The
Aircraft Accident Board convened on 5 December 1953 at 0930
at
Kinross Air Force Base to determine the cause and make recommendations
relative to the aircraft accident involving an F-89C SN 51-5853A piloted by
1st Lt. Felix E Mancla, Jr. AO 1858910, which disappeared on an
active air defense mission.
The
Aircraft Accident Board was established by S.O. 110, paragraph 8,
dated 21 July 1953, Headquarters, 534th Air Defense Group as
amended by
S.O.
163, paragraph 3, dated 28 September 1953 and S.O. 164, paragraph 19, dated
29 September 1953.
The
following members were present:
Major Harry H.. Caseleman . . . . . . . . President
Major Forrest F. Parham . . . . . . . . . Alternate President
Capt. David C. Collins . . . . . . . . . Aircraft
Accident
Investigating
Officer
Capt. Harry Johnson . . . . . . . . . . . Member
Capt. Daniel W. Shea . . . . . . . . . . Medical Officer
The
aircraft forms and the statements of the GCI Controller and
Lt.
Mingenback were reviewed and discussed by the board, and it was considered
essential that Lt. Mingenback appear personnaly before the board to clarify
the
statement that he had possibly heard a radio transmission from Lt. Mancla
while he was airborne approximately one hour after Lt. Mancla became
airborne.
It
was also considered essential to call on Lt. Stuart to clarify the times
when
radio contact was lost and when IF and radar contact were lost.
The
board adjourned at 10:50 to be recalled at the request of the president.
The Aircraft Accident Board reconvened at 10:45, 8 December, 1953 at Kinross
Air Force Base to determine the cause and make recommendations
relative to the aircraft accident involving an F-89C SN 51-5853A piloted by
1st Lt. Felix E Moncla, Jr. AO 1858910, which disappeared on an
active air defense mission.
The
Aircraft Accident Board was established by S.O. 110, paragraph 8, dated 21
July 1953, Headquarters, 534th Air Defense Group as amended by
S.O.
163, paragraph 3, dated 28 September 1953 and S.O. 164, paragraph 19, dated
29 September 1953.
The
following members were present:
Major Harry H.. Caseleman . . . . . . . . President
Major Forrest F. Parham . . . . . . . . . Alternate President
Capt. David C. Collins . . . . . . . . . Aircraft Accident
Investigating
Officer
Capt. Harry Johnson . . . . . . . . . . . Member
Capt. Daniel W. Shea . . . . . . . . . . Medical Officer
Additional leads uncovered during the later course of the investigation
indicated that there might be a possibility that Lt. Mancla subjective to
attacks of Vertigo in a little more than normal degree. Upon pursuing these
leads, it was discovered that statements had been made by former members of
Lt.
Manclas organization but were not first hand evidence and were regarded
as
heresay. A statement was made by Lt. Mingenbach which related to a
transmission made by the F-89 aircraft and, for these reasons his presence
is requested at the accident board meeting today.
Lt. William
A. Mingenback was called before the accident board and duly sworn in.
Q.
State your full name, rank, serial number and organization.
A. William
Alexander Mingenback, 2nd Lt. AO 2223270 433rd
Fighter-Interceptor Squadron
Q. Lt.
Mingenbach, do you identify the statement which I have just handed you as
being a statement which you made?
A.
Yes.
Q. You
state about 1935 is when you heard this transmission. Are you certain about
that time?
A.
It is difficult to know whether it was 1935 or 1945; it may have been 1950.
Q. Are you
sure about the 19th hour?
A. Yes,
sir.
Q. It’s
pretty certain it was the 19th hour?
A.
I would say later than 1930 and earlier than 1950.
Q. You
were airborne about 1915?
A. Yes
sir, 50 minutes after Lt. Mancla was.
Q. Were
you able to recognize any words or phrases that were spoken?
A. Sir,
when the transmission came I believe I was saying something to my radar
observer, therefore when I read this in the UHF I immediately
stopped talking, but since my mind was on a different subject - I believe
he said "I think we had better" and then several other words that I do
not
remember were stated. It was broke in after the sentence was started and
cut out after it was finished. It sounded like an accidental
transmission if it was transmitted by a weak transmitter it may have
been
on the air some time before I picked it up. When it came through,
it
was 3x3 or 4x4 full volume and clear.
Q. Are you
sure it wasn’t the control.
A. Sir, it
was either Lt. Mancla or Lt. Nordeck. I questioned my radar observer later
and he said it sounded like Lt. Mancla. It was a
southern accent.
Q. The
only reason why you think it could have been Mancla was due to the accent?
A. Yes
sir, his voice was very recognizable on the radio. I had flown with him
frequently in the past year. I believe I could recognize 85 or 90
percent of our squadron on the radio.
Q. You
can’t recall any of the words he said except "I think we better"?
A. Sir,
that’s all I could get out of it. If I thought hard enough, I might
come
up with an answer that might not be correct. I am not certain
enough to make a positive and useful statement to anyone. I also want
to
emphasize that I am not positive it was his voice not so much as I
thought it would be worthy of inclosure in my statement?
Q. You
made this attempt to contact on UHF or VHF?
A.
UHF
Q. Did it
sound to you by the tone of his voice that it was a routine transmission to
his radar observer or hurried or excited?
A.
Gene was not liable to panic under any conditions. His voice did not
seem
excited. It was a normal transmission. It's hard to tell by just
a
short transmission. The words weren’t hurried. He always speaks at the same
rate of speed whether he is in a hurry or not, very close
to
his manner of speech.
