NavList:

After a bit of research, I have found an article on the incident that occured on 20 NOV 1988. I have not yet recovered an actual tail number though it is rumored to be the infamous "Spook50". I have also read speculation that it was in fact a tail 0038 but 0050 seems to be the scapegoat for horror stories.. I still have not been able to confirm either of these stories. The article contains the name of the victim as well as the date of the incident though I beleive it to be off by 2 days. The boom's memorial states November 20th rather than 22nd. Here is the article directly quoted.

"November 22, 1988

MARCH AIR FORCE BASE, CALIF. ? BIZARRE ACCIDENT. An Air Force reservist died after a window burst on a KC-135 tanker aircraft flying over the Atlantic Ocean and the cockpit depressurized. Master Sgt. James L. Borland, 47, of Moreno Valley, was killed in the accident as the plane was en route from England, said Capt. Richard Williamson, a spokesman for the air wing. The precise cause of death was not immediately determined. He died when a 10-inch-by-8-inch sextant sighting window in the cockpit broke. None of the 17 others on board was injured. The accident, four to five hours into the flight from Lakenheath, England, was ''one of those bizarre things. The odds are one in 2 billion,'' said Lt. Col. Duncan Bridewell. Col. Tom Frank, the aircraft's commander, said he heard a sharp bang as the plane flew at 35,000 feet above the ocean and miles from land."

On the subject of Spook50, has anyone been able to find the actual recorded deaths that supposedly occured on it? So far all I have is hearsay to go on and have not been able to locate any concrete documentation.

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[Note from FER. Since this message references a message from 2002, I am copying below the text of that earlier message and previous messages quoted there]

Re: Off topic - Fatality /more
From: Brian Whatcott
Date: 2002 Dec 18, 12:07 -0600
Robert,
the corporate memory has it that the plane returned to its CONUS
base - probably March. But a pilot would certainly opt to land at the
first suitable landfall, with a peace-time casualty aboard, and a
defective airframe, for an inspection and perhaps temporary repair.

One fact *is* certain: only one KC-135 aircraft was
ever involved in the death of a celestial observer, in this way.
If you are confident it was a KC-135 that landed at Frobisher,
then this would be the one. Sorry I could not further solidify the
story.

Brian

At 07:55 PM 12/17/02, you wrote:
>Brian,
>
>This sounds like about the time this incident happened at Frobisher Bay.
>Does the report indicate where they landed?
>
>Robert
>----- Original Message -----
>From: Brian Whatcott <betwys{at}DIRECTVINTERNET.COM>
>To: <NAVIGATION-L{at}LISTSERV.WEBKAHUNA.COM>
>Sent: Tuesday, December 17, 2002 7:46 PM
>Subject: Off topic - Fatality (was: Bubble horizon)
>
>
> > Here is the most informed background on this fatality, that I have
> > been able to find:
> >
> > In November 1988, Master Sergeant James Borland, a boom operator
> > whose principal task it was to fly the fueling boom onto a receiver
> > airplane when refueling, was preparing to make a celestial observation.
> > This was the standard practice for that position on a trans-Atlantic run.
> > (The boom took the sights, and the nav did the sight reductions. )
> >
> > One of two sighting windows then fitted to KC135-E airplanes
> > broke free, thought to be due to corrosion at the seal.
> > These overhead windows were located about six feet aft of the
> > pilots' position, near the boom operators seat.
> >
> > Sgt Borland's head and arm were lifted clear outside the aperture
> > where the force of the partial ejection into the high speed, thin air
> > killed him. His intact corpse was recovered when the aircraft
> > descended to a viable height.
> >
> > James served with the MARCH Air Force Reserves.
> > The sighting windows on the KC135 were then deemed
> > unnecessary, and replaced with a sandwich of plates to
> > eliminate this risk.
> >
> > Brian Whatcott
> >
> > At 12:18 AM 12/17/02, Robert Eno, you wrote:
> > >P.S.
> > >
> > >I too, have heard about navigators getting sucked out of the perspex domes
> > >that used to be affixed to aircraft. The stories were always gruesome and
> > >usually involved headless navigators. 'nuff said on that. Matter of fact,
> > >an aircrew member was supposedly killed in about 1989 or thereabouts because
> > >he got sucked out the dome. The aircraft ended up emergency landing in
> > >Frobisher Bay. That was the story anyway. It happened too long ago
> > >for me to verify it.
> > >
> > >Robert
> >
> > >Paul Hirose, you said:
> > >Robert
> > > > KC-135s used to have flat windows on top of the plane near the bubble
> > > > sextant port. I heard they were replaced with metal plates after an
> > > > accident in the 80s (?) in which a nav got sucked out to his death.
> > > > Such stories are often apocryphal, but there may be some truth to this
> > > > one. The one -135 I worked on in my career, in the 1990s, did have the
> > > > window openings plated over. In fact, I heard the story of the nav
> > > > from one of the crew chiefs on that bird, after he noticed me playing
> > > > with the periscopic sextant. What a way to die.
> > > >
> > > >
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