1st Lt Farmer, serving as Radar Officer along with twelve other crew members were all killed shortly after takeoff aboard Silverplate B-29, Serial Number 45-21854 when it crashed into the Manzano foothills about 6 miles east of Kirtland Air Force Base, Albuquerque, New Mexico. This was the first Continental United States (CONUS) "Broken Arrow" incident as the plane was carrying a Mark 4 atomic bomb. This weapon was designed with the safety concept of in flight insertion (IFI) where the fissile material was held in a module outside of the weapon and would be inserted into and arming the weapon as the aircraft neared its target during combat conditions. The M-102 'Birdcage' fissile insertion module was recovered rapidly from this crash site with no reported radiological contamination.
B-29, Serial Number 45-21854 research content by J PageCrew members of B-29, Serial Number 45-21845, which crashed in the Manzano foothills on 11 April 1950. Kirtland AFB, New Mexico; Listed in the order as recorded on the USAF Accident Report.Capt John R Martin (AC)1st Lt Thomas J Stultz (P)1st Lt Lewis B Ranck (B)1st Lt Richard A Coates (N)S/Sgt Richard E Cooper (FE)1st Lt Ralph E Farmer (Radar)S/Sgt James B Karney (Radio)S/Sgt Eugene R Thompson (G)S/Sgt James R Chilton (G)S/Sgt Gerald M Powell (Armorer)S/Sgt Walter C Boedeker (CE Radio)Sgt Virgil R Tennyson (Engine Mechanic)Capt David H Foust (N & Observer)
Military Information: 1/LT, US ARMY
B-29, Serial Number 45-21854 research content by J PageCrew members of B-29, Serial Number 45-21845, which crashed in the Manzano foothills on 11 April 1950. Kirtland AFB, New Mexico; Listed in the order as recorded on the USAF Accident Report.Capt John R Martin (AC)1st Lt Thomas J Stultz (P)1st Lt Lewis B Ranck (B)1st Lt Richard A Coates (N)S/Sgt Richard E Cooper (FE)1st Lt Ralph E Farmer (Radar)S/Sgt James B Karney (Radio)S/Sgt Eugene R Thompson (G)S/Sgt James R Chilton (G)S/Sgt Gerald M Powell (Armorer)S/Sgt Walter C Boedeker (CE Radio)Sgt Virgil R Tennyson (Engine Mechanic)Capt David H Foust (N & Observer)
Military Information: 1/LT, US ARMY
1st Lt Farmer, serving as Radar Officer along with twelve other crew members were all killed shortly after takeoff aboard Silverplate B-29, Serial Number 45-21854 when it crashed into the Manzano foothills about 6 miles east of Kirtland Air Force Base, Albuquerque, New Mexico. This was the first Continental United States (CONUS) "Broken Arrow" incident as the plane was carrying a Mark 4 atomic bomb. This weapon was designed with the safety concept of in flight insertion (IFI) where the fissile material was held in a module outside of the weapon and would be inserted into and arming the weapon as the aircraft neared its target during combat conditions. The M-102 'Birdcage' fissile insertion module was recovered rapidly from this crash site with no reported radiological contamination.
B-29, Serial Number 45-21854 research content by J PageCrew members of B-29, Serial Number 45-21845, which crashed in the Manzano foothills on 11 April 1950. Kirtland AFB, New Mexico; Listed in the order as recorded on the USAF Accident Report.Capt John R Martin (AC)1st Lt Thomas J Stultz (P)1st Lt Lewis B Ranck (B)1st Lt Richard A Coates (N)S/Sgt Richard E Cooper (FE)1st Lt Ralph E Farmer (Radar)S/Sgt James B Karney (Radio)S/Sgt Eugene R Thompson (G)S/Sgt James R Chilton (G)S/Sgt Gerald M Powell (Armorer)S/Sgt Walter C Boedeker (CE Radio)Sgt Virgil R Tennyson (Engine Mechanic)Capt David H Foust (N & Observer)
Military Information: 1/LT, US ARMY
B-29, Serial Number 45-21854 research content by J PageCrew members of B-29, Serial Number 45-21845, which crashed in the Manzano foothills on 11 April 1950. Kirtland AFB, New Mexico; Listed in the order as recorded on the USAF Accident Report.Capt John R Martin (AC)1st Lt Thomas J Stultz (P)1st Lt Lewis B Ranck (B)1st Lt Richard A Coates (N)S/Sgt Richard E Cooper (FE)1st Lt Ralph E Farmer (Radar)S/Sgt James B Karney (Radio)S/Sgt Eugene R Thompson (G)S/Sgt James R Chilton (G)S/Sgt Gerald M Powell (Armorer)S/Sgt Walter C Boedeker (CE Radio)Sgt Virgil R Tennyson (Engine Mechanic)Capt David H Foust (N & Observer)
Military Information: 1/LT, US ARMY
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