HONORING THE SERVICE AND PRESERVING THE MEMORY OF THE CREW OF “BUZZ ONE FOUR”
January 13, 1964 A Boeing B-52D bomber of the 484th Bombardment Wing, call sign “Buzz One Four” was flying from Westover AFB in Massachusetts to Turner AFB in Georgia. The aircraft experienced severe wind turbulence over Southwestern Pennsylvania which resulted in the structural failure of the vertical tail section, causing the aircraft to go out of control. The order to abandon the aircraft was given and 4 of the 5 crewmen were able to eject. The 5th crewman was unable to eject. Buzz One Four, armed with 2 Mk 53 nuclear bombs, crashed in blizzard conditions in Garrett County, Maryland. Three of the crewmen did not survive.
This website is dedicated to the crew of Buzz One Four and the citizens of Garrett County, Maryland who assisted in the search and rescue efforts.
HIGH FLIGHT
By John Gillespie Magee, Jr.
“Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth,
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I’ve climbed and joined the tumbling
mirth of sun-split clouds –and done a hundred things You have not dreamed of
– wheeled and soared and swung high in the sunlit silence.
Hovering there I’ve chased the shouting wind along and flung my eager craft
through footless halls of air.
“Up, up the long delirious burning blue
I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy
grace,where never lark, or even eagle, flew;
and, while with silent, lifting mind I’ve trod
the high untrespassed sanctity of space,
put out my hand and touched the face of God.”
Help Us Remember
…Lest We Forget
NOTICE
This website is currently under construction. Contributions of photographs, letters, news articles, personal recollections of the events artifacts and memorobilia, etc., are encouraged. Full attribution to the donors will be given.
CONTACT US
IN MEMORY OF THE CREW OF “BUZZ ONE FOUR”
Lost in the Crash of “Buzz One Four” January 13, 1964
Major Robert L. Payne
Navigator
1922 – 1964
Major Robert E. Townley
Radar Navigator
1921 – 1964
TSgt. Melvin D. Wooten
Gunner
1936 – 1964
Survivors
Major Thomas W. McCormick
Pilot
1921 – 1997
Captain Parker C. Peedin
Co-pilot
1934 – 2009
Family and friends of the crew of Buzz One Four are encouraged to contribute photos and memories of the crew for publication on this website.
The video interview below contains Captain Parker C. “Mack” Peedin’s personal account of the night Buzz One Four fell from the sky. Captain Peedin, Buzz One Four’s co-pilot ,was 29 years old at the time of the crash and passed away in 2009.
Nuclear 911 – Atomcentral
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