ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 162372
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| Date: | Tuesday 25 January 1966 |
| Time: | 14:32 |
| Type: | Lockheed SR-71A |
| Owner/operator: | United States Air Force (USAF) |
| Registration: | 61-7952 |
| MSN: | 2003 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | ca 60 mi N of Tucumcari, NM -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.) |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | Edwards AFB |
| Edwards AFB | |
| Investigating agency: | USAF AIB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The SR-71 took off from Edwards Air Force Base at on a test flight intended to investigate methods of reducing trim drag and thus improve cruising performance at high Mach numbers.
After the first stage of the mission was completed the pilot carried out a routine in-flight refuelling operation from a KC-135 tanker aircraft and then climbed to a height of 78,000 feet to continue the test.
At this point, with the SR-71 cruising at Mach 3.18 the right-hand engine automatic inlet control malfunctioned and the pilot selected manual control and initiated a turn to the right at a bank angle of 35 degrees.
A phenomenon known as "inlet unstart" then occurred at the RH engine, causing an instant loss of power from that unit and pitching the nose of the plane up and steepening the turn. The pilot attempted to return to straight and level, but the aircraft had departed from controlled flight and in the space of a few moments disintegrated in the air at an altitude of 78,800 feet.
Neither of the occupants had a chance to activate his ejection system but both were flung into free fall by the snapping of their seat harness restraints. The Lockheed pilot, Bill Weaver, recovered consciousness just before the automatic opener of his parachute acted at about 15,000 feet and made a safe landing. However the flight-test specialist, Jim Zwayer, was found nearby, dead from a broken neck which he must have sustained due to the violence of the breakup.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
http://barthworks.com/aviation/sr71breakup.htm
El Litoral 27 January 1966, p1
https://theaviationgeekclub.com/bailing-out-at-mach-3-the-incredible-story-of-bill-weaver-the-first-pilot-to-eject-from-an-sr-71-blackbird/amp/
https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP71B00590R000100100001-4.pdf
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 19-Nov-2013 01:46 | angels one five | Added |
| 19-Nov-2013 01:51 | angels one five | Updated [Aircraft type, Narrative] |
| 17-Jun-2015 19:07 | TB | Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Source, Narrative] |
| 20-Jun-2021 10:59 | gerard57 | Updated [Source] |
| 02-Sep-2022 13:19 | KagurazakaHanayo | Updated [Time, Cn, Source] |
| 02-Sep-2022 13:20 | harro | Updated [Accident report] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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