|
May 12, 1970. On that day, the
MGT was conducting engine shutdown tests on take-off (standard procedure
during flight tests, to determine the behavior of the aircraft in the event
of an engine failure). At 8:30 a.m., during a take-off, the flight engineer
stopped engine No. 1 (the leftmost one) just before the decision speed (V1),
the take-off continued and the rotation was normally done at the appropriate
speed... A second later, the plane swerved to the left, and the wing salmon
hit the ground hard, causing the plane to tip over and crash before catching
fire. All four crew members perished in the accident. The crew consisted of
Van Shepard (pilot), Hal Hansen (co-pilot), Travis Hodge (flight engineer)
and Warren Walker (flight test engineer). |