{{Short description|U.S. Air Force Demonstration Team accident}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}} {{Infobox Aircraft accident | name = 1982 Thunderbirds Indian Springs Diamond Crash |image = USAF Thunderbirds - T-38s 1980.jpg |caption = Thunderbird T-38As in formation | occurrence_type = Accident | date = 18 January 1982 | summary = Crashed into terrain due to jammed stabilizer on lead aircraft | site = Indian Springs Air Force Auxiliary Field | aircraft_type = Four Northrop T-38 Talons | operator = United States Air Force Thunderbirds |origin = Nellis AFB, Nevada | crew = 4 | survivors = 0 | fatalities = 4 }}
The '''1982 Diamond Crash''' was the worst operational accident to befall the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds Air Demonstration Team involving show aircraft.<ref>The deadliest Thunderbird accident was the crash of a team support C-123B Provider, ''55-4521'', en route from Hill AFB, Utah to McChord AFB, Washington, on 9 October 1958. The plane flew through a flock of birds and crashed into a hillside six miles (10 km) east of Payette, Idaho, just before 6:30 p.m., killing all five flight crew and 14 maintenance personnel on board.</ref> Four Northrop T-38 Talon jets crashed during operational training on 18 January 1982, killing all four pilots.
==Accident== The Thunderbirds were practicing at Indian Springs Air Force Auxiliary Field, Nevada (now Creech Air Force Base) for a performance at Davis–Monthan AFB, Arizona.<ref name=diamond /> Four T-38As, Numbers 1–4, comprising the basic diamond formation, hit the desert floor almost simultaneously on Range 65, now referred to as "The Gathering of Eagles Range".<ref name=demonstration>{{cite web|title=USAF Air Demonstration Squadron|url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/usaf/usafads.htm|work=GlobalSecurity.org|accessdate=17 July 2011| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20110628193518/http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/usaf/usafads.htm| archivedate= 28 June 2011 | url-status= live}}</ref> The pilots were practicing the four-plane line abreast loop, in which the aircraft climb in side-by-side formation several thousand feet, pull over in a slow, inside loop, and descend at more than {{convert|400|mph|kph}}. The planes were meant to level off at about {{convert|100|ft|m}}; instead, the formation struck the ground at high speed.<ref name=time>{{cite magazine|title=Crashing in formation|magazine=Time Magazine|date=<!--1 February 1982-->February 1982|url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,954982,00.html| access-date= 13 June 2021 }}</ref>
The four pilots died instantly: Major Norm Lowry, III, leader, 37, of Radford, Virginia; Captain Willie Mays, left wing, 31, of Ripley, Tennessee; Captain Joseph "Pete" Peterson, right wing, 32, of Tuskegee, Alabama; and Captain Mark E. Melancon, slot, 31, of Dallas, Texas. The airframes involved were all T-38A-75-NO Talons, serial numbers ''68-8156'', -''8175'', -''8176'' and -''8184''.<ref>{{cite web|title=1968 USAF serial numbers|url=http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1968.html| accessdate= 16 August 2010 }}</ref>
Col. Mike Wallace, of the Public Information Office at nearby Nellis AFB, home of the demonstration team, said that Major General Gerald D. Larson, the head of an Air Force investigation board, arrived at Nellis that night. "Larson and a team of 10 to 15 experts are expected to spend three weeks studying the wreckage of the four T-38s – the worst [training] crash in the 28-year history of the Air Force aerial demonstration team. The jets crashed almost simultaneously with what near-by Indian Springs residents described as an earthquake-like explosion that looked like a napalm bomb. Wreckage was strewn across a 1-square-mile area of the desert {{Convert|60|mi|km|abbr=off}} north of Las Vegas."<ref name = spokane>{{cite news|title=Misjudgment held 'possible' in fatal Thunderbirds crash|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ulUaAAAAIBAJ&sjid=WicEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4319,345670&dq=thunderbirds+crash+history&hl=en|accessdate=22 September 2011|newspaper=Spokane Chronicle|date=19 January 1982}}</ref>
Initial speculation was that the accident might have been due to pilot error, that the leader might have misjudged his altitude or speed and the other three pilots repeated the error.<ref name=time /> However, the Air Force concluded that the crash was due to a jammed stabilizer on the lead jet. The other pilots, in accordance with their training, did not break formation.<ref>{{cite news|title=Air Force finds mechanical failure led to crashes of flying team|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/04/11/us/air-force-finds-mechanical-failure-led-to-crashes-of-flying-team.html?scp=4&sq=thunderbirds%20indian%20springs&st=cse|accessdate=17 July 2011|newspaper=The New York Times|date=11 April 1982}} Payment required to view full article.</ref>
==Eyewitness accounts== "At the speed they were going when they came out of the loop, I just thought, "That's the end of that for them fellows,'" said W. G. Wood of Indian Springs, who witnessed the crash as he drove along US 95. "It happened so fast I couldn't tell you if one hit sooner. It looked like all of them hit at the same time."<ref name=diamond>{{cite web|title=The Thunderbirds' "Diamond Crash"|url=http://www.check-six.com/Crash_Sites/Thunderbirds-Diamond_Crash.htm|work=Check-Six.com|accessdate=17 July 2011| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20110609175541/http://www.check-six.com/Crash_Sites/Thunderbirds-Diamond_Crash.htm| archivedate= 9 June 2011 | url-status= live}}</ref>
Construction worker George LaPointe watched the jets disappear behind tree tops, "They didn't come back up," he said. "They were going full tilt, really screaming, and at the time I thought they were too low."<ref name=diamond />
==Investigation and aftermath== Technical Sergeant Alfred R. King filmed the accident from the ground. His footage helped to determine the cause for the AFR 127-4 (the Air Force Regulation covering "Investigating and Reporting US Air Force Mishaps") accident investigation.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.system-safety.org/Documents/AF_System-Safety-HNDBK.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=30 December 2010 |archive-date=23 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723232545/http://www.system-safety.org/Documents/AF_System-Safety-HNDBK.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> On 26 January 1982, Congress passed Resolution 248, stating that "The Congress hereby affirms its strong support for continuation of the Thunderbirds program." Nonetheless, the 1982 season was cancelled for the Thunderbirds while they rebuilt the team. Former demonstration-unit members still on active duty were recalled to help rebuild the squadron.<ref name=diamond />
A five-page report of the mishap was published by ''Aviation Week & Space Technology'' in their issue dated 17 May 1982.{{cn|date=September 2024}}
The Thunderbirds next flew a public demonstration in early 1983, more than 18 months after their last public air show.<ref name=palamara>{{cite web|last=Palamara|first=Gary|title=The U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds, Turn 50, Part One|url=http://www.garypalamara.com/Articles_Tbird_AFM-01.htm|work=GaryPalamara.com|accessdate=17 July 2011|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110711073322/http://www.garypalamara.com/Articles_Tbird_AFM-01.htm|archivedate=11 July 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref>
On 2 April 1984, at the direction of Gen. Wilbur Creech, Commanding General, USAF Tactical Air Command, the two authorized and only known copies of the crash videotape were destroyed, with Creech himself erasing the portion of the master tape that showed the final impact and subsequent fireball of the four aircraft. At the time of the destruction, the families of the pilots and NBC had already demanded access to the tapes as part of a suit against Northrop and a FOIA request, respectively. Creech did not seek JAG guidance prior to destroying the tapes, and asked two of the three personnel who had been involved in reviewing the tapes to leave the room prior to his partial erasure of the master tape. He stated that he erased the tape because it would likely be used for sensationalism purposes and he was concerned about the privacy of the victims' families.<ref>{{cite web|last=Conahan|first=Frank|title=Partial Videotape Erasure of 1982 Air Force Thunderbirds Crash (GAO/NSIAD-84-153)|url=http://www.gao.gov/assets/210/207430.pdf|publisher=US GAO|accessdate=8 July 2013}}</ref>
==Conversion to the F-16A== The Thunderbirds switched back to front-line jet fighters after the accident. The Air Force team, like the U.S. Navy's Blue Angels, had switched to smaller aircraft after the 1973 oil crisis (the Navy switched from F-4 Phantoms to smaller A-4 Skyhawks). The first F-16A Fighting Falcon in Thunderbird colors arrived at Nellis AFB, Nevada, on 22 June 1982.<ref name=palamara />
==References== {{reflist}}
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==External links== *[http://www.jjetspress.com/TBDmishapreport.pdf Link access to USAF Mishap Investigation Report re 18 January 1982 "Diamond Accident"]
{{Aviation accidents and incidents in 1982}} {{F-5 family}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thunderbirds Indian Springs Diamond Crash, 1982}} Category:1982 in Nevada Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in the United States in 1982 Category:History of aerobatics Category:January 1982 in the United States Category:20th-century history of the United States Air Force Category:United States Air Force Thunderbirds Category:Military units and formations in Nevada Category:Accidents and incidents involving United States Air Force aircraft Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in Nevada Category:Aviation accidents and incidents involving the Northrop T-38