ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 60616
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| Date: | Saturday 10 March 1956 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  Boeing B-47E Stratojet |
| Owner/operator: | 306th BWg /369th BSqn USAF |
| Registration: | 52-0534 |
| MSN: | 450819 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 3 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Over/near the Mediterranean Sea, southeast of Port Say, -
 Algeria
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | McDill AFB, Florida, USA |
| Ben Guerir AB, Morocco | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
The 1956 B-47 disappearance occurred on 10 March 1956 over the Mediterranean Sea. A Boeing B-47 Stratojet took off from MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, in the United States for a non-stop flight to Ben Guerir Air Base, Morocco and completed the first aerial refueling without incident.
After descending through solid cloud to begin the second refueling, at 14,000 ft (4,267 m), B-47E serial number 52-534, failed to make contact with its tanker. The unarmed aircraft was carrying two capsules of nuclear weapons material in carrying cases; a nuclear detonation was not possible.
Despite an extensive search, no debris were ever found, and the crash site has never been located The crew has been declared dead (MIA presumed KIA):
Captain Robert H. Hodgin, 31, the aircraft commander
Captain Gordon M. Insley, 32, observer
2nd It. Ronald L. Kurtz, 22, pilot
Aircrafts last knowne position was Over/near the Mediterranean Sea, southeast of Port Say, an Algerian coastal village near the Moroccan frontier. A French news agency reported that the plane may have exploded in flight near Sebatna in eastern French Morocco.
The Air Force reported that the French position was roughly the same as the last report on the missing plane— about 90 miles southwest of Oran. A later report said the plane went down southeast of Port Say, an Algerian coastal village near the Moroccan frontier. Planes and French troops were reposed to have searched the area but found no wreckage.
Air Force official also said that ships from the Royal Navy abandoned their exercises in the Mediterranean and searched for wreckage of the plane, and troops in French and Spanish Morocco did likewise.
An exhaustive search failed to locate the aircraft, its weapons, nor its crew.
Sources:
1. http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1952.html
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1956_B-47_disappearance
3. http://www.check-six.com/lib/Famous_Missing/Broken_Arrow_B47.htm
4. http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/operation_and_plans/NuclearChemicalBiologicalMatters/21.pdf
5. http://www.aerospaceweb.org/question/weapons/q0268.shtml
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 15-Apr-2012 21:48 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Country, Phase, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 04-Oct-2013 20:51 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Total fatalities, Total occupants, Location, Country, Source, Narrative] |
| 23-Nov-2020 12:45 | Anon. | Updated [Operator, Operator] |
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