— 6 Baugher, Joseph F. 1961 USAF Serial Numbers. 10-29-2011 revision.

— 6 Kokomo Tribune, IN. “Transport plane crash kills six Guardsmen.” 6-9-1988, p. 21.

— 6 Roswell Daily Record, NM. “Air Force probes C-130 crash.” 6-10-1988, p. 3.

Narrative Information

Baugher: “Lockheed C-130E-LM Hercules….2373 (c/n 382-3720) crashed during training landing at Greenville, MS Jun 8, 1988. 6 killed.” (Baugher, Joseph F. 1961 USAF Serial Numbers. 10-29-2011 revision.)

June 9, AP: “Greenville, Miss. (AP) – A military transport plane was practicing touch-and-go landings before it crashed and burned in a fireball, killing the six Air National Guardsmen aboard, authorities and witnesses said. Four bodies had been recovered from the wreckage of the C-130 turboprop as of late Wednesday, said Col. Dennis Wood, a spokesman for the Air Force Base in Little Rock, Ark., where the plane was based.

“The plane was about a mile short of the Greenville Municipal Airport runway when it crashed Wednesday afternoon. Workers were using lights to search through the night for the bodies of the two others.

“Witnesses said the plane appeared to veer to its left as it was landing and crashed into a clearing

near the runway. “I didn’t see it come down. When I saw it, it was a just a big fireball,” said Reggie Kellems, who was driving a tractor about 100 yards away. “There was debris flying all up in the air.”

“Military authorities sealed off the area shortly after the crash. Air Force officials said the plane was on a training mission. “They had been with us for some time doing touch-and-go training landings,” said Richard Brewer, air traffic manager at the northeast Mississippi airport. “The plane was in the pattern and the first we knew something was wrong was when it impacted.”

“Air Force officials said they couldn’t confirm that it was practicing a touch-and-go landing when it crashed.

“In September 1986, a C-130 practicing touch-and-go landings crashed at Fort Campbell, Ky., killing three of the five National Guardsmen aboard. A survivor said the plane had lost an engine. In June 1987, three Navy aviators died when their EA-3B Skywarrior electronic warfare jet crashed during a touch-and-go drill at Miramar Naval Air Station in San Diego.” (Kokomo Tribune, IN. “Transport plane crash kills six Guardsmen.” 6-9-1988, p. 21.)

June 10, AP: “Greenville, Miss. (AP) — Air Force investigators picked through wreckage Thursday for clues to the cause of a plane crash that killed six Air National Guardsmen as they completed a series of touch-and-go landings. The C-130 transport plane plunged into a soybean field and burst into a fireball about a mile short of the Greenville Airport on Wednesday afternoon. “Investigators are looking for important pieces of wreckage, things that could give us a clue to what happened,” said Maj. Jim Bates, a spokesman for Little Rock (Ark.) Air Force Base, where the plane had left

about 1 p.m. Wednesday. ‘They’ll be able to get an indication of what the impact was like.”

“Using search lights, rescue workers pulled the last two bodies from the wreckage of the four-engine turboprop about 1:30 a.m. said Col. Dennis Wood, interim head of the investigating team.

At a news conference Thursday, Wood said investigators believe a student pilot and an instructor were at the controls when the plane crashed. Wood said the plane had just completed a touch-and-go landing at the civilian airport and was returning for another in a scheduled training exercise. The plane’s approach would have completed the exercise, said Lt. Michele McDowell, a base spokeswoman. ‘They were about to get finished. They were at the end of their training mission there,” she said.

“Investigators will review control tower tapes to learn what occurred just before the 2:40 p.m. accident, Wood said. The large cargo plane, which was manufactured in 1961, did not have a flight recorder, he said. Newer C-130s have flight recorders, he said, and the Air Force is modifying older models with recorders — standard on commercial airplanes, Wood said….

“In touch-and-go drills, a pilot allows the plane’s wheels to briefly touch the runway before taking off again. The drills often simulate a ground drop in combat conditions, in which cargo would be dumped out of the moving plane.

“The aircraft was assigned to the 189th Tactical Airlift Group of the Arkansas Air National Guard. A spokeswoman for the Little Rock base, Airman 1^st Class Deborah Doyle, identified the dead as:

Maj. Andries R. Zwaan, 39, a pilot with the 189th;

Staff Sgt. David Bingham, 24…181st Tactical Airlift Squadron…Hensley Field, Dallas; 2nd Lt. Mark R. Brandt, 24…180th Tactical Airlift Squadron at Rosecrans Municipal

Airport at St. Joseph, Mo.;

2^nd Lt. Thomas D. Leece, 28, of the 934th Tactical Airlift Group of Minneapolis;

Master Sgts. Edwin J. Smith Jr., 35, and

Danny W. Holland, 39, both of the 189th.”

(Roswell Daily Record, NM. “Air Force probes C-130 crash.” 6-10-1988, p. 3.)

Sources

Baugher, Joseph F. 1961 USAF Serial Numbers. 10-29-2011 revision. Accessed 2-23-2012 at: http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1961.html

Kokomo Tribune, IN. “Transport plane crash kills six Guardsmen.” 6-9-1988, p. 21. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=115551062

Roswell Daily Record, NM. “Air Force probes C-130 crash [Greenville, MS].” 6-10-1988, p. 3. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=160262832

1988 — June 8, Air National Guard C-130 Crash, touch-and-go-landing, Greenville, MS– 6