Dow Air Force Base – September 20, 1955

Dow Air Force Base – September 20, 1955

Bangor, Maine 

     On September 20, 1955, a U.S. Air Force KD-97 tanker-refueling aircraft crash landed and burst into flames at Dow Air Force Base in Bangor, Maine.  Five of the twelve crewmen aboard were injured, but none critically.  All escaped the burning aircraft, the smoke from which was seen for miles.  Two base firemen were also injured fighting the blaze, but not seriously.    

     The aircraft was assigned to the 341st Air refueling Squadron, part of the 4060th Air Refueling Wing stationed at Dow. 

     Source: Lewiston Daily Sun, “Aerial Tanker Crashes, burns At Dow Base”, September 21, 1955.  

Dow Air Force Base – September 9, 1960

Dow Air Force Base – September 9, 1960

Bangor, Maine 

     On Friday, September 9, 1960, six  U.S. Air Force F-100 Super Sabres, all belonging to the famous Air Force Thunderbirds aerobatic flight team, left Pease Air Force Base in Newington, New Hampshire, for Dow AFB in Bangor, Maine, to take part in the Downeast Air Fair being held that weekend.  When the jets arrived they made two passes in formation around the field before peeling off to land one at a time.  As one of the F-100s came down on the runway, its landing gear suddenly collapsed.  The aircraft skidded on its belly across the runway, then across a taxi way, before coming to rest in a ditch.  There was no fire, and the pilot was not hurt.     

     Source: Lewiston Daily Sun, Thunderbird In Dow Base Crash”, September 10, 1960

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