Fifty aircraft (32 C-133A and 18 C-133B) were constructed and put into service with the USAF. A
single C-133A and a C-133B were built and kept at Douglas Long Beach as "test articles." They had
no construction numbers or USAF tail numbers.
I have a complete accident history for the type Between 28 Aug 57 and 15 Aug 71, ten C-133 aircraft were lost in accidents. Six were A-models and four were Bs. Crew losses were 55 personnel. These losses were twenty percent of the fleet
Crashes
1. 13 Apr 58. Dover AFB, DE. C-133A 54146 crashed and burned 26 miles south of Dover during a
local flight test, 17 minutes after takeoff. Four crewmembers perished. No cause was determined. In
e-mail to the author, one person who went to the site after the crash said the airplane impacted
inverted. Crew included: CPT Raymond R. Bern (AC), 1LT Herbert T. Palisch (CP), TSG Marvin
A. Aust and TSG Edward L. McKinley (FET).
2. 10 Jun 61. C-133B 571614. Overwater, 33 minutes after takeoff from Tachikawa AB, Japan. Eight
crew killed. Only limited floating debris recovered. The cause was determined to be structural
damage resulting from a number three engine nose case failure with aircraft components striking
number four engine and causing it to separate from the aircraft. Subsequent severe structural
damage to wing and fuselage probably caused loss of aircraft control and electrical power.Crew
included: MAJ Lawrence J. Ceretti, HQ 1501st ATW (FEAC), CPT Ray L. Willman (AC), CPT
Donald E. Holmes (P), CPT Leon M. Miller, 2223rdInstructor Sq (N), 1LT Nathan L. Patterson
(IN), TSG Oral G. Converse and TSG Howard J. Otero (FET), and SSG Billy R. Edwards (LM).
3. 27 May 62. C-133A 571611. Overwater, 32 minutes after takeoff from Dover AFB, DE, near
SHAD intersection (37° 43’ N 73° W). Six crewmembers lost. A life raft and nose gear assembly
recovered 28 May, 53 miles east of Ocean City, MD. Crew may have had a loss of flight control and
crashed. Crew included: 1LT James A. Higgins (AC), 1LT Robert J. Faller (CP), 1LT Danny D.
Hawkins (N), MSG William F. Wert and TSG Fred Parsons (FET), SSG Clifford E. Parker (LM).
4. 10 Apr 63. C-133B 590523. Travis AFB, CA. Aircraft crashed 3/4 mile from Travis while making
practice instrument approach during local training. It was initiating a low visibility circling
approach when it went into a steep turn and crashed. Nine personnel aboard were killed. No
cause was ever determined. For more info, go to
http://www.check-six.com/Crash_Sites/c-133b_crash_site.htm. Crew included: MAJ Roy M. Johnston (FEAC), 1LT William H. Grey (CP),
1LT Leonard R. Dorman (CP), 2LT Edward Melda (N), 2LT Russell R. Zablan, Jr. (N), TSG Donald
D. Cox (FET), TSG Joel H. Nipper (FET), TSG Lloyd J. Richard (FET), and A3C Charles W. Wittle
(Maintenance).
5. 31 Jul 63. C-133A 562005. Dover AFB, DE. Aircraft destroyed in fire when ground crew allowed
fuel to overflow and spill to the ground. Fuel ignited by spark from GTU. Left wing and part of
fuselage damaged so severely in nine-minute fire that repair was considered uneconomical.
Airplane later torn down by Douglas for structural studies. No fatalities, minor injuries to one
ground crew.
6. 22 Sep 63. C-133A 562002. Overwater, 28 minutes after takeoff from Dover AFB, DE.
Disappeared from radar near SHAD intersection (37° 43’ N 73° W). Ten crew lost. No floating
wreckage or location of sunken wreckage. No cause determined. Crew included: CPT Dudley J.
Connolly, Jr. (AC), MAJ George V. Stricklin (CP), 1LT Walter J. Stewart III (2nd P), 1LT Jerold D.
Kopp, 1LT Robert J. Wibbels and 1LT Theodore R. McDaniels, Jr. (N), MSG Raymond P. Knott
and TSG Elwood M. Griffith (FET), SSG Carl McClung (LM) and AIC Paul R. Ruehl (Asst Crew
Chief).
7. 1964. A maintenance man was killed at Travis AFB when a C-133 slipped off the jack. He was
Ernest J. Luongo, Jr., from Massachusetts.This is the only such incident I know of where someone
among maintenance or other ground personnel was seriously injured or killed when directly
involved in C-133 operations. If there are others, please contact me.
8. 7 Nov 64. C-133A 562014. Goose Bay, Labrador. Aircraft appeared to stall at full power after
takeoff. Right wing, then left wing dropped, aircraft impacted 3,300' from end of runway in nose
high, left wing down and tail low attitude. Seven killed. Most probable cause a departure stall due
to icing or "possibly the aerodynamic instability of the aircraft." The author has had e-mail
correspondence with a Canadian who witnessed the crash. He was twelve at the time, on a Boy
Scout hike in the area just north of the runway. He stopped to watch the takeoff before getting
into the vehicle, and said the airplane lights went up into the sky, then stopped and went straight
down. There was no an explosion, just a huge fireball that erupted and he could feel the shock
wave from the combustion. He said he heard that the airplane was deiced twice before takeoff.
Crew included: 1LT Guy L. Vassalotti (AC), MAJ Frank X. Hearty (FEAC/CP), CPT Charles L.
Jenkins (CP), 1LT Douglas H. Brookfield (N), TSG John A. Kitchens and TSG Norman A. Baron
(FET), A1C Shelton Toler (LM). NOTE: Bob Hunter,who was in MX at Dover, has contacted me
to state very firmly that Sgt Kitchens was killed in the Sep 63 crash, not in this one. Hunter was
out of the service in Feb 64, long before the Nov crash. My source is Part A of the USAF accident
investigation board report. If anyone has a primary source reference to contradict that report, I
would be interested in seeing that material.
9. 11 Jan 65. C-133A 540140. Overwater just after a night departure from Wake Island. Plane
crashed from about 500' altitude, going into the sea about three miles from the end of the runway.
Wreckage was in 1,200-1,800' of water, and salvage and examination was impossible. Some limited
debris was recovered and taken to Wright Patterson AFB for examination in late Feb 65. No
official determination of the cause was established. An 8,000-hour C-133 instructor and examiner
pilot has expressed the opinion to the author that the crew probably experienced a fast-developing
departure stall that led to the crash. Crewmembers were: CPT Arthur F. Wiegand (AC), MAJ
Herman D. Stephan (CP), 1LT Jon B. Parker (N), TSG James O. Smith and SSG Anthony
Panzarella (FET), and SSG James Gold (LM).
10. 30 Apr 67. C-133B 59534. Lost after takeoff from Kadena AB, Okinawa, Japan. All crew
survived. Just after takeoff, power was lost and airplane was ditched 35 nm NE of Kadena and
approximately 2½ to 3 miles off the east coast of Okinawa. The aircraft sank in 900' of water about
one mile from Okinawa. Primary cause was material failure in propeller electrical system.
Either/both the propeller control circuit and the propeller power circuit failed, causing a fixed pitch
condition leading to engine flameout. Crew members were: CPT James Regan (AC), lLT Lawrence
Garret and CPT Richard Zabel (CP), CPT Regis White and 1LT Herb Nakagawa (Nav), MSG Ray
Wetsel and MSG William Patrick (FE), A1C Benton Seeley (LM) and A1C Darrell G. McIntyre,
crew chief. MSG Wetsel suffered serious injuries during the ditching.
11. 27 Sep 67. Another Dover C-133 crew was lost in the crash of a civilian aircraft belonging to
TEMCO. The crew had delivered a C-133 to TEMCO, at Greenville, TX, where the airplane would
undergo IRAN. They were going to Dallas Love Field aboard a TEMCO Aero Commander, which
crashed enroute, killing all aboard. Casualties included: Vernon L. Denman (TEMCO pilot), N. E.
Chappell (TEMCO employee), MAJ Jack H. Culp, Sr. (AC), CPT Donald A. Cook (CP), CPT
Anthony G. Lucci (N), MSG Julius V. Lee and MSG Kenneth P. Kennedy (FET).
12. 6 Feb 70. C-133B 59530. Location was 5 nm NNE of Palisade, NE. Five crew killed. An existing
11" crack above the left side door propagated catastrophically, resulting in tearing of the upper
forward fuselage skin for about 17'. An explosive decompression caused large skin sections from
the top and right side of the fuselage to be torn away. Cargo included Lycoming T53 and T55
engines in sealed shipping containers and CH-47B Chinook (possibly 67-8487), all enroute to US
Army Depot New Cumberland, PA. Crew members were: MAJ Harold Tabor (AC), 1LT Duane
Burdette (CP), TSG James Clouse and MSG Joe Tierney (FETs), and SSG Ira Bowers (LM).
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