1958 Westover Air Force Base KC-135 crash
United States Air Force Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker · Flaps deployed at the incorrect angle
From Westover Metropolitan Airport / Westover Air Reserve Base (CEF) to an unrecorded destination
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
- 15 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- 15
- 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 KC-135 Stratotanker
- Aircraft type
- Boeing KC-135
- 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
- 56-3599
- Operator
- United States Air Force
- Onboard fatalities
- 15
- Route
- From Westover Metropolitan Airport / Westover Air Reserve Base (CEF)To not recorded
Cause areas
- Personnel issues › Task performance
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
On June 27, 1958, a Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker attempting to break a world speed record crashed shortly after takeoff from Westover Air Force Base, killing all 15 aboard the plane.
Accident
The first plane, Alpha, took off from Westover at 11:52 p.m. on June 26. The second, Bravo, took off at 12:07 a.m..
At 12:30 a.m., Lt. Col. George Broutsas, commander of the third plane, Cocoa, received take-off clearance. He acknowledged the tower, moved his throttles up, released his brakes, and began to roll. The aircraft slowly picked up speed and left the ground at the proper spot. It struggled to gain altitude and struck a tree top 4100 ft from the end of the runway, which caused the KC-135's right wing to dip and dig into the ground.
Its uplifted left wing struck high-voltage power lines and the plane skidded across a cornfield and the Massachusetts Turnpike before exploding. The aircraft, which was heavy with fuel for the non-stop trip to London, sprayed jet fuel as it hit the ground, which set fire to the roadbed, a barn, and the surrounding woods.
The flight of the fourth KC-135 was canceled after the accident. The two already in the air, Alpha and Bravo, continued to London and broke the world record. Alpha reached London in 5:27:42.8 and Bravo arrived in 5:29:37.4, shattering the previous record of 7 hours, 29 minutes. Rather than immediately returning to New York, they landed outside London and stayed there until June 29.
The crash was the first involving the Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker, which had flown over 7.8 e6mi without accident.
Investigation and cause
Investigation
The crash was investigated by the United States Air Force with the assistance of the Civil Aeronautics Administration and the Civil Aeronautics Board. The two civilian agencies sought any information that would affect the KC-135's civilian counterpart, the Boeing 707, which was soon to be put in operation.
On September 30, 1958, the Air Force release its report, which determined that there was no structural failure of the KC-135 and there were no issues with its engine. The probable cause of the accident was found to be complications caused by flaps that were deployed at an incorrect angle.
Text from the Wikipedia article “1958 Westover Air Force Base KC-135 crash” (revision 1344765847, 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: 1958 Westover Air Force Base KC-135 crash
- Revision
- 1344765847 · 2026-03-22 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q120281462
- 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 "1958 Westover Air Force Base KC-135 crash" (page 74102533, revision 1344765847)
- 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.