ALOHADAVE wrote:
The Award for the most crashable airplane goes to…
The venerable AT-6 Texan!
AT-6D s/n 42-86321 holds the record at having 16 accidents during its service with the USA(A)F
Interesting to note that these 16 accidents all occurred post-war between 1945 and 1950, at Randolph or Goodfellow AFB TX. Most were landing accidents. four accidents were rated 3 out of 5 for severity.
Wow! Around 3 accidents a year? That's quite a record! (Also, I see where this answer was posted to
another thread a few years ago. Thanks for passing it along!)
I was reading through Dan Hagedorn's excellent T-6 book again today and I found a passage that immediately reminded me of these stats:
Dan Hagedorn wrote:
By July 1949, at least one T-6A was assigned to Craig Air Force Base, Alabama, and was the oldest aircraft on the station, with over 2,000 hours on the airframe. The aircraft had survived 11 accidents, including changing out seven new wing panels, five new landing gear struts, and six props. During one intensive training period, the aircraft had been in continuous use for 22 hours in one 24-hour period.
(Source: Dan Hagedorn,
North American’s T-6: A Definitive History of the World’s Most Famous Trainer (North Branch, MN: Specialty Press, 2009),
91.)
Unfortunately, the serial number is not listed. However, using the 2,000 hours as a baseline, that would make approximately one accident every 200 hours!
ALOHADAVE wrote:
amazing if 42-86321 is still around today?
According to Baugher, it was given to Colombia in 1954 and "[b]elieved used for spares recovery" - which would be an appropriate use for an airframe with 16 accidents!
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