Dates

Event

Constructed as a B-52C-40-BO by Boeing at Seattle, Washington, USA.

Circa 1953

Taken on Strength/Charge with the United States Air Force with s/n 53-0406.

24 January 1963

Destroyed in a crash.
On 24 January 1963 a United States Air Force Boeing B-52C Stratofortress with nine crew members on board lost its vertical stabilizer due to buffeting stresses during turbulence at low altitude and crashed on Elephant Mountain in Piscataquis County, Maine, United States, six miles (9.7 km) from Greenville.

To Elephant Mountain, Maine, Greenville Municipal Airport, Greenville, ME.
View the Location Dossier

Most of the remains of 53-0406 are still at the crash site which is owned by Plum Creek Timber Co. They improved the foot trail so visitors can view the wreckage. While the site has signs posted asking viewers to show due respect while there, it has been vandalized with names carved in the wreckage or marked with permanent marker.

In the late 1970s, a retired military pilot and president of the Moosehead Riders Snowmobile Club, initiated the annual memorial snowmobile ride in honor to those aboard the B-52. The annual crash site ceremony is attended by representatives from the Maine Air National Guard, the American Legion, the Civil Air Patrol, Maine Warden Service and members of the snowmobile club. There is a color guard, the laying of a wreath, the reading of the names of those who died, a prayer by a military chaplain and the playing of Taps. One engine and the navigators ejection seat can be viewed at the Clubhouse.

16 August 2006

Photographer: Econrad~commonswiki
Notes: B-52 Crash site and memorial