Melvin Wooten was the tailgunner of the ill-fated B52, Buzz One Four that crashed into Big Savage Mountain in Maryland in January 1964. A known structural defect caused the tail section to break off in severe turbulence. The pilot and co-pilot survived, but Wooten and two others perished.
Main article: 1964 Cumberland B-52 crash
A USAF Boeing B-52D-10-BW Stratofortress, 55-060, Buzz One Four, of the 484th Bomb Wing, Turner AFB, Georgia, suffers structural failure in turbulence of winter storm as blizzard socks the East Coast, crashes approximately 17 miles SW of Cumberland, Maryland. The bomber comes down in a small valley on Elbow Mountain in a state park. Pilot, co-pilot, eject, survive. Navigator, tail gunner, eject, die of exposure. Radar nav fails to eject, rides airframe in with two nuclear weapons on board. The pilot, Maj. Thomas W. McCormick, 42, of Hawkey, West Virginia, telephoned the Air Force in Washington, D.C. from a farmhouse near Grantsville, Maryland, saying that he was apparently the last of his crew to bail out, having heard the other seats leave the aircraft before he ejected. The US Army sends a 15-man team of bomb disposal experts from Fort Meade, Maryland, and the USAF dispatches a 35-man rescue team from Andrews AFB, Maryland. Both bombs survive intact and are recovered. The Stratofortress was also carrying two AGM-28 Hound Dog air-to-ground missiles. The aircraft was returning from a 24 Hour Airborne Alert mission (referred to a "Chrome Dome" mission diverted to Westover AFB in Massachusetts for repair of inflight maintenance issues, spending the night at Westover before returning to Turner AFB. (See also 1964 Savage Mountain B-52 crash, linked below).
........................................................................................
Crew of Buzz One Four
Pilot: Major Thomas W. McCormick 1921-1997
Co-Pilot: Captain Parker C Peedin 1934-2009
Radar Bombardier: Major Robert E Townley 1922-1964
Navigator: Major Robert Lee Payne 1922-1964
Tail Gunner: TSgt Melvin F Wooten 1936-1964
........................................................................................
With grateful heart we thank Kathy for her work creating this memorial and the kindness she showed by transferring its maintenance.
Main article: 1964 Cumberland B-52 crash
A USAF Boeing B-52D-10-BW Stratofortress, 55-060, Buzz One Four, of the 484th Bomb Wing, Turner AFB, Georgia, suffers structural failure in turbulence of winter storm as blizzard socks the East Coast, crashes approximately 17 miles SW of Cumberland, Maryland. The bomber comes down in a small valley on Elbow Mountain in a state park. Pilot, co-pilot, eject, survive. Navigator, tail gunner, eject, die of exposure. Radar nav fails to eject, rides airframe in with two nuclear weapons on board. The pilot, Maj. Thomas W. McCormick, 42, of Hawkey, West Virginia, telephoned the Air Force in Washington, D.C. from a farmhouse near Grantsville, Maryland, saying that he was apparently the last of his crew to bail out, having heard the other seats leave the aircraft before he ejected. The US Army sends a 15-man team of bomb disposal experts from Fort Meade, Maryland, and the USAF dispatches a 35-man rescue team from Andrews AFB, Maryland. Both bombs survive intact and are recovered. The Stratofortress was also carrying two AGM-28 Hound Dog air-to-ground missiles. The aircraft was returning from a 24 Hour Airborne Alert mission (referred to a "Chrome Dome" mission diverted to Westover AFB in Massachusetts for repair of inflight maintenance issues, spending the night at Westover before returning to Turner AFB. (See also 1964 Savage Mountain B-52 crash, linked below).
........................................................................................
Crew of Buzz One Four
Pilot: Major Thomas W. McCormick 1921-1997
Co-Pilot: Captain Parker C Peedin 1934-2009
Radar Bombardier: Major Robert E Townley 1922-1964
Navigator: Major Robert Lee Payne 1922-1964
Tail Gunner: TSgt Melvin F Wooten 1936-1964
........................................................................................
With grateful heart we thank Kathy for her work creating this memorial and the kindness she showed by transferring its maintenance.
Melvin Wooten was the tailgunner of the ill-fated B52, Buzz One Four that crashed into Big Savage Mountain in Maryland in January 1964. A known structural defect caused the tail section to break off in severe turbulence. The pilot and co-pilot survived, but Wooten and two others perished.
Main article: 1964 Cumberland B-52 crash
A USAF Boeing B-52D-10-BW Stratofortress, 55-060, Buzz One Four, of the 484th Bomb Wing, Turner AFB, Georgia, suffers structural failure in turbulence of winter storm as blizzard socks the East Coast, crashes approximately 17 miles SW of Cumberland, Maryland. The bomber comes down in a small valley on Elbow Mountain in a state park. Pilot, co-pilot, eject, survive. Navigator, tail gunner, eject, die of exposure. Radar nav fails to eject, rides airframe in with two nuclear weapons on board. The pilot, Maj. Thomas W. McCormick, 42, of Hawkey, West Virginia, telephoned the Air Force in Washington, D.C. from a farmhouse near Grantsville, Maryland, saying that he was apparently the last of his crew to bail out, having heard the other seats leave the aircraft before he ejected. The US Army sends a 15-man team of bomb disposal experts from Fort Meade, Maryland, and the USAF dispatches a 35-man rescue team from Andrews AFB, Maryland. Both bombs survive intact and are recovered. The Stratofortress was also carrying two AGM-28 Hound Dog air-to-ground missiles. The aircraft was returning from a 24 Hour Airborne Alert mission (referred to a "Chrome Dome" mission diverted to Westover AFB in Massachusetts for repair of inflight maintenance issues, spending the night at Westover before returning to Turner AFB. (See also 1964 Savage Mountain B-52 crash, linked below).
........................................................................................
Crew of Buzz One Four
Pilot: Major Thomas W. McCormick 1921-1997
Co-Pilot: Captain Parker C Peedin 1934-2009
Radar Bombardier: Major Robert E Townley 1922-1964
Navigator: Major Robert Lee Payne 1922-1964
Tail Gunner: TSgt Melvin F Wooten 1936-1964
........................................................................................
With grateful heart we thank Kathy for her work creating this memorial and the kindness she showed by transferring its maintenance.
Main article: 1964 Cumberland B-52 crash
A USAF Boeing B-52D-10-BW Stratofortress, 55-060, Buzz One Four, of the 484th Bomb Wing, Turner AFB, Georgia, suffers structural failure in turbulence of winter storm as blizzard socks the East Coast, crashes approximately 17 miles SW of Cumberland, Maryland. The bomber comes down in a small valley on Elbow Mountain in a state park. Pilot, co-pilot, eject, survive. Navigator, tail gunner, eject, die of exposure. Radar nav fails to eject, rides airframe in with two nuclear weapons on board. The pilot, Maj. Thomas W. McCormick, 42, of Hawkey, West Virginia, telephoned the Air Force in Washington, D.C. from a farmhouse near Grantsville, Maryland, saying that he was apparently the last of his crew to bail out, having heard the other seats leave the aircraft before he ejected. The US Army sends a 15-man team of bomb disposal experts from Fort Meade, Maryland, and the USAF dispatches a 35-man rescue team from Andrews AFB, Maryland. Both bombs survive intact and are recovered. The Stratofortress was also carrying two AGM-28 Hound Dog air-to-ground missiles. The aircraft was returning from a 24 Hour Airborne Alert mission (referred to a "Chrome Dome" mission diverted to Westover AFB in Massachusetts for repair of inflight maintenance issues, spending the night at Westover before returning to Turner AFB. (See also 1964 Savage Mountain B-52 crash, linked below).
........................................................................................
Crew of Buzz One Four
Pilot: Major Thomas W. McCormick 1921-1997
Co-Pilot: Captain Parker C Peedin 1934-2009
Radar Bombardier: Major Robert E Townley 1922-1964
Navigator: Major Robert Lee Payne 1922-1964
Tail Gunner: TSgt Melvin F Wooten 1936-1964
........................................................................................
With grateful heart we thank Kathy for her work creating this memorial and the kindness she showed by transferring its maintenance.
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