a 100 yrds away in the blowing snow in short sleeves and waited for buses while we watched the fire trucks put out the fire.
I had only seen a picture of it in the Stars and Stripes later that month until last night when I just plugged in C-141 Crash Iwakuni and came up with the pics. I contacted one of the crew members via email  and it was cool to talk about it with him.           

[Rudee]

How old were you at the time?   Were you freaking out when the plane started sliding sideways?

[NarcissisticDeity]

Crazy shit 

[Straw Man]

The internet is pretty amazing. Back in Jan of 1987 I was on a C-141 that was flying from Clark AB P.I. to Kadena AB Okinawa. The weather was bad at Kadena with high crosswinds. After several attempts to land the crew decided to divert to Iwakuni Japan. Once we arrived there fuel was very low and the weather was actually worse with strong winds and snow. After a few attempts with no success the pilot had to land or run out of fuel. We came down hard and the plane started sliding. I actually felt it turn sideways and turned to the guy next to me and said "This ain't right.." and figured we were in big trouble.
As we slid sideways I could feel we struck something hard (Later found out it was 4 pick up trucks parked and unattended and the impact took off the #4 engine and part of the wing. As we came to a stop things were flying around the cabin and people were screaming (families were flying Space Available). The crew was fantastic and worked to calm people down as the cabin filled with smoke. When I got to the door I was surprised to see the steps we needed to get into the plane were no longer needed as the plane was on it's side. I helped people get down along with a crewmember. When the plane was evacuated we all gathered about a 100 yrds away in the blowing snow in short sleeves and waited for buses while we watched the fire trucks put out the fire.
I had only seen a picture of it in the Stars and Stripes later that month until last night when I just plugged in C-141 Crash Iwakuni and came up with the pics. I contacted one of the crew members via email  and it was cool to talk about it with him.           

LOL

cool pics

glad I wasn't there

[Agnostic007]

Mid 20's. It all happened so fast yet had the typical surreal feeling of slow motion if that makes any sense. Brain going a hundred miles an hour. I think at the time it was all about "Well this is fu*ked up, but it could be worse, at least we're on the ground". The flight engineer said we were doing 70 knots sideways. I could tell when we left the runway and was thinking "This might be a little worse".. all in all it looked a lot worse than it felt at the time.  

[Irongrip400]

My grandfather was on a plane like that(non civilian navy plane) that crashed into a mountain in Spain. He was standing up in the cabin talking to the pilots with his arms draped over their chairs and as he said "the mountain came out of nowhere". The planes instruments had them flying 2,000 feet below what it said. Anyway, he survived, but had broken a bunch on bones. They carried him off the mountain on a stretcher. Those cheap fare navy rides are no joke.

[arce1988]

Semper Fidelis

[Agnostic007]

My grandfather was on a plane like that(non civilian navy plane) that crashed into a mountain in Spain. He was standing up in the cabin talking to the pilots with his arms draped over their chairs and as he said "the mountain came out of nowhere". The planes instruments had them flying 2,000 feet below what it said. Anyway, he survived, but had broken a bunch on bones. They carried him off the mountain on a stretcher. Those cheap fare navy rides are no joke.

Yeah, this one was $10... guess you get what you pay for

[LanceD]

here is the real story...http://www.c141heaven.info/dotcom/67/pic_67_0029.php

a 141 pilot that TRIES to land at kadena, doesn't divert to mainland Japan with bing fuel.  he calls the weather station for landing weather in advance, this link tells what happened.

were you hurt?

[Agnostic007]

here is the real story...http://www.c141heaven.info/dotcom/67/pic_67_0029.php

a 141 pilot that TRIES to land at kadena, doesn't divert to mainland Japan with bing fuel.  he calls the weather station for landing weather in advance, this link tells what happened.

were you hurt?

Apparently there are some issues with that website. The flight engineer sent in the following update-

In December of 2004, I received the following email from Neal Rideout, who was on the plane the day the above described accident happened:

The report info above comes from came from the original MAC preliminary safety report several months after the accident. Because we didn't die and could provide a rebuttal, the official report didn't complete for almost five years. It's a sore spot with me that the information provided to the crews and public is always the incorrect version. There were more tests on equipment, analysis of data, and maintenance procedures that proved the aircraft malfunctioned on that landing.

This was the problem: 'Politics'. MAC would not admit the aircraft was problematic so they did what they always did: blamed the crew. As they say, the truth is out there. Lockheed and SPO reports, crew/maint testimony were omitted from their report. However, some evidence can be found openly. A look at C-141 TCTO history would reveal fixes to all airframes directly resulting from our mishap. Some examples to include: squat switch actuation point - Spoiler asymmetry cam shaft inspections / improper maintenance procedures.

Bottom line - the aircraft were experiencing problems, mostly one at a time, but there was a trend. We were the unlucky ones to experience all the problems at once.

It still pisses me off when I hear some safety guy tell me 'the crew lost situational awareness on final' when it's so far from the truth. Luckily, my superiors at the time knew the truth and were supportive.

Here is an example of the MAC mindset at the time. While the aircraft was burning I pulled 30 passengers out and over the ladder at the crew entrance door because it was laid out flat (making it a barrier) and covered with debris. I yanked so hard to get them over the approx four foot span that shoes, wallets, hats, and various personal belongings were scattered around the area. No one was seriously injured. When my commander put me in for a heroism award, the 22 nd AF commander stated that I was just doing my job, any less and I would be punished. You can be the judge of that statement.

Like I said, its still a sore spot with me even after all these years. I did the best job I could that day, and still I wouldn't do anything different. I did continue to fly 141 B's till Norton closed in 1993. Wound up at Edwards flying A's till they got rid of them. Currently I'm just one of a handful of Flight Engineers flying various models of 135's. We mostly provide a test platform and support other Flight Test Center assets.

[Agnostic007]

here is the real story...http://www.c141heaven.info/dotcom/67/pic_67_0029.php

a 141 pilot that TRIES to land at kadena, doesn't divert to mainland Japan with bing fuel.  he calls the weather station for landing weather in advance, this link tells what happened.

were you hurt?

I got on the plane at Clark AB. The original synopsis says it originated in Iwakuni Ja and was flying to Kadena. That is in error. The mission may have and likely did begin in Iwakuni, but it leaves out the stop in the P.I. The fact is we made several passes at the runway at Kadena before diverting to Iwakuni. The weather turned out to be worse in Iwakuni. Not only were there strong cross winds, there was snow and ice which wasn't present in Okinawa. Maybe they felt more comfortable trying to land at thier home base, maybe they wanted to run the fuel down as well. I do know that prior to the last landing a crew member told me they were about out which would probably make sense with the distances they flew. I had nothing more than some  soreness about what you might get in a minor fender bender.         

[jodsy]

i bet bricks were shat

[Agnostic007]

"Here is an example of the MAC mindset at the time. While the aircraft was burning I pulled 30 passengers out and over the ladder at the crew entrance door because it was laid out flat (making it a barrier) and covered with debris. I yanked so hard to get them over the approx four foot span that shoes, wallets, hats, and various personal belongings were scattered around the area. No one was seriously injured. When my commander put me in for a heroism award, the 22 nd AF commander stated that I was just doing my job, any less and I would be punished. You can be the judge of that statement."

The above statement comes from the flight engineer. I was there assisting with the unloading. I found it interesting he attributed the shoes, wallets, hats and various items scattered about to his "yanked so hard to get them over the approx four foot span". It's my recollection that because of the crash itself, items were scattered all about the cabin area and had nothing to do with how hard they were yanked. Can you really yank so hard wallets come out of a pocket? In any event, he did a great job helping people get out. One memory that sticks in my head is a full bird Col. doing a George Castanza and pushing past people to get out of the plane. He was about the first one out and was already 50 yards away by the time I got to the door.    

[Agnostic007]

i bet bricks were shat

Lot of puking.. I know that for sure