1995 Alaska Boeing E-3 Sentry accident
United States Air Force Boeing E-3B Sentry · Bird strike on takeoff
From Elmendorf Air Force Base (EDF) to Elmendorf Air Force Base (EDF)
Event
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- Event fatalities
- 24 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- 24
- Survivors
- 0
- InjuriesFatal: death within 30 days. Serious: over 48 hours in hospital within a week, most broken bones, severe bleeding, nerve or organ damage, or serious burns. Minor: anything less. Glossary
- Unknown
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- Military
Boeing E-3B Sentry
- Aircraft type
- Boeing E-3
- Category
- Airplane · from aircraft type
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- 77-0354
- Operator
- United States Air Force
- Onboard fatalities
- 24
- Route
- From Elmendorf Air Force Base (EDF)To Elmendorf Air Force Base (EDF)
Cause areas
- Environmental issues › Physical environment
- Environmental issues › Operating environment
From the investigation findings the Wikipedia article reports, sorted into the NTSB's cause areas with AI assistance.
Approximate · Coordinates from the Wikipedia article; not checked against an investigation report.
From the Wikipedia article
The Alaska Boeing E-3 Sentry accident was the September 22, 1995 crash of a United States Air Force Boeing E-3 Sentry airborne early warning aircraft with the loss of all 24 crewmembers on board. The aircraft, serial number 77-0354 with callsign Yukla 27, hit birds on departure from Elmendorf Air Force Base in Alaska, United States. With the loss of thrust from both of the left engines, the aircraft crashed into a wooded area less than a mile from the end of the runway.
Accident
The Sentry was being operated by the 962d Airborne Air Control Squadron and was scheduled for a training sortie with the callsign Yukla 27. The aircraft was to depart from runway 06 and was waiting while a C-130 Hercules transport aircraft took off ahead of it. With its crew unaware that the Hercules had disturbed a flock of Canada geese, the Sentry lined up and started its departure roll. As the E-3 rotated, it ingested a number of birds into its number 1 and 2 engines. The crew started to dump fuel and initiated a turn to the left to return to the airfield, but with a full fuel load and having lost two engines on the same wing, it was unable to maintain altitude. After the aircraft reached 250 feet it descended, and after only 42 seconds of flight, it crashed into a hilly, wooded area and exploded.
Investigation and cause
Investigation
The investigation concluded that the probable cause was the ingestion of Canada geese into the number 1 and 2 engines. Other factors included the insufficient efforts of the air base to deter the birds, and the failure of the air traffic control tower to report to both the Sentry and the airfield management that birds were present on the airfield.
The sequence of events during impact was also determined. The aircraft struck the ground nose first and slid to the top of a hill, where the empennage (tail section) broke off. "As the [aircraft] cleared the second hill, it rolled over. The fuselage broke up as the [aircraft] rolled. The outboard right wing impacted on the left side of the wreckage, the right-hand wing broke off and the rotodome section impacted on its back, breaking up the rest of the aircraft."
Investigators reviewed the flight and wreckage path of the accident aircraft. "The [aircraft] lifted off and flew approximately [1.28 kilometers (0.8 mile)] before contacting trees," the report said. "The [aircraft] then flew approximately [0.72 kilometers (0.45 mile)] before making contact with the ground and crashing in a fireball."
Text from the Wikipedia article “1995 Alaska Boeing E-3 Sentry accident” (revision 1347616274, retrieved 2026-09-18) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out. Read the article
Sources
Wikipedia article: 1995 Alaska Boeing E-3 Sentry accident
- Revision
- 1347616274 · 2026-04-07 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q15662857
- Licence
- Text CC BY-SA 4.0, by the article's authors; Wikidata CC0; town positions GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
Where each value comes from
- Record
- Wikipedia article "1995 Alaska Boeing E-3 Sentry accident" (page 40653028, revision 1347616274)
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site
- Map position
- Wikipedia article coordinates
- Aircraft, operator and route
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports)
- Operation
- operator named as an armed force or military unit in the infobox
- Fatalities
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities
- Ground fatalities
- not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
- Summary
- Wikipedia infobox: summary
Source notes (1)
- Wikipedia · Facts from the Wikipedia article's infobox and coordinates, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.