Robert Arthur Yates was living in Ridgewood, Queens, New York when he entered the U.S. Air Force.
On 14 December, 1965, a U.S. Air Force RB-57F Canberra reconnaissance aircraft of the 7407th Support Squadron at Rhein-Main Air Base, West Germany (on Temporary Duty to Incirlik Air Base, Turkey), was lost over the Black Sea, near Odessa, Ukraine in the former Soviet Union. The pilot, Captain Lester L. Lackey and crew member 1st Lieutenant Robert Yates were both presumed killed in action or captured alive by the Soviets with their ultimate fate being uncertain.
By 1993, investigations indicated that there might not have been any Soviet activity related to this loss. The crew probably perished from an oxygen system failure, since it took over an hour for the aircraft to spiral down from altitude and fall into the Black Sea. After 7 to 8 days spent searching for the aircraft by joint U.S. and Turkish recovery crews following Lieutenant Yates' 1965 disappearance, only small bits and pieces of aircraft wreckage were ever found.
Portions taken from "Aircraft Downed During the Cold War and Thereafter", by David Lednicer, November 8, 2005
On 14 December, 1965, a U.S. Air Force RB-57F Canberra reconnaissance aircraft of the 7407th Support Squadron at Rhein-Main Air Base, West Germany (on Temporary Duty to Incirlik Air Base, Turkey), was lost over the Black Sea, near Odessa, Ukraine in the former Soviet Union. The pilot, Captain Lester L. Lackey and crew member 1st Lieutenant Robert Yates were both presumed killed in action or captured alive by the Soviets with their ultimate fate being uncertain.
By 1993, investigations indicated that there might not have been any Soviet activity related to this loss. The crew probably perished from an oxygen system failure, since it took over an hour for the aircraft to spiral down from altitude and fall into the Black Sea. After 7 to 8 days spent searching for the aircraft by joint U.S. and Turkish recovery crews following Lieutenant Yates' 1965 disappearance, only small bits and pieces of aircraft wreckage were ever found.
Portions taken from "Aircraft Downed During the Cold War and Thereafter", by David Lednicer, November 8, 2005
Robert Arthur Yates was living in Ridgewood, Queens, New York when he entered the U.S. Air Force.
On 14 December, 1965, a U.S. Air Force RB-57F Canberra reconnaissance aircraft of the 7407th Support Squadron at Rhein-Main Air Base, West Germany (on Temporary Duty to Incirlik Air Base, Turkey), was lost over the Black Sea, near Odessa, Ukraine in the former Soviet Union. The pilot, Captain Lester L. Lackey and crew member 1st Lieutenant Robert Yates were both presumed killed in action or captured alive by the Soviets with their ultimate fate being uncertain.
By 1993, investigations indicated that there might not have been any Soviet activity related to this loss. The crew probably perished from an oxygen system failure, since it took over an hour for the aircraft to spiral down from altitude and fall into the Black Sea. After 7 to 8 days spent searching for the aircraft by joint U.S. and Turkish recovery crews following Lieutenant Yates' 1965 disappearance, only small bits and pieces of aircraft wreckage were ever found.
Portions taken from "Aircraft Downed During the Cold War and Thereafter", by David Lednicer, November 8, 2005
On 14 December, 1965, a U.S. Air Force RB-57F Canberra reconnaissance aircraft of the 7407th Support Squadron at Rhein-Main Air Base, West Germany (on Temporary Duty to Incirlik Air Base, Turkey), was lost over the Black Sea, near Odessa, Ukraine in the former Soviet Union. The pilot, Captain Lester L. Lackey and crew member 1st Lieutenant Robert Yates were both presumed killed in action or captured alive by the Soviets with their ultimate fate being uncertain.
By 1993, investigations indicated that there might not have been any Soviet activity related to this loss. The crew probably perished from an oxygen system failure, since it took over an hour for the aircraft to spiral down from altitude and fall into the Black Sea. After 7 to 8 days spent searching for the aircraft by joint U.S. and Turkish recovery crews following Lieutenant Yates' 1965 disappearance, only small bits and pieces of aircraft wreckage were ever found.
Portions taken from "Aircraft Downed During the Cold War and Thereafter", by David Lednicer, November 8, 2005
Inscription
New York, Captain, U.S. Air Force
Gravesite Details
Memorial headstone - the body of the deceased was lost at sea and is not interred at this cemetery
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