Green Ramp disaster

Infobox Aircraft accident
name = Green Ramp disaster

---

caption = Wreckage of the C-141 Starlifter destroyed by the accident.
date = March 23, 1994
type = Mid-air collision
site = Pope Air Force Base North Carolina, USA
total_injuries = over 100
total_fatalities = 24 (on ground)
plane1_type = F-16D Fighting Falcon
plane1_operator = United States Air Force
plane1_tailnum = 88-0171
plane1_crew = 2
plane1_survivors = 2
plane2_type = C-130E Hercules
plane2_operator = United States Air Force
plane2_tailnum = 68-10942
plane2_passengers =
plane2_crew =
plane2_survivors = |

The Green Ramp disaster was a 1994 mid-air collision and subsequent ground collision at Pope Air Force Base (Pope AFB), North Carolina that killed twenty-four members of the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne Division preparing for an airborne operation. It was the worst peacetime loss of life suffered by the Division since the end of World War II.

The crash

The "Green Ramp" is the large north-south parking ramp at the west end of Pope AFB's east-west runway, used by the U.S. Army and Air Force to stage joint operations. Several buildings sit along its western edge, including Building 900, the building housing the Air Force operations group. A pax shed (a large open-bay building) sat next to Building 900, which the Army used to prepare troops for parachute drops. A large grassy area, where troops could relax before drops, lay between the two buildings. Behind the area, several concrete mock-ups of the backs of Air Force cargo aircraft had been constructed, where troops could rehearse their drop procedures.

On the day of the accident, approximately 500 paratroopers from Fort Bragg were in the pax shed, the concrete mock-ups or resting in the grassy area. While the jumpers prepared to board several C-130s and C-141 aircraft parked on Green Ramp, the sky was filled with Air Force F-16, A-10 and C-130 aircraft conducting training maneuvers.

Mid-air collision

Shortly after 14:00 hours, an F-16D (88-0171), simulating an engine-out approach, collided with a USAF Lockheed C-130E Hercules (68-10942). Both aircraft were on short final to the runway at an altitude of approximately 300 feet. The nose of the F-16 severed the C-130's right elevator. Upon impact, the F-16 pilot applied full afterburner to try to recover the aircraft. As the aircraft began to disintegrate, however, showering the runway and a road which ran around the runway with debris, both F-16 crewmembers ejected, but their aircraft, still on full afterburner, continued on an arc towards Green Ramp. At the same time, the C-130 crew took their aircraft away from the airfield, and checked to ensure it was capable of landing. While the crew knew they were most likely struck by the F-16, they had no idea how it happened or the extent of the damage. After performing their checks, the crew returned to Pope and landed on the debris-littered runway.

Ground collision

By the time the C-130 landed, the F-16 had impacted Green Ramp heading west. The aircraft struck the ground in an empty parking place between two Air Force C-130s with crews on board preparing the aircraft for departure. When the F-16 hit the ground, its momentum carried the wreckage westward through the right wing of a C-141 (66-0173) parked on the ramp. The C-141 crew was also preparing the aircraft for joint Army-Air Force operations, however, no Army troops had yet boarded the plane. The wreckage of the F-16 punctured the fuel tanks in the C-141's right wing, causing a massive fireball. The combined fireball and F-16 wreckage then continued on a path taking it between Building 900 and the Pax Shed, directly into the area where the mass of Army paratroopers were sitting and standing. 23 men died and over 80 were injured; one severely burned paratrooper died later on 3 January 1995.

Paratroopers from the US Army Jumpmaster school who were right at the scene of the accident rushed to pull troopers from the flames and exploding 20 mm F-16 ammunition. Military and civilian vehicles were commandeered to ferry the injured to Womack hospital.

Aftermath

Several of the more severely burned victims were taken to the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research at Brooke Army Medical Center, Texas. Two months after the accident, only one paratrooper remained critical, while the others were either in satisfactory condition or convalescing at home.

A subsequent U.S. Air Force investigation placed most of the blame for the accident on the military and civilian air traffic controllers working Pope air traffic that day. A later investigation, however, stated that pilot error by the F-16 pilots also contributed to the mishap. The ramifications of the Air Force decision, since abandoned, of operating dissimilar aircraft (in this case C-130s and F-16s) at the same air base were not examined by the two accident investigation boards. [Diehl, "Silent Knights" (see #References).]

References

Printed media

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Web

*cite book |last=Condon-Rall |first=Mary Ellen |title=Disaster on Green Ramp: The Army's Response |origdate= |origyear=1996 |origmonth= |url=http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/books/green-ramp/popec.htm |format= |accessdate= |publisher=United States Army Center of Military History |location=Washington, D.C. |language= |isbn= |oclc= |doi= |id= |pages= |chapter= |chapterurl= |quote=
*LaRaia, Becky J. " [http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?storyID=123007282 Base recalls teamwork following ramp horror] ". "Air Force Link", 2004-03-25.
*General Assembly of North Carolina, Senate Joint Resolution 1100 (1995): [http://ncleg.net/Sessions/1995/Bills/Senate/HTML/S1100v1.html A Joint Resolution Honoring the Contributions of the 82nd Airborne Division and Remembering the Twenty-Four Paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division Who Lost Their Lives During a Routine Training Mission]
* [http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19940323-2&lang=en Aviation Safety Network entry]
* [http://www.c141heaven.com/66/pic_66_0173.html Incident details from] "C-141 Heaven".

Notes