C-130 and P-3 midair collision in the 70's

[Jpopham]

Anyone have details?

Edited November 4, 2009 by Jpopham

[mongo]

Dont know anything about your question nor do I know if your the only USCG representative here but, welcome to an excellent Site I think you'll like it. Tell your freinds.

John

[n1dp]

There is a thread over on the Coast Guard part of Military.com's discussion site that has many entries and at least one photo of the C-130 belly damage. When you get in the CG thread, scroll down to Coast Guard Aviation.

[Skip Davenport]

I wanted to know if anyone had pictures of the Coast Guard C-130 and the Navy P-3 midair collision that happened in the early 70's. The rumor is that both planes made it safely back to Oahu, but they were but badly damaged.

Thanks in advance for your help. And apparently I'm the only one on this site in the USCG.

There was a MC-130E and a F-102 off the coast of VA in the early 70's however, they didn't fair as well.

[groundhog]

I remember stories of that mishap. I was there in '82. I flew the 48 so it must have been fixed.

[Coastiechief]

I'm a new guy here, but I was the Navigator on the C130 that had the mid-air out of Midway. 12 Dec, 1971. any questions, drop a line.

Coastiechief

[P3_Super_Bee]

Hmmm, spent 20 years in P-3's in Hawaii. Never heard of this... Would like to know more..

[mike markham]

There was a MC-130E and a F-102 off the coast of VA in the early 70's however, they didn't fair as well.

Yeh they tried to mate Kurt Colvin was pilot/he was good/Flew Hercs atECity/Clearwater/Kodiak 1972-81 then Locheed till 2006 AE1Mike Markham

[larry myers]

There was a MC-130E and a F-102 off the coast of VA in the early 70's however, they didn't fair as well.

Skip, Had some knowledge of this mishap as I was part of the maintenance side of the accident investigation board.

It was at night and a SC ANG F-102 was flying an intercept on the Talon. He was being vectored by a ground control intercept operator. At the same time the duece pilot was taking direction from the GCI, he was flying the aircraft with his face in the scope. He struck the Talon in the trailing edge of the wing between number three and four engines about halfway up the 102s windscreen. This broke the Talons outboard wing off and aircraft went in pretty much in one piece. The wing, if I recall, was found between 1/2 and one mile from the crash site. The cause was determined to be misunderstanding in the communication between the GCI operator and the 102 pilot. It was common practice when flying intercepts that radio transmission between pilots and controllers involved the use of a great deal of jargon. In this case the controller said one thing and the pilot thought he said something else. Recall there were a large number to troops on the Talon, the number 28 comes to mind.

From this experience I learned was not cut out to be an aircraft accident investigator. At the site was climbing into the crater and turned over a large piece of sheet metal. Beneath it was a leg from the knee down with the boot still attached. It was some time getting over the shock of this experience. When I got back to Langley told my boss was not cut out to do this job. They were not too happy with me as the command had recently spent money to send me to UCLA for this stuff. Didn't matter what I wanted as had to go on one more accident before being reassigned to the AFOTEC.

[Matt'sGirl]

My Dad, Matt Ahearn, was part of the crew involved in the mid-air between

the CG C-130 and Navy P-3. It occurred on 12 December 1971, Midway Hawaii.

I believe they were searching for a Danish freighter that had gone down in bad weather.

Sadly, my Dad passed away last month. I had just recently shown him the thread on

Military.com. He was stunned to find that anyone was interested in the incident. He told

me the best stories of his days flying planes and helicopters for the Coast Guard. I wish

he could have shared them with everyone. At his funeral one of his crewmen told me

another story of how he landed a C-130 with only ONE engine!!

Anyone who would like to share memories of my Dad is more than welcome to send them

to me. Thanks for helping keep my Dad alive in memories.

[Coastiechief]

For Matt'sGirl: I was the Navigator on the 1348 with Matt when we were involved in the Midair. I have had some contact with your brother, sent him a brief description of the accident. We are trying to get a reunion together for the remaining crew, also the crew of the P3 if I can locate them. I am involved with an annual "Coast Guard Air" reunion, and we were hoping to get the crew together at our next get together in May in Reno. Several have passed away, I am still in touch with our Co-pilot Kirk Colvin. If you would happen to hear from any of the other crewmembers could you steer them onto my email, rogngina@sbcglobal.net.

I was so sorry to hear of Matt's passing. We lost a great one.

Roger Schmidt, ATCS (retired)

[Jim Denney]

The Herk and P-3 that had the midair collision, would it be the ones that I saw in Dec 1971, at I believe, Midway Island? That was ugly, several feet of a wing gone from the P-3 and a big gash in belly area of Herk. Just wondering, I was on my way to Hawaii just a day or two before Christmas that year on a C-130B from clark AB hauling some C-7 maintenance troops and some spare parts for the C-7's.

[9098007650]

I was there. I was the off crew on the Coast Guard C-130 searching for a missing fishing boat. The coast guard c-130 and a Navy P-3 we’re flying a ladder search. The C130 was hit by the right wing of the P3. The C130 had damage from the front wheel to the rear ramp, the P3 lost the right wing from the outboard engine out. Completely lost right aileron. Miracle both planes made it back to Midway. 

[Stebo222]

The Midway midair involved a P-3B (153426) from VP-4 and a Coast Guard C-130 on a night SAR looking for a Danish freighter. The two aircraft were both at the same altitude in the same area and collided nearly head on. Fortunately, the 130 pulled up and the P-3 broke down and right limiting the damage. The P-3 lost eight feet of its port wing including the entire aileron. Basically everything outside of the #1 propeller arc. They made it back to Midway for a “semi” routine landing. Lockheed sent a bunch of mechanics out to take the aircraft apart to put it on a barge and tow it back to Hawaii for repair or salvage when the Patrol Plane Commander asked why they couldn’t just cap the wing, install a short aileron, and fly it to NAS Alameda, CA. He said that apart from having to hold the yoke hard to the right, it flew just fine! They ended up doing just that. It got a new wing and was returned to service for many years. 

This P-3 had a tough life. In 1967 it was damaged when its landing gear broke through the ramp at NAS Sangley Point, Philippines. It also suffered a fire in the hydraulic load center in 1975! One rugged airplane.