Fifty years of heritage (edition 18) Published July 21, 2011 By Eric M. White 910 AW/PA YOUNGSTOWN AIR RESERVE STATION, Ohio -- Each week in 2011, the 910th AW/PA office will republish a historic article or highlight from the archive along with a brief commentary. In the case of articles, we will publish exact copies of the originals, so any grammatical or typographical errors are intentional reproductions. Article 18: Remembering a tragedy The 910th Airlift Wing has more than 29 years and 145,000 hours of accident-free flying. As technology advances, flight becomes safer, but the men and women of the 910th constantly strive toward and achieve excellence in aircraft maintenance and flight safety. "The fact that Youngstown ARS has achieved over 29 accident free years, consisting of 145,000 plus safe flying hours, is directly attributed to the highly skilled professionals flying, maintaining and supporting our mission," said Col. Craig Peters, 910th Operations Group Commander. "Their pride, dedication and abilities are second to none. I'm truly proud to serve as their commander." Apart from those who maintain and fly Youngstown's fleet of C-130 Hercules aircraft, uniformed personnel train and stand ready should the unthinkable ever happen, at home or abroad. In October 1972, the base was bustling with typical Unit Training Assembling activity, when unit reservists were called upon to respond to a difficult situation. The following article, from the December 1972 Nine Flyer, reviews the incident and how the reservists here responded. TRAGEDY... SEEN FROM THE "CP" From the December 1972 Nine Ten Flyer (October's tragic crash that claimed the lives of two pilots of the 910th Special Operations Group may have become a statistic to some by now but is still fresh in the minds of many members of the 910th. The following report, written immediately after the accident, may give all members of the Group some insight into what went on behind the scenes that day the accident occurred. It is a far from complete story because it was written from the Command Post but the accompanying story from a member of the on-scene team will increase comprehension of the incident. In any event, the final chapter has yet to be written and it behooves all members of the Group to use this accident in any way they can to further their accomplishment of the 910th mission.) Professionalism, teamwork, discipline. These three words have become watchwords for the 910th Special Operations group. And, they were never more in evidence than with the events surrounding the tragic accident that claimed the lives of two of the unit's pilots. The accident set in motion a chain of events that is not ended yet even though the board of inquiry has completed its official on-the-scene investigation. The chain began when word was flashed to key personnel on the base that Saturday, Oct. 14 that a unit A-37 was 45 minutes overdue on its return from a routine low-level training mission from Youngstown to Pennsylvania. This set the wheels into motion. Federal Aviation Administration Authorities were notified and other contingency bases in the area were contacted. Various law enforcement agencies in the area were also notified. Shortly after 5 p.m., word was received from the Pennsylvania State Police that some of their unites were being dispatched to investigate a reported air crash near Wattsburg, Pa., a few miles south of Erie. A few minutes later, further word was received from the scene of the crash that seemed to verify that this was the 910th's overdue A-37, piloted by Capt. Thomas Pytel and Maj. Michael Freeman. With this word, key personnel began to assemble in the Command Post and action was being taken to form a team for dispatch to the scene of the accident. Col. James C. Wahleithner, Group Commander, appointed Maj. Duane Foster as base director of operations, to be the on-scene commander. Because (Continued on Page 3.) Tragedy ... How It Went at the Command Post (Continued from Page 1.) It was a UTA weekend it was possible to send an expanded team to the Erie vicinity. Robert Brown, base disaster preparedness officer, helped set up the team and accompanied it. Capt. Ronald Whiting, Security Police officer, selected a group of his men who later would be used to secure the area where the accident took place. Also as part of the team were Lt. Col. Edward Kalifut, military disaster preparedness officer; Capt. Kenneth Hart, TAC Dispensary commander and flight surgeon and members of the dispensary staff; Lt. Col. Donald M. Jenkins, 757th SOS commander, and Capt. Donald M. Streamo of the 10th Consolidated Aircraft Maintenance Squadron. Meanwhile, William Hall, base Information Officer, was contacted at his Meadville, Pa. home by Maj. Lee W. Collins, Group Staff Information Officer, and instructed to proceed to the accident scene. Mr. Hall arrived some time ahead of the Group team. Back at the Command Post, necessary action was bring taken by the augmented staff under the direction of Colonel Wahleithner. Lt. Col. Jerry Parker, Maj. Jack Simon, Maj. George Hackney and Capt. Harvey Wensel, of the Group operations Staff manned the CP Phones. Also assisting were TSgt. Donald Schaefer and Sgt. Robert L. O'Brien. Capt. Emmons Parrott, Group Safety Director, also had a big role to play in the CP operations. Various directives call for specific action in cases of this nature and all had to be complied with. Notification was necessary by phone to 434th Special Operations Wing, Central Air Force Reserve Region, Air Force Reserve Headquarters, Tactical Air Command and USAF headquarters and some of the cases require follow-up action by TWX. Myron D. Hamilton, Military Personnel Director, along with Capt. Thomas (obscured)celnick and others of his personnel staff, played a big role in the necessary preparation of messages, reports and records. Lt. Col. Schutte, Combat Support Commander, also was on hand to put all group vehicles at the disposal of the Command Post staff and to place the dining hall on 24-hour operation. Maj. Alberta Kaleta, Comm flight commander, immediately placed all his operations on a 24-hours basis and provided valuable assistance to Major Collins as the volume of news media inquiries continued to mount throughout the night. Also on hand at the CP were Lt. Col. Walter Lynch, group Director of Materiel; Maj. Andrew Cech, supply staff officer, and Lt. Col. Kenneth Harris, former disaster preparedness officer. Andrew Crissman, base disaster preparedness technician, also was called in especially for the operation. Lending their valuable assistance were Col. Whitney N. Tomlin, senior Wing Tac advisor, and TSgt. Laddie Oliver, one of the Group Tac advisors. Rex Fisher, Base Executive Officer, and various other unit personnel also were in and out from time to time to assist in various functions. Long before the Group team arrived at the accident scene it became apparent that positive identification of the victims had been made and that they were pilots of the 910th. This necessitated plans for notification of the next of kin. Colonel Wahleithner decided that the difficult task of contacting the widows should fall to him. Under Air Force directives, all notification to next of kin in cases like this is always made on a personal basis. A minister of Captain Pytel's church could not be located so arrangements were made for Capt. Robert McIntosh's wife, a close friend of Mrs. Pytel, to go with Colonel Wahleithner there. (Captain McIntosh headed the gunner team of which Capt. Pytel was a member.) Colonel Lynch also accompanied the commander on his trip to both widows. After this, events slowed down at the CP. Mr. hall called in with a report from the Eric areas as did Major Foster. Captain hart also called in the report that he had gone to the Erie County Morgue to view the victims' bodies, where he officially confirmed what already had become an accepted fact, that the two dead bodies were those of the 910th pilots. Word was received fm Special Operations Forces that a board of officers was to arrive that next day to begin the official investigation into the crash. Upon word from Colonel Wahleithner early on Sunday morning that both of the widows had been notified, the names and addresses of the victims were released to whatever news media could still be contacted at that late hour. Other newsmen were contacted later that Sunday. Most of the personnel at the CP then retired for the night to get their two or three hours sleep before wakening to face the new day, which opened with a Commander's Call by Colonel Wahleithner to inform all the Group of the events. Professionalism, teamwork, discipline that pretty well covered the work of the 910th during those fateful hours.