Background
In preparation for the 1994 Fairchild Airshow, Lt Col Arthur A. "Bud" Holland was selected as the command pilot for the B-52 demonstration flight. On 15 June 1994, Holland briefed the new wing commander, Colonel William Brooks, on the proposed flight plan. Holland's demonstration profile violated numerous regulations, including steep bank angles, low-altitude passes, and steep pitch attitudes. Brooks ordered Holland not to exceed 45° bank angle or 25° pitch attitude during the demonstration.
Preparation and Violations
During the first practice session on 17 June, Holland repeatedly violated these orders. Brooks witnessed this but took no action. Lt Col Pellerin, who flew with Holland on that flight, reported to Brooks that "the profile looks good to him; looks very safe, well within parameters." The next practice flight on 24 June ended with the fatal crash.
The demonstration profile designed by Holland included a 360° turn around Fairchild's control tower, a maneuver he had not attempted in previous air show demonstrations. During the final flight, Holland performed a series of 60° bank turns and a 68° pitch climb, again violating Brooks' orders. There is no evidence to suggest that either McGeehan or Wolff attempted to intervene as Holland carried out these dangerous maneuvers.
Final Flight
Pellerin was originally scheduled for the 24 June flight but was unavailable; Col Robert E. Wolff was selected as replacement. Due to short notice, Wolff did not participate in the pre-flight briefing and boarded after engines were started, unaware of the planned mission profile and unable to raise objections before take-off. All four aircrew members involved in the crash had limited flying time in the preceding months. None appeared to have noticed that the aircraft had stalled until shortly before impact, as indicated by a failure to apply standard recovery techniques. The investigation reported that even if proper stall recovery techniques had been applied, recovery was unlikely because the aircraft was already too low.
Crew members on the flight were: Lt Col Arthur A. "Bud" Holland (pilot), Lt Col Mark C. McGeehan (copilot), Col Robert E. Wolff (observer), and Lt Col Kenneth "Ken" Huston (operations officer).
Investigation and Probable Cause
The accident investigation concluded that the crash was primarily attributable to Holland's personality and behavior, USAF leaders' inadequate reactions to previous incidents involving Holland, and the sequence of events and aircrew response during the final flight. Holland's disregard for safe operating procedures and the absence of firm corrective action by his superiors allowed him to believe he could conduct the flight unsafely, culminating in a slow, steeply banked 360° turn around the control tower.
Environmental factors included the addition of a new maneuver (the 360° turn around the tower), inadequate pre-flight involvement of Wolff, and distractions from a base shooting four days prior. These combined with Holland's unsafe piloting behavior to produce conditions favorable for the crash. The final factor was a 10-knot (19 km/h) wind and its effect on the maneuvers required to achieve the intended flightpath relative to the ground.