KC 135 Crash, 1968, by Elaine Creed
From MemoryArchive
Who: Elaine Creed What: Air Force KC 135 Crashes in Wichita When: January 16, 1965 Where: Wichita, KS
The sound of an airpane overhead was common to me. After all I lived in the "Air Capital" of the world. Planes of all types and sizes went over my house on a daily basis and McConnell Air Force Base was only a few miles from where I lived. So I'm not sure why I not only looked up when I heard the noise but also went outside to see if I could see anything unusual. It was a minute or two before I spotted the plane and at first it did not seem out of the ordinary. It was large but large planes went overhead every day. It was slow but I was sure that it must have just taken off from the air base and that would be normal. Nevertheless, for some reason I continued to watch, my eyes glued to the slow moving plane. Something was not right. Maybe it was the pattern of the plane in the sky. Most planes that take off from McConnell move East and then North, some go East and then North and then make a tight circle back to the South. This one seemed to be having trouble deciding where it was supposed to go. It did go a little East, a little North and then a slight turn West; but there was no Southerly movement. The pattern was only part of the problem. The plane should have been accelerating at a fairly rapid rate but it was not. It seemed almost level as it made the wide movement around the city. It would appear to climb but then it would seem to be stationary in the sky like it was stuck and couldn't move. The sound was also wrong. Planes have a sound pattern. There is a solid droning sound as they make their way across the sky. But the drone of this plane had a slight hesitation every few seconds such as a combine makes as it cripples through a wet wheat field. I continued to watch mesmerized by this odd scene playing out in the air. The plane did not stay level for very long. Suddenly it began to bank to the left and descent quickly. I watched it for as long as I could but the distance and tree line eventually made it impossible to see. AsI turned to go into the house I heard a deafening noise and turned to see an enormous black cloud in the sky and then flames shooting hundreds of feet in the air. Sirens screamed from several directions which I knew would be fire trucks and police. I watched the smoke and the flames for a long time. The flames would lessen but then suddenly leap unabated into the air again and again. It was hours before the black cloud and the flames diminished, and the sirens stopped. It was not until the six o'clock news that I learned the plane an Air Force KC 135 had crashed in a residential area near the University and killed 23 people and the crew of the plane. The Air Force said later the cause was a malfuncton which was being investigated. The malfunction was never publicized. I never went to see the area. It was too tragic, too horrific. It would have been an intrusion. I felt terrible for my city, for the neighborhood, but most of all for those whose lives were forever changed. I stayed away because to go would have been an invasion of privacy - privacy which had already been so terriby breached by this unforeseen tradedy.
