by Tech. Sgt. Kristine Dreyer
353rd Special Operations Group Public Affairs
3/12/2014 - KADENA AIR BASE, Japan -- A
1st Special Operations Squadron crew conducted their annual wreath drop
Feb. 26 off the coast of the Philippines to pay tribute to the crew of
Stray 59.
Stray 59 was the call sign of an MC-130E from the 1st SOS that crashed
Feb. 26, 1981 during an exercise killing eight of the nine crew members
and 15 special operators that were passengers. The memorial flight has
been flown by the 1st SOS every year since the crash.
"It's an honor to pay tribute to our fallen Stray Goose comrades and
remember their sacrifice," said Lt. Col. Mike Jackson, 1st SOS commander
and aircraft commander for the memorial flight. "By nature in our SOF
community, events like this truly resonate. We don't forget, and we view
our heritage as a real resource even as we continually look ahead to
improve how we execute our ops. It was a gorgeous day in the Philippines
and over the memorial DZ. The mission was flown to Talon II and 1st SOS
standards. We're proud to keep this tradition going."
In February 1981, crews from the 1st SOS were responsible for the
airlift during Special Warfare Exercise '81, an annual joint exercise in
the Philippines hosted by the U.S. Navy Seals. The squadron established
a base of operations at Naval Air Station Cubi Point, Philippines, and
crews flew day and night missions involving low-level, psychological
operations, and infiltration and exfiltration of forces.
Maj. James M. Kirk commanded STRAY 59 and a crew from the 1 SOS that was
responsible for a total of 12 missions during the 16-day exercise.
STRAY 59 was scheduled to be his crew's final mission during the
Specwarex '81.
The morning of Feb. 26, 1981, the crew's takeoff time for the mission
was slipped from 1:05 a.m. to 4:30 a.m. due to an extended crew day on
their mission a day before. STRAY 59, executed a non-tactical departure
from Cubi Point at 4:28 a.m. and executed a tactical landing back at
Cubi Point at 5:06 a.m. to quickly load 15 personnel participating in
the exercise. STRAY 59 executed a tactical departure two minutes later.
The crew made their operational normal call six minutes into their
low-level flight with a ground radio station. The second, and last,
transmission from STRAY 59 was received at 5:21 a.m.; there had been no
indication from the crew to indicate a problem with their aircraft.
Minutes later, a local fisherman watched the aircraft impact the water
and explode. Eight crewmembers and 15 special operators were killed
instantly. One crew member from the 1st SOS, the electronic warfare
officer, was thrown from the wreckage and rescued by a local fisherman.
The investigation conducted on STRAY 59 could not pinpoint the exact
cause of the accident. The lack of physical evidence following the crash
hindered the investigation. Minutes after impacting the ocean the
wreckage sank to a depth of 240 feet.
The 1st SOS members lost during the STRAY 59 crash on Feb. 26, 1981 were
Maj. James Kirk, aircraft commander, Capt. Norman Martel, pilot, Capt.
Thomas Patterson, navigator, Capt. Gregory Peppers, navigator, Tech.
Sgt. Stephen Blyler, radio operator, Tech. Sgt. Barry Chumbley,
loadmaster, Tech. Sgt. Gary Logan, loadmaster, and Staff Sgt. John
Felton, flight engineer.
Thursday, March 27, 2014
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment