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January 16, 1965
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Air Force KC-135 -
CRASH
Wichita, Kansas |
On January 16, 1965, a fully
loaded KC-135 refueler took off from McConnell Air Force
Base, Kansas. Just a few minutes after take-off, the
plane crashed into a Wichita neighborhood near Piatt and
2st Street, killing 30 people and injuring many others.
According to the City of Wichita's web site, the tanker
crashed in a ball of flames, and sprayed fuel over the
adjacent homes. As a result, ten homes were completely
destroyed, and many others were damaged. The official
cause of the crash was listed as engine failure. The
crash was Wichita's worst aviation disaster, and
Wichita's worst fire disaster.
According the information found on the Piatt Memorial Park Committee's
web site, among the dead were the seven crew members
aboard the aircraft, and eight children and fourteen
adults on the ground. An unborn child was counted as the
thirtieth victim. The names of the crewmembers were
Captain Czeslaw Szmuc, Captain Gary J. Widseth, 2nd
Lieutenant Arthur W. Sullivan, Staff Sergeant Reginald
Went, Staff Sergeant Joseph W. Jenkins, Airman First
Class Daniel E. Kenenski, and Airman Second Class John
L. Davidson. The names of the victimes on the ground
were Gary L. Martin, Joe T. Martin, Jr., Tracy Randolph,
Dewey Stephens, Claude L. Daniels, Sr., Mary Daniels,
Julia A. Maloy, and Julius R. Maloy. Also killed in the
crash were Emmit Warmsley, Sr., Emmit Warmsley, Jr.,
Laverne Warmsley and her unborn child, Clyde Holloway,
Ernest E. Pierce, Jr., Delwood Coles, Albert L. Bolden,
Wilma J. Bolden, Leslie I. Bolden, Denise M. Jackson,
Brenda J. Dunn, Cheryl A. Dale, Alice Dale, and James E.
Glover. |
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