Quoted from the Charleston Airlift Dispatch
VOLUME XXII NUMBER 31
LOCAL TRAINING FLIGHT CRASHES; NINE MEN DIE IN TENNESSEE
“A routine C-141 training mission ended in the death of nine men of the 41st
Dead are: Maj. Robert M. Meeks, 36 of Chapel Hill, N.C., Aircraft Commander;
Cause of the crash has not been determined. An Air Force accident
The basic mission of the ill-fated C-141 required the crew to fly from
A coordinated search was initiated at 6:30 p.m. by the FAA and Air Force
The accident investigation board, recovery and support team personnel departed
Portions of the aircraft flight data recorder were recovered Saturday evening
Memorial services for the crew were held Tuesday at Chapel No. 1.”
SEPTEMBER 10, 1982
CHARLESTON, SC
Military Airlift Squadron when their plane crashed into a mountainside on the
Tennessee-North Carolina border in the Tellico Wildlife Management Area, Aug. 31.
Maj. Robert E. Down, 36, of Salem, Ore., co-pilot; Maj. Elmer A. McNeilly, 44
of Ventura, Calif., navigator; Capt. Allan W. Gist, 29, of Bend,
Ore., navigator; CMSgt. Monty G.W. Nicholson, 41 of Manchester, Ky., flight
examiner loadmaster; TSgt. Billy J. Canter, 30, of Bristol, Va., flight
engineer; SSgt. Wayne R. Huggins, Jr., 27, of Summerdale, Ala., flight
engineer; TSgt. Daniel Vanarsdall, 31, of Greenburg, Ky., loadmaster; and
Sgt. Jack C. Sweatman III, 26, of Atlanta, Ga., loadmaster.
investigation board is at the scene reviewing facts surrounding the accident.
Charleston to an aircraft training area to conduct a low-level flight training
exercise. Last reported radio contact with the plane was at 1:50 p.m.,
Aug. 31, when the crew received FAA clearance to descend into the training
corridor area to begin their training. The plane failed to complete its mission.
Rescue Coordination Center at Scott AFB, Ill. The crash site was found and
reported to the ARFCC at about 11:25 p.m., Sept 1.
Charleston at 9:40 a.m., Sept. 2. The team arrived at the accident scene that
afternoon. The C-141 was located about 75 feet from the peak of
John’s Knob, a 4,900 foot mountain in the Tellicao wildlife area, according to
Col. Chester G. Oehme Jr., on-scene commander.
and were taken to the National Transportation Safety Board in Washington for
analysis. However, the Air Force accident investigation board
reported Monday that useable information was not recovered from the section of
the flight data recorder turned over to the NTSB. At press time, the search
for missing pieces of the recorder was continuing.
