Jonathan
2012-01-20 17:21:13 UTC
I wonder, when the B-52 crashed, were the two pilots
fighting each other for control of the airplane?
"What's the deal with this guy?" Captain Bill Kramer asked,
indicating a car conspicuously parked in the center of the
red-curbed "No Parking" zone adjacent to the wing
headquarters building. As they passed the illegally-parked car
and then the various "reserved" spaces for the wing and
operations group commanders, Lt Col Winslow turned to
Captain Kramer, and replied, "That's Bud's", Colonel
Holland's car. "He always parks there." After a few more steps
the Captain inquired, "How does he get away with that?"
The Lieutenant Colonel reflected for a moment and,
"I don't know--he just does."
"I'm going to fly the airshow and yeah, I may have someone
senior in rank flying with me, he may be the boss on the ground,
but I'm the boss in the air and I'll do what I want to do." .
"One B-52 pilot, when asked why more crewmembers didn't
speak up about the violations, said, "The entire wing staff sat by
and watched him do it (violate regulations) in the '91 airshow.
What was the sense in saying anything? They had already given
him a license to steal."
"We came around and (Lt) Col 'Bud' Holland took us down
to 50 feet. I told him that this was well below the clearance
plane and that we needed to climb. He ignored me. I told
him (again) as we approached the ridge line. I told him
in three quick bursts 'climb-climb-climb.' . . I didn't see any
clearance that we were going to clear the top of that mountain
... It appeared to me that he had target fixation. I said
'climb-climb-climb.' again, he did not do it. I grabbed hold
of the yoke and I pulled it back pretty abruptly ... I'd estimate
we had a cross over around 15 feet . . . The radar navigator
and the navigator were verbally yelling or screaming, reprimanding
Lt Col Holland and saying that there was no need to fly that low
his reaction to that input was he was laughing
--I mean a good belly laugh."
Fairchild AFB Airshow, 19 May 1991
"Lt Col Holland was the pilot and aircraft commander for the B-52
exhibition in the 1991 Fairchild AFB air show. During this exhibition,
Lt Col Holland violated several regulations... by (1) exceeding bank
and pitch limits, and (2) flying directly over the airshow crowd
in violation of Federal Aviation Regulation (FAR) Part 91.
In addition, a review of a videotape of the maneuvers leaves one
with the distinct impression that the aircraft may have violated
FAR altitude restrictions as well."
325th BMS Change of Command "Fly Over", 12 July 1991
Lt Col Holland was the aircraft commander and pilot for a "fly over"
for a 325th BMS Change of Command ceremony. During the
"practice" and actual fly over, Lt Col Holland accomplished passes
that were estimated to be "as low as 100-200 feet."
"Additionally, Lt Col Holland flew steep bank turns (greater than
45 degrees) and extremely high pitch angles, in violation of the
Dash 11 Tech Order, as well as a "wingover"-- a maneuver
where the pilot rolls the aircraft onto its side and allows the nose
of the aircraft to fall "through the horizon" to regain airspeed.
The crew were acutely aware, however, that the senior staff
had a ringside seat, and therefore may not have felt the need
to report or complain about a situation that their leaders
had witnessed directly."
Fairchild Air Show, 17 May 1992
"Lt Col Holland flew the B-52 exhibition at the Fairchild Air Show.
The profile flown included several low altitude steep turns in excess
of 45 degrees of bank, and a high speed pass down the runway.
At the completion of the high speed pass, Lt Col Holland
accomplished a high pitch angle climb, estimated at over 60
degrees nose high. At the top of the climb, the B-52 leveled off
using a wingover maneuver."
"Once again, perhaps because the senior staff were eyewitnesses
to the violations, the junior crewmembers kept their opinions
on the flyby to themselves. A B-52 pilot remarked, "I was amazed
that they (the senior staff) let him keep doing that. Getting away
with it once you could understand, you know -- forgiveness is
easier to get than permission. But this was the third time
in less than a year."
Fairchild Air Show 8 August 1993
"Lt Col Holland flew the B-52 exhibition for the 1993 Fairchild air show.
The profile included steep turns of greater than 45 degrees of bank, low
altitude passes, and a high pitch maneuver which one crewmember
estimate to be 80 degrees nose high--ten degrees shy of completely
vertical. Each of these three maneuvers exceeded technical order guidance.
As was the case in previous air shows, Air Combat Command approval
was required, but was neither requested or granted."
"The navigator on this flight said "we got down to seventy knots
and ... felt buffeting" during the recovery from the pitch up.
At seventy knots, the B-52 is in a aerodynamically stalled
condition and is no longer flying."
Yakima Bombing Range, 10 March 1994
"Lt Col Holland flew the aircraft well below the established
500 foot minimum altitude for the low level training route.
In fact, one crossover was photographed at less than 30 feet,
and another crewmember estimated that the final ridgeline
crossover was "somewhere in the neighborhood of about
three feet above the ground, and that the aircraft would have
impacted the ridge if he had not intervened and
pulled back on the yoke to increase the aircraft's altitude.
The photographers stopped filming because "they thought we were
going to impact . . . and they were ducking out of the way."
Lt Col Holland also joined an unbriefed formation of
A-10 fighter aircraft to accomplish a flyby over the
photographer. Col Holland responded to the objections of his
navigator by calling him a "pussy".
"There was already some talk of maybe trying some other ridiculous
maneuvers. - - his lifetime goal was to roll the B-52."
"Colonel Holland's initial reaction was to brag that he could
crank it pretty tight ... he said he could crank it tight and pop up
starting at 200 (knots). Bob and I looked at each other, and
Bob is going, "He's f---ed.", and I said "I just hope he crashes
on Friday during practice, not Sunday, so I will not
have so many bodies to pick up."
"On Friday the 24th of June 1994, Czar 52, a B-52H assigned
to the 325th Bomb Squadron, 92d Bomb Wing, Fairchild Air Force
Base, WA, launched at approximate 1358 hours Pacific Daylight Time,
to practice maneuvers for an upcoming airshow. The aircrew had
planned and briefed a profile, through the Wing Commander
level, that grossly exceeded aircraft and regulatory limitations."
"Upon preparing to land at the end of the practice airshow profile,
the crew was required to execute a "go-around" or missed
approach because of another aircraft on the runway. At mid-field,
Czar 52 began a tight 360 degree left turn around the control tower
at only 250 feet altitude above ground level. Approximately
three quarters of the way through the turn, the aircraft banked
past 90 degrees, stalled, clipped a power line with the left wing
and crashed."
"Impact occurred at approximately 1416 hours PDT. There were
no survivors out of a crew of four field grade officers."
"There is a great deal of evidence that suggests considerable
animosity existed between the two pilots who were at the
controls of Czar 52."
Video of various stunts by Col 'Bud' Holland
s
fighting each other for control of the airplane?
"What's the deal with this guy?" Captain Bill Kramer asked,
indicating a car conspicuously parked in the center of the
red-curbed "No Parking" zone adjacent to the wing
headquarters building. As they passed the illegally-parked car
and then the various "reserved" spaces for the wing and
operations group commanders, Lt Col Winslow turned to
Captain Kramer, and replied, "That's Bud's", Colonel
Holland's car. "He always parks there." After a few more steps
the Captain inquired, "How does he get away with that?"
The Lieutenant Colonel reflected for a moment and,
"I don't know--he just does."
"I'm going to fly the airshow and yeah, I may have someone
senior in rank flying with me, he may be the boss on the ground,
but I'm the boss in the air and I'll do what I want to do." .
"One B-52 pilot, when asked why more crewmembers didn't
speak up about the violations, said, "The entire wing staff sat by
and watched him do it (violate regulations) in the '91 airshow.
What was the sense in saying anything? They had already given
him a license to steal."
"We came around and (Lt) Col 'Bud' Holland took us down
to 50 feet. I told him that this was well below the clearance
plane and that we needed to climb. He ignored me. I told
him (again) as we approached the ridge line. I told him
in three quick bursts 'climb-climb-climb.' . . I didn't see any
clearance that we were going to clear the top of that mountain
... It appeared to me that he had target fixation. I said
'climb-climb-climb.' again, he did not do it. I grabbed hold
of the yoke and I pulled it back pretty abruptly ... I'd estimate
we had a cross over around 15 feet . . . The radar navigator
and the navigator were verbally yelling or screaming, reprimanding
Lt Col Holland and saying that there was no need to fly that low
his reaction to that input was he was laughing
--I mean a good belly laugh."
Fairchild AFB Airshow, 19 May 1991
"Lt Col Holland was the pilot and aircraft commander for the B-52
exhibition in the 1991 Fairchild AFB air show. During this exhibition,
Lt Col Holland violated several regulations... by (1) exceeding bank
and pitch limits, and (2) flying directly over the airshow crowd
in violation of Federal Aviation Regulation (FAR) Part 91.
In addition, a review of a videotape of the maneuvers leaves one
with the distinct impression that the aircraft may have violated
FAR altitude restrictions as well."
325th BMS Change of Command "Fly Over", 12 July 1991
Lt Col Holland was the aircraft commander and pilot for a "fly over"
for a 325th BMS Change of Command ceremony. During the
"practice" and actual fly over, Lt Col Holland accomplished passes
that were estimated to be "as low as 100-200 feet."
"Additionally, Lt Col Holland flew steep bank turns (greater than
45 degrees) and extremely high pitch angles, in violation of the
Dash 11 Tech Order, as well as a "wingover"-- a maneuver
where the pilot rolls the aircraft onto its side and allows the nose
of the aircraft to fall "through the horizon" to regain airspeed.
The crew were acutely aware, however, that the senior staff
had a ringside seat, and therefore may not have felt the need
to report or complain about a situation that their leaders
had witnessed directly."
Fairchild Air Show, 17 May 1992
"Lt Col Holland flew the B-52 exhibition at the Fairchild Air Show.
The profile flown included several low altitude steep turns in excess
of 45 degrees of bank, and a high speed pass down the runway.
At the completion of the high speed pass, Lt Col Holland
accomplished a high pitch angle climb, estimated at over 60
degrees nose high. At the top of the climb, the B-52 leveled off
using a wingover maneuver."
"Once again, perhaps because the senior staff were eyewitnesses
to the violations, the junior crewmembers kept their opinions
on the flyby to themselves. A B-52 pilot remarked, "I was amazed
that they (the senior staff) let him keep doing that. Getting away
with it once you could understand, you know -- forgiveness is
easier to get than permission. But this was the third time
in less than a year."
Fairchild Air Show 8 August 1993
"Lt Col Holland flew the B-52 exhibition for the 1993 Fairchild air show.
The profile included steep turns of greater than 45 degrees of bank, low
altitude passes, and a high pitch maneuver which one crewmember
estimate to be 80 degrees nose high--ten degrees shy of completely
vertical. Each of these three maneuvers exceeded technical order guidance.
As was the case in previous air shows, Air Combat Command approval
was required, but was neither requested or granted."
"The navigator on this flight said "we got down to seventy knots
and ... felt buffeting" during the recovery from the pitch up.
At seventy knots, the B-52 is in a aerodynamically stalled
condition and is no longer flying."
Yakima Bombing Range, 10 March 1994
"Lt Col Holland flew the aircraft well below the established
500 foot minimum altitude for the low level training route.
In fact, one crossover was photographed at less than 30 feet,
and another crewmember estimated that the final ridgeline
crossover was "somewhere in the neighborhood of about
three feet above the ground, and that the aircraft would have
impacted the ridge if he had not intervened and
pulled back on the yoke to increase the aircraft's altitude.
The photographers stopped filming because "they thought we were
going to impact . . . and they were ducking out of the way."
Lt Col Holland also joined an unbriefed formation of
A-10 fighter aircraft to accomplish a flyby over the
photographer. Col Holland responded to the objections of his
navigator by calling him a "pussy".
"There was already some talk of maybe trying some other ridiculous
maneuvers. - - his lifetime goal was to roll the B-52."
"Colonel Holland's initial reaction was to brag that he could
crank it pretty tight ... he said he could crank it tight and pop up
starting at 200 (knots). Bob and I looked at each other, and
Bob is going, "He's f---ed.", and I said "I just hope he crashes
on Friday during practice, not Sunday, so I will not
have so many bodies to pick up."
"On Friday the 24th of June 1994, Czar 52, a B-52H assigned
to the 325th Bomb Squadron, 92d Bomb Wing, Fairchild Air Force
Base, WA, launched at approximate 1358 hours Pacific Daylight Time,
to practice maneuvers for an upcoming airshow. The aircrew had
planned and briefed a profile, through the Wing Commander
level, that grossly exceeded aircraft and regulatory limitations."
"Upon preparing to land at the end of the practice airshow profile,
the crew was required to execute a "go-around" or missed
approach because of another aircraft on the runway. At mid-field,
Czar 52 began a tight 360 degree left turn around the control tower
at only 250 feet altitude above ground level. Approximately
three quarters of the way through the turn, the aircraft banked
past 90 degrees, stalled, clipped a power line with the left wing
and crashed."
"Impact occurred at approximately 1416 hours PDT. There were
no survivors out of a crew of four field grade officers."
"There is a great deal of evidence that suggests considerable
animosity existed between the two pilots who were at the
controls of Czar 52."
Video of various stunts by Col 'Bud' Holland
s