56-3599 — accident record & aircraft history

FlightFinder has no observed route profile for this registration. The documented safety events below are available independently of live flight tracking.

Safety history

June 27, 1958AccidentHull loss
The aircraft was conducting a special flight from Westover AFB to RAF Brize Norton, near London, carrying a crew of seven and eight american journalists who covered the first transatlantic flight on a KC-135 airplane. Two other similar aircraft left the airbase earlier and 56-3599 was the third of a series of four.
Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker · 15 fatalities
It was determined that the flaps were deployed at a wrong angle of 40° at takeoff. The combination of a wrong flaps setting with an heavily loaded aircraft and relative high temperature reduced the aircraft performances. At the time of the accident, the visibility was estimated to 2,5 km due to the night and low ceiling. Full accident record