[Alec W]

I found a link for this trail a while ago so we did this trail (and 3 others today). This thing crashed when I was 1! I found it interesting that so much was still there.


Two people were killed in the crash that happened on Jule 27th, 1965. It was a T-33A jet trainer, and the pilot was a very experienced Air Force Major named Jay Currie. First Lieutenant Donald Darby was riding along as a technical observer. They were flying from Buckley Field to California, and Major Currie was viewing some property he owned in Colorado, flying at 13,000 feet.

The reasons for the crash are not known. He was told to go to 17,000 feet by Air Traffic Control, but then contact was lost. It is known that he was flying slowly, there were no technical issues with the plane, and neither of the pilots attempted to eject from the plane. There were thunderstorms reported in the area, which may have contributed to the crash.

 

[SDMF]

That's crazy! I cannot believe the military didn't clean it up.

 

[Alec W]

BTW, it's an ugly trail system. No need to go there

 

[K-Bear]

That's pretty cool. Surprising that the military never cleaned it up.

Hopefully I can get out next weekend if I get my knee to ever move again.

 

[StubEXrube]

the composition and scenery in your pictures are freakinG (with a capital G) awesome. THAT pic should be on the front of some authentic Jeep lit/ mag, whatever...w/ a disclaimer at the bottom "do not attempt"

 

[Alec W]

I added some more pics here http://www.xaltitudevideo.com/200807msvconeyt33a.html

 

[airric00]

Cool to see you guys up there... We decided not to stay when we saw some storms moving in with lightning.. Came home and grilled and made smores in the kitchen.. HAHA.. Its nice to only be 45 mins from there..

couple pics of that day..

 

[gcg]

It is really strange that the crash wasn't cleaned up. The T-33 is a beautiful plane - always been one of my favorites.

 

[dayton1999]

Every time you post I get the itch to get out of SoCal and move to Colorado... and then I remember your baseball team is terrible. :grinpimp:

 

[vegasjeep]

So my mothers husband works for the FAA and is in control of something at the Dulles DC airport relating to safety. I know anything that goes on there goes through him as far as plane related. So I forwarded these pics to him cause he is always interested in things like this. Here is what he had to say

I’m sure there are a lot of old crash sights in that part of the country –. It appears to have been a partially control crash landing – concentrated wreckage with no resulting fire – this is a strong indicator of fuel exhaustion situation or slow flight impact – from the color (safety orange) of the paint remaining on the exterior, the type of aircraft and year of the incident would lead one to believe that it may have been a training flight. These clues lead one to the unsubstantiated conclusion of a training flight experiencing a flame-out at low altitude - no time to recover or eject. They also may have been at a lower altitude than reported – common error when doing “sight seeing” which may have caused the PIC (pilot in command) to become fixated on things outside the ****pit and lost situational awareness then stalled the aircraft – while attempting to recover by going to high throttle position to quickly flaming out the engine. This is a known operating characteristic of the T-33A . This aircraft was a low power training jet used to transition pilots from prop to jets.

 

[-T-]

Every time you post I get the itch to get out of SoCal and move to Colorado... and then I remember your baseball team is terrible. :grinpimp:

I agree with you on the Colorado part, dont have enough experience to talk about our baseballs teams.

 

[Alec W]

Airric, how did you get altitude to show up your mygig?

 

[vegasjeep]

Airric, how did you get altitude to show up your mygig?

I think when you go in and go to "where am i now" it shows that screen. i found it once but forgot now.. LOL

 

[airric00]

yep exactly... Just goto where I am from the nav screen. Just wish it showed your speed as well..

 

[Dustoff '68]

Yeppers...too low...too slow...over rotated in a panic...stalled...plop...would have been more dignified if it was a high speed crash and burn...RIP