Loring Air Force Base, ME. – November 18, 1960

Loring AFB, Maine – November 18, 1960

     On November 18, 1960, a U. S. Air Force KC-135 jet tanker, (Ser. No. 56-3605), was returning to Loring Air Force Base after a six-and-a-half hour refueling mission with a crew of four and 13 passengers aboard.  (The reason for the passengers was not stated.)  As the plane touched down it veered off the left side of the runway and caught fire as it careened 3,000 feet along the ground.  When the plane came to rest all but one man was able to escape.  His body was later recovered from the wreckage.

     The deceased crewman was Captain Homer G. Bonin, 27, of Massachusetts.   https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/191194640/homer-g-bonin 

     Others aboard suffered minor injuries.

     Sources:

     Evening Star, (Washington, D. C.), “Tanker Plane Crashes, 1 Killed”, November 18, 1960.

     Maine Wreck Chasers website

     www.findagrave.com

 

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