RB-66C Tail Number 54-471
Submitted by Ned Colburn

Aircraft 54-471 crashed at Donaldson AFB [Greenville, SC] on its first flight after Charles Dodd and Ned Colburn ferried 471 back to Shaw AFB [Sumter, SC] on 10 March 1961 following depot maintenance at Brookley AFB [Mobile, AL]. (See map 1 and map 2 where external tanks impacted.)

471 was the Proverbial Hangar Queen with this, that and the other problem.  The most memorable problem involved the Form F [Weight & Balance] being improperly calculated by an Intrepid Aviator in the 9^th TRS who had a Masters Degree in Aeronautical Engineering.

Through misapplication of plus [+] and minus [-] signs in the wrong direction, 471 was deemed to have an unexplainable Forward CG Problem.  After many recalculations of the Form F with the same erroneous results every time, it was decided that the only way to correct the problem was to put a permanent load of chaff in the tail cone of 471 – which created an Aft CG Problem instead of curing the Mythical Forward CG Problem. 

The Illegal Dog Book at the Duty Desk outlined the problem, and suggested that the pilots add a couple extra degrees of Nose Up Trim for take-off.  This only aggravated the problem, and write-ups started appearing in the Form 781, “Nose pitches-up on rotation”. 

Hugh Halliday and crew almost bought the farm on take-off in 471.  As he adjusted his seat to the full forward position so he could reach the controls, the spring-loaded pins in the seat track didn’t lock.  As Hugh rotated and the nose pitched-up, his seat slid back to the full aft position.  With stellar reflexes, he threw the yoke forward, went through several low altitude oscillations [sine wave curves], got his seat fully forward and locked and we flew an uneventful mission thereafter.

After checking out as an EWO in the 9^th TRS, I was drafted to fly 1 year as a B-66 Navigator.  Captain Charlie Dodd and I ferried 471 to Brookley AFB for IRAN – with the gear unretractable in the down position all the way to Brookley.

On 10 March 1961, Charlie Dodd and I returned to Brookley and flew 471 back to Shaw.  The Chief Inspector at Brookley greeted us with, “Guess What?  Somebody miscalculated the Form F, and instead of a Forward CG Problem, 471 actually had an Aft CG Problem”.

471 operated like a normal B-66 on the flight back to Shaw, but true to form took a big bite out of Major Hank Gibbia who had the misfortune of flying the beast on its next flight.

Gibbia had just received orders to report to a cushy advisory job, when he was tapped for just one more B-66 flight on an Ops Ordered Deployment to Labrador.

The closest recovery airport with weather minimums was 900 miles north of Shaw when Hank Gibbia took off in 471.  During climb-out to Columbia, the #2 engine exploded and Hank headed for Donaldson AFB in Greenville, SC which was below landing minimums -- virtually Zero-Zero.

Approaching Donaldson, Hank jettisoned his drop tanks -- with one harmlessly embedding itself in an open field and the other hitting a laundromat where it started a fire and burned a woman and child, although not seriously.

Despite full left rudder deployment and with full left rudder trim, the aircraft still yawed to the right and when GCA called the aircraft too far off centerline to land, Hank made a one engine go-around for a second approach.

This time, GCA lined him up way left of the runway but the aircraft ended up 1500 feet right of the runway, passing under high tension lines, hitting an embankment at the end of the runway and sliding onto the airfield where it exploded in flames.

The weather was virtually Zero-Zero, and Hank Gibbia didn’t see the ground until seconds before the crash.  He remarked that had he seen the ground looming underneath, he undoubtedly would have screwed-up the landing and they all would have perished.

As it turned out, the most serious injury was sustained by Captain David Gurkin [Weather Officer who was flying in the Gunner’s Seat] who sprained his ankle jumping to the ground.  The other calamity was scorched hair and eyebrows when Jerry Rocks [Navigator] opened his overhead hatch and flames were sucked into the cockpit.

Captain Ed Breck and Captain Jim Dain were flying as Raven 1 & 2, a TSgt from maintenance was in the Raven 3 position and I forget who Raven 4 was.

Ed Breck’s floor hatch came off and about a foot of dirt and debris was scooped into the ECM compartment.

I later flew with Ed Breck when we almost landed short at Wheelus AB [Tripoli, Libya] and with Jim Dain when we caught fire on take-off at Shaw [the same week that the RB-66C and WB-66D had the fuel screen problems, flamed-out and crashed].

I wasn’t too concerned about either emergency -- until I saw Ed Breck and Jim Dain nervous and twitching all over, and realized that they had both been through a crash and knew what was coming.  Fortunately, we didn’t have a repeat performance.

Ed Breck was nearing his 100^th combat mission when he was killed on a motorcycle near Takhli, Thailand. 

After 471 crashed at Donaldson AFB, Hank Gibbia returned to Shaw for the Accident Investigation Board -- which turned into a real fiasco with the TAC Commander fully cocked and primed to send Hank Gibbia to Leavenworth.

Hank was unmercifully drawn, quartered and grilled as to why he didn’t fly 900 miles further north so he would have legal landing minimums, why this and why that with no end of asinine questions

When asked why he jettisoned a drop tank into the laundromat, the official board records shows that Hank’s reply was, “Because I couldn’t find an orphanage”. 

Also, when asked why he didn’t alert the crew that a crash was imminent, Hank’s recorded reply was, “Because by the time I realized we were going to crash, I was simply a spectator at the greatest show on earth -- and all I could do was watch.”

I read the above article with great interest your article, “RB-66C Tail Number 54-471.” It really confirmed some of the recollections that I had of the event and always meant to look into it, starting with maybe the local newspapers. Your article provided exceptional insight that I would have never believed to have received. Thank you for your article as I consider it a gift. Please do not take anything below as taking issue with your article…it was great!

As a young boy, I lived nearby Donaldson AFB and was only a few yards away from where one of the wing tanks hit. I happened to be looking at almost precisely where it hit, when it hit. It did not hit the Laundromat and as a matter of fact, it was approximately between my location and the Laundromat. It exploded on impact and yes there was a fire following a much larger instantaneous explosive flash that momentarily seemed to engulf the car in which I was riding. The impression was very much like napalm explosions that I have seen on television. The residual flames extended into the road in which we were driving; and my father negotiated driving through the flames as it was simply an obstacle course. My mother was uncontrollably, hysterically screaming and I was scared worse…you could say I was scared s…..less (speechless). I would have been uncontrollably, hysterically screaming except that I could not manage the most imperceptible of sounds….not even a whimper.

I heard the aircraft, knew it was very low, and yes it must have been zero-zero at Donaldson for there was a drizzle of rain and it was overcast with low hanging grey clouds. The pilot or whoever jettisoned the wing tanks could not have possibly known through direct means (visual) where they were dropping them.

My recollection of news reports is that the runway was foamed with a fire retardant. I had seen this simulated many times at Donaldson during Armed Forces Day demonstrations.

Well, I think I have done enough reminiscing.

I know that one of the tanks had a lot of JP-4 (the one that exploded). The other one did not. I surmise that it could have (although maybe not) exploded if it were as full as the other. It did just dig into the ground and did no damage. But it was within yards of a childhood friends house. I would not describe the location as an open field.

What about fuel management (I am not a pilot but did manage to almost get a private ticket with an amazing 40 or 50 hours in an Aeronca Champ (7AC)? I would assume that one would use the wing tanks first and then go internal….but were they dedicated to a particular engine? The fact that one was empty and the other near full tells me they were in this case. This could have added (a lot of extra differential weight on the dead engine side). I don’t know just always curious.

Also, could you please direct me as to how to obtain the official AIB records? It would be extremely interesting to me. How bout a better, high resolution photo of 54-471? I would recognize the sound of it’s one laboring engine today!

Stephen D. Hughey

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