Out of 144 aircraft, two bell cranks on each aircraft, we found cracks in six. The team visits the school regularly.This mural is in the cafeteria of the Indian Springs School. Probably of Kill. However, on the Order of General Wilbur (Bill) Creech, Commander, Tactical Air Command the tapes were destroyed.Cutting to the chase, these were the Board Findings:In January 1982, I was assigned to the T-38 Section at Laughlin AFB, Texas. But I draw your attention to the Board Findings above. They defend their maintenance mercilessly. It looked like all of them hit at the same time. They do not call in-flight emergencies. The four pilots died instantly: Major Norm Lowry, III, leader, 37, of Radford, Virginia; Captain Willie Mays, left wing, 31, of Col. Mike Wallace, of the Public Information Office at nearby Initial speculation was that the accident might have been due to pilot error, that the leader might have misjudged his altitude or speed and the other three pilots repeated the error. On the day of the Diamond crash, the solos were practicing at Nellis AFB. "At the speed they were going when they came out of the loop, I just thought, "That's the end of that for them fellows,'" said W. G. Wood of Indian Springs, who witnessed the crash as he drove along 95. Tech Sergeant Alfred King was videotaping the practice for later review. This mural was painted before the crash.“At the speed, they were going when they came out of the loop, I just thought, That’s the end of that for them fellows,” said W.G. I’m pretty sure that it addressed the stab interconnect issue. The worst crash in Thunderbird history, dubbed the "Diamond Crash," came when four pilots crashed Jan. 18, 1982, during training at Indian Springs. Much of the T-Bird training is the Leader learning a cadence and the team learning to follow the cadence. Also, there were many cases of improper safety wire jobs.By March, the T-38 maintenance community was convinced that failure of the stab interconnects led to loss of pitch control in Thunderbird #1. The 1982 Diamond Crash was the worst operational accident to befall the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds Air Demonstration Team involving show aircraft. The ground always a PK factor of 1.0. As in any Thunderbird practice, the mishap was videotaped. Many reports said they were line abreast but they began the loop line abreast and transitioned to a Diamond on the downside of the loop.The four pilots died instantly: Major Norm Lowry, III, leader, 37, of The Crash occurred at Indian Springs Auxillary Field (Later: Creech AFB). They were barreling down at the ground and I can assure you that from interviewing T-Birds that the attention of the leader is focused solely on missing the ground. The video below are F-16’s but gives a good example of this cadence.The report says that they stayed in the abreast loop formation, but just looking at the ground scars anyone can tell they were not in line abreast at impact. “It happened so fast I couldn’t tell you if one hit sooner. Most training now occurs north of Peanut Hill where a simulated airfield is set up.The mascot of the Indian Springs High School are the Thunderbirds. When asked why the four aircraft were missing, the reason given was the artist ran out of room. I can personally attest that the grass never regrew in that area. They never felt a thing.The Thunderbirds are a quirky bunch. INDIAN SPRINGS, Nev., Jan. 18, 1982— At 0923 PST, four T-38A’s (68-8156, 8175, 8176 & 8184) from an Air Force Thunderbirds Team crashed, one after another, into the Nevada desert, killing all four pilots. 5 Inches away from each other, wow. Reading the report, you see it leaning towards “pilot error”. The other pilots were “flying paint” meaning they were concentrating on aircraft position in the formation and trusted the Lead to maneuver correctly. This video is unavailable. As a result of the crash, over the field practices are limited. His footage would help determine the cause for the AFR 127-4The Thunderbirds next flew a public demonstration in the spring of 1983, more than 18 months after their last public air show.The Thunderbirds switched back to front-line jet fighters after the accident. The formation struck the ground South of Runway 08/26 and North of the parking apron. They blame the trim actuators malfunctioning and distracting Lead’s attention at a critical moment. "They were going full tilt, really screaming, and at the time I thought they were too low. See also the F-16.net Forum discussions: Thunderbird crash accident report released, Thunderbird crash 14 Sep 2003 and Thunderbird crash photo (head-on). I distinctly remember a Valentine’s Day BBQ being fucked up as I was selected to accompany QA (I was the T-38 Section BPO Trainer) to inspect the stab interconnect bell cranks for cracks and installation. A malfunction in the lead plane was blamed. The Air Force said the four planes struck nose-first into the sand while practicing a ”loop” maneuver, . Four Northrop T-38 Talon jets crashed during operational training on 18 January 1982, killing all four pilots. The Air Force team, like the The deadliest Thunderbird accident was the crash of a team support "The airframes involved were all T-38A-75-NO Talons, serial numbers Technical Sergeant Alfred R. King filmed the accident from the ground. The Leader continuously talks to the team so that all actions are coordinated. "Construction worker George LaPointe watched the jets disappear behind tree tops, "They didn't come back up," he said. They do have “precautionary landings”. Specifically the redacted sixth finding. In all likelihood, no; however, there is a reason none of them broke formation.
The Air Force said the four planes struck nose-first into the sand while practicing a ”loop” maneuver, .