RESEARCHED BY LT TERRENCE L. DUDLEY AND AMHC (AW) JOHN D. HERNDON, COMPLETED 03 JAN 00

VQ-2 HISTORICAL DATA 

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WV-2Q SUPER CONNIE, BUNO 131390, CRASHED MARKT SCHWABEN GERMANY, 22 MAY 1962.

KILLED:

  1. LCDR CONNER M. PETRIE JR. (PILOT)
  2. LT JACK L. DUVAL (PILOT)
  3. LTJG MARVIN R. ARMSTRONG (NAV)
  4. LCDR CHARLES A. PATSCHKE (EVAL)
  5. LTJG ROBERT POOLE (EVAL)
  6. ATRAN GILBERT J. AUSTIN (CREW)
  7. AT2 DONALD R. BALLARD (CREW)
  8. AT1 GENE P. BARTRAM (CREW)
  9. AM1 MARTIN J. BRENNAN(CREW)
  10. AT2 GERALD R. CARLTON (CREW)
  11. ADRCA EUGENO GEORGE (FLIGHT ENGINEER)
  12. ATR3 EDWARD N. HAWKINS (CREW)
  13. AMH1 GERHARD K. HEIMERL (CREW)
  14. ADR2 MICHAEL KOSTIUK (2ND FLIGHT ENGINEER)
  15. ATS3 ORVILLE R. MALONE (CREW)
  16. ATCA JARED M. ROSE (CREW)
  17. AE3 TIMOTHY D. STEWART (CREW)
  18. ATN3 LEE P. STRONG (CREW)
  19. AT2 JAMES W. TYLER (CREW)
  20. AT2 RONALD P. WAJDA (CREW)
  21. ATR3 JOSEPH H. WATKINS (CREW)
  22. ATCA THOMAS E. YOUNG (CREW)
  23. PLUS FOUR U. S. ARMY PERSONNEL:

  24. SP5 F. L. BRESHEARS
  25. SP5 R. J. HOOS
  26. SP4 E. M. MCGREAL
  27. SP4 R.A. LEWIS

AIRCRAFT TOOK OFF FROM FRANKFORT GERMANY ON TRAINING MISSION, AIRCRAFTS TAIL FELL OFF IN FLIGHT ONE AND ONE QUARTER MILES SOUTHWEST OF MARKT SCHWEBEN GERMANY

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FROM Warren Noble retired lst Sgt US Army ASA l948-l970

Hello I am retired lst Sgt US Army ASA l948-l970 I have a question relative to the loss of a Super Connnie BUNO 131390 Crashed Markt Aben Germany 22 May l962.

I was station at Bad Aibling Germany with the ASA as the Opns NCOIC and was awakened in the early hours of the morning by my CO and informed I was leaving by helicopter to an area outside Munich where an aircraft had gone down. I was NCOIC in charge of that crash site for the collection of all mag. tapes and other related "paper material" in a field close by the crash site. We had US Mil. and some German military coordinating collection of all materials from peo-le who lived in the area-they streamed in for the better part of a full day and into the next morning.

A very large area had been cordoned off by the German military as a normal disaster alert program which was (and is) in place in that country. We transported all of the material we had collected to the Bad Aibling site and some went to Frankfurt depending upon it's identification as necessary(?). We at BA spent several days (24hrs) going over all of the tapes we could mange to get thru recorders etc. Miles of it literally were loose having "streamerd" when aircraft went down without a tail. I nor as far as I know enyone else ever heard a thing about what was done with what little we found-We did not find anything "recorded by an one person" which may have been made at the time of the fatal crash.

I looked at the Web site asa.npoint.net/vq1germany.htm and seen a listing of Personnel killed in that tragic circumstance. Among the 22 Airmen were 4 US Army Personnel.

What I find mystyfying is the comment on that ref That the "aircrafts tail fell off" !!! in flight. Reports in the German press at the time related to comments that persons had seen "an explosion" toward the rear of the aircraft-subsequently comments were made that persons seen items "flowing out" of the rear of the aircraft as it was coming down out of the sky. I spoke with personnel on the ground in general chit-chat and heard many references along these same lines. I have been trying for years to see if anyone knew what actually happened and to what unit these Army personnel were assigned. My questions during l962 to my superiors were met with "no comment" we dont know anything it must be classified. Any yet the report above mentions that the aircraft was on a "training mission". I suspect it may have actually been "on the job training" vis-a-vis generic training.

Can you enlighten me and others. I communicate with Mark Scott andothers who are trying to compile anecdotal history of the ASA and associated units.

Thanks a Lifer.
Warren Noble retired lst Sgt US Army ASA l948-l970