joeblow

While I was at Naha June 65- Nov 66 We had a Thyphoon bugout. We had all the hangers full and only one plane left. I don't remember the tail number but it had just came back from IRAN I think at Tachi. We towed it out in front of base ops ( maybe the tower) and close to the fire dept and started refueling it. We checked the wing vents and they weren't obstructed on the outside so we started refueling. We were almost done when this loud popping sound started, I was close to the refueling panel and saw the rivets pop out. I couldn't believe what was happening. The fire truck was on us before we could do anything. They started spraying water on the fuel then put foam with the water. This all went into the storm drain and down the road past the Navy part of the ramp. There were concerns about the fuel smell and the end of the ramp catching fire. The wing did not drop off and we got it defueled before the left wing drooped. When they went inside the tank Masking tape was found blocking the fuel vent. We wondered how they got it refueled to fly to Naha. My computer crashed sometime back and I lost my password and email and had to get a new account here. I am donwon. I think I posted this somewhere else but right now don't remember where.