MILITARY AIR CRASHES
HAPPEN.
AND THEY RAISE MAJOR
CONCERN WHEN THEY INVOLVE
OUR CIVILIAN POPULATION.
(ANITA)
THE ACCIDENT IN VIRGINIA
BEACH THAT WIPED OUT AN
APARTMENT COMPLEX
BACK IN 20-12 WAS KNOWN
AS "THE GOOD FRIDAY
MIRCALE"-- BECAUSE NO ONE
DIED.
BUT IT DOESN'T ALWAYS END
THIS WAY.
(TOM)
A LITTLE REMEMBERED STORY
IN NORFOLK HAD A MORE
TRAGIC ENDING-- AND
CHANGED THE WAY
WE VIEW MILITARY FLIGHT
IN HAMPTON ROADS.
(TOM SCHAAD REPORTING)
EVERY SIX MINUTES, NAVAL
AIRCRAFT DART THROUGH
THROUGH THE BLUE GREY
HEAVENS ABOVE HAMPTON
ROADS, WHERE
A DISTANT WHISPER DRAWS
TO A CRESCENDO IN
SECONDS.
AND OUTSIDE NAVAL STATION
NORFOLK
HAUNTING MEMORIES FROM
8927 GRANBY STREET OF
JUST AFTER NOON ON
DECEMBER 9TH, 1958.
CLIP 2751
5259-5302
"SUDDENLY THERE WAS A
LOUD BOOM"
CLIP 2751
5637-41
"A BIG ERUPTION...A BIG
SONIC...AND BIG FIREBALL"
(NATS MUSIC UNDER
NEWSREEL)
VOICE: "IN A RESIDENTIAL
SECTION NEAR NORFOLK
NAVAL AIR STATION, THE
WRECKAGE OF THE NAVY
TANKER PLANE MARKS THE
SCENE OF TRAGEDY!"
THE PLANE WAS AN AJ-2
SAVAGE, THE FIRST US
ARICRAFT DESIGNED TO
CARRY THE ATOMIC BOMB. IT
HAD ENGINE TROUBLE ON A
REFUELING MISSION NEAR
WEEKSVILLE, NORTH
CAROLINA. IT WAS COMING
BACK TO NORFOLK WHEN IT
CRASHED INTO TWO HOUSES.
ONE WAS EMPTY. INSIDE
THE OTHER, THE WIFE OF A
NAVY LIEUTENANT AND HER
TWO BABIES. THE CHILDREN
AND
FOUR CREWMEMBERS. 6
PEOPLE IN ALL, DIED.
CHRIS MCDERMOTT DOESN'T
REMEMBER SEEING IT FROM
HER HOME, WHICH WAS
SEPARATED FROM THE
INFERNO BY A SHALLOW
CREEK. SHE DID RECALL
LEAVING THE HOUSE.
CHRIS MCDERMOTT/RESIDENT
CLIP 2751
5533-46
"I REMEMBER MY STEPDAD
WALKING QUICKLY SO I WAS
HAVING HARD TIME KEEPING
UP, SO I USED THE
POTATOES UNDER MY FEET TO
ROLL ALONG AS WE WENT TO
MY
AUNT'S HOUSE WHICH WAS
THREE BLOCKS AWAY."
THOSE POTAOTES CAME FROM
A TRUCK, SLICED BY THE
TANKER JUST BEFORE
IMPACT.
CHRIS'S OLDER BROTHER
RICHARD GUERREIRO WAS AT
MARY CALCOTT ELEMENTARY
SCHOOL DOWN THE STREET.
CLIP 2750
4159-4207
"THE LIGHTS WENT OUT AT
THE SCHOOL. THERE WAS A
LOUD BOOM, AND EVENTUALLY
THE LIGHTS CAME BACK ON."
CLIP 2750
4229-35
"I NOTICED A THIN PLUME
OF SMOKE COMING UP FROM
WHERE WE LIVED."
THEIR HOUSE WAS SPARED,
AND AS TIME PASSED, THE
SMOKY MEMORIES OF
DESTRUCTION FADED.
CLIP 4107
5314
TOM
:
DO PEOPLE EVER TALK ABOUT
THE PLANE CRASH?
NOT REALLY, NOT A LOT
CHARLIE FLEETWOOD IS WITH
THE OCEAN VIEW STATION
MUSEUM, LOCATED JUST
BLOCKS FROM THE DISASTER.
CHARLIE FLEETWOOD/OCEAN
VIEW STATION MUSEUM
CLIP 4099
1030-41
"PEOPLE SEE THESE
PICTURES FOR THE FIRST
TIME AND
THEY'RE AMAZED. THEY HAVE
NO IDEA THAT THIS
ACTUALLY HAPPENED."
CLIP 4109
IT'S HARD TO BELIEVE THAT
60 YEARS HAD GONE BY THAT
FOR CHARLIE TOOMEY OF
OF THE FOUR CREWMEMBERS
ON THE TANKER.
CLIP 4110
DELIVERING NEWSPAPERS
THE DAY AFTER.
CLIP 4124
5811-17
"AND THE HEADLINE SAYS
DURHAM MAN DIES IN AIR
CRASH. LITTLE DID I KNOW
IT WAS MY BROTHER."
CHARLIE FOUND OUT WHEN HE
GOT HOME
AND THEN THE OFFICAL
TELEGRAM
CLIP 4123
5415-23
"YOUR SON DIED IN SERVICE
FOR HIS COUNTRY. PLEASE
ACCEPT MY MOST HEARTFELT
SYMPATHY IN YOUR GREAT
LOSS."
PATRICK TOOMEY WAS 19. HE
LOVED MOTORCYCLES,
AND BEING A BIG BROTHER
TO CHARLIE.
CLIP 4110
3318-24
CHARLIE TOOMEY/BROTHER OF
CRASH VICTIM
I WAS SHOCKED AND
DISMAYED, BUT MY FATHER,
IT
JUST TORE HIM UP.
SADNESS FROM A FAMILY IN
NORTH CAROLINA TO
RELIEF FROM THOSE FEW WHO
REMEMBER THAT DECEMBER
DAY IN 1958.
CLIP 2750
5130-38
IF HE HAD GONE A LITTLE
BIT MORE TO THE LEFT, YES
HE
WOULD HAVE GONE INTO OUR
HOUSE AND MY SISTER AND
MY STEPFATHER WOULDN'T BE
HERE TODAY.
THAT LITTLE HOME ON
GRANBY STREET STILL
STANDS AS A MONUMENT TO
THE CLOSE BRUSH WITH A
DISASTER LARGELY
FORGOTTEN WITH THE
PASSAGE OF TIME.
(TOM)
ON WAVY.COM, THOUGHTS
FROM A FAMILY WHO LOST
TWO BABIES ON THAT
DECEMBER DAY.
SINCE THE CRASH, THE
GOVERMENT INSTITUTED AIR
INSTALLATION COMPATIBLE
USE ZONES,
DESIGNED TO ADDRESS LAND
DEVELOPMENT NEAR MILITARY
AIR FACILITIES TO
MINIMIZE
THE CHANCES OF ANOTHER
DISASTER LIKE GRANBY
STREET.