ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 60439
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| Date: | Monday 11 September 1972 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  General Dynamics F-111A |
| Owner/operator: | 6510th Test Wg USAF |
| Registration: | 65-5703 |
| MSN: | A1-21 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | E of California City, CA, 10 miles from Edwards AFB -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.) |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | Edwards AFB, CA |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
On September 9, 1972, an F-111A piloted by Major Charles P. Winters crashed east of California City, approx 10 miles from Edwards AFB. Major Winters lost control of the aircraft in the spin range during spin recovery testing, and the spin recovery parachute failed to deploy.
I was there. The spin chute did not fail. It deployed normally, and did its job. The spin was stopped and the aircraft was in a dive, from which it could have been recovered. But the FTE, Pat Sharp, ejected when it passed 10,000 feet. The aircraft was lost, needlessly.
Both crewmen ejected safely and the entire incident was captured on film. The F-111 was destroyed as it caught fire on impact with the ground, in a near vertical dive at approximately 500 knots
I performed Last Chance on this aircraft as it departed for these spin tests. I was shocked to hear of the crash shortly thereafter. The remains of the aircraft were eventually brought back to the hangar, adjacent to EAFB Base Operations, where the intact crew module was placed in the very center of the aircraft remains. Nothing much larger than a basketball was left of the plane. My understanding, at the time, is that this was the first successful deployment/ejection of the crew module, where it parachuted safely to ground, AND the pilots survived (Everglades crash the pilots perished). Transient Alert crew member, A1C Joe Keene, June 1972-September 1974.
Sources:
https://theronmoon.smugmug.com/Desert-Wrecks/F-111A-65-5703-North-of/6040613_dp9vmt/378303315_xUPuN
http://web.archive.org/web/20170921070650/http://www.ejection-history.org.uk:80/Aircraft_by_Type/F_111/F-111.htm
https://my.xfinity.com/~stp9506/F111CAcity.htmlm
http://www.xb-70.com/wmaa/f111/
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 25-Oct-2009 17:37 | JINX | Updated |
| 28-Jan-2013 14:41 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Operator, Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 14-Jul-2014 16:51 | Anon. | Updated [Narrative] |
| 14-Sep-2016 06:07 | Anon. | Updated [Narrative] |
| 05-Nov-2019 17:04 | Anon. | Updated [Operator, Operator] |
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