Date:	Tuesday 30 July 1968
Time:
Type:	Boeing KC-135A Stratotanker
Owner/operator:	United States Air Force - USAF
Registration:	56-3655
MSN:	17404/94
Year of manufacture:	1958
Total airframe hrs:	6089 hours
Engine model:	Pratt & Whitney J57-P
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 9 / Occupants: 9
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed, written off
Category:	Accident
Location:	56 km E of Red Buff, CA -   United States of America
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	Merced-Castle AFB, CA (MER/KMER)
Destination airport:	Merced-Castle AFB, CA (MER/KMER)

Narrative:
The KC-135 departed Castle AFB (MER) on a refueling training mission. The crew was conducting a practice emergency descent from FL390 to FL230. After a sharp turn the vertical stabilizer separated and the airplane crashed in a timberland forest on Mount Lassen.

Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker: More Than Just a Tanker (Aerofax Series) / Robert S Hopkins, III

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