Pease Air Force Base, New Hampshire – July 21, 1965
RB-47E Stratojet
U.S. Air Force Photo
At 3: a.m. on the morning of July 21, 1965, an Air Force B-47 jet bomber was approaching Pease Air Force Base after an 11-hour training flight when it was discovered that the landing gear would not come down. The aircraft then circled the base for the next five hours while the crew attempted to fix the problem, but they were unable to do so. With fuel running low, there was no choice but to attempt a belly landing. The runway was covered with foam and the pilot made a pass over the runway at 50 feet to check conditions. He then brought the aircraft in and touched down without landing gear. The crew deployed drogue chutes to slow the aircraft, and it skidded along the tarmac for 250 yards before coming to rest. There was no fire and none of the four crewmen aboard were injured.
The crew were identified as:
Lt. Col. James B. Price, of Waco, Texas.
Captain Yale R. Davis Jr., of Salina, Kansas.
Captain Ronald E. Newton, of Hastings, Nebraska.
Lieutenant Charles S. Franco, Brooklyn, New York.
Source:
New London Day, “Crippled AF Jet In Safe Belly-Landing”, July, 22, 1965 – with photo of aircraft on runway.
