March 23, 1994: The Green Ramp Disaster

March 23, 1994: The Green Ramp Disaster occurs, at Pope Air Force Base, outside Fayetteville in Spring Lake, North Carolina.

The base was named after First Lieutenant Harley Halbert Pope, who was killed on January 7, 1919, when the Curtiss JN-4 "Jenny" he was flying crashed into the Cape Fear River in North Carolina. It became part of the U.S. Army's Fort Bragg, named for someone it shouldn't have been named for: Braxton Bragg, a Confederate General from Warrenton, North Carolina. The base is home to one of the Army's most famous units: The 82nd Airborne Division, which specializes in parachute assault operations into hostile areas.

The "Green Ramp" is the large north-south parking ramp at the west end of Pope AFB's east-west runway, used by the Army to stage joint operations with the Air Force. Several buildings sit along its western edge, including Building 900, the building housing the Air Force operations group. A personnel shed, or "pax shed," sat next to Building 900, which the Army used to prepare troops for parachute drops.

A large grassy area, where troops could stage before drops, lay between the two buildings. Behind the area, several concrete mock-ups of the backs of Air Force cargo aircraft had been constructed, where troops could rehearse their drop procedures.

On the day of the accident, about 500 82nd Airborne paratroopers were in the pax shed, the concrete mock-ups or resting in the grassy area. While the jumpers prepared to board several C-130 Hercules and C-141 Starlifter aircraft parked on Green Ramp, the sky was filled with F-16 Fighting Falcon, A-10 Thunderbolt II, and C-130 aircraft conducting training.

Shortly after 1400 hours (2:00 PM, U.S. Eastern Time), a two-seat F-16D Fighting Falcon, with two crew (Captains Joseph Jacyno and Scott Salmon) on board, was conducting a simulated flameout approach when it collided with a C-130E Hercules.

The aircraft were on short final approach to Runway 23 at an altitude of about 300 feet above ground level. On impact, the F-16 pilot applied full afterburner to try to recover the aircraft, but it began to disintegrate, showering debris on the runway and a road that ran around it.

Both F-16 crew members ejected, but their aircraft, still on full afterburner, continued on an arc towards Green Ramp. At the same time, the C-130 crew took their aircraft away from the airfield, and checked to ensure it could safely land. While the C-130 crew knew they were most likely struck by the F-16, they had no idea how it happened or the extent of the damage. After performing their checks, the crew returned to Pope and landed on the debris-littered runway.

By the time the C-130 landed, the F-16 had hit Green Ramp heading west. The aircraft struck the ground in an empty parking place, between two C-130s with crews on board, preparing the aircraft for departure. The F-16's momentum carried the wreckage westward through the right wing of a C-141B Starlifter parked on the ramp. Fortunately, no one was on board the C-141B.

The wreckage of the F-16 punctured the fuel tanks in the C-141's right wing, causing a large fireball, which combined with the F-16 wreckage and continued on a path taking it between Building 900 and the pax shed, directly into the area where the mass of Army paratroopers were sitting and standing.

Paratroopers at the scene pulled troopers from the flames and the exploding 20-millimeter ammunition from the F-16. Despite their efforts, 23 men died, and more than 80 were injured. The death total rose to 24 when one severely burned paratrooper died more than 9 months later, on January 3, 1995.

The Air Force investigation identified "multiple causes" for the midair collision, faulting air traffic control for the "majority of errors". Although the F-16 pilot was partly to blame because he did not "see and avoid and stay well clear of the mishap C-130", as required by Air Force regulations, there were extenuating circumstances.

This remains the incident with the largest number of ground fatalities for an accidental crash of an aircraft on U.S. soil.

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March 23, 1994 was a Wednesday. This was also the day that Mexican Presidential candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio was assassinated. I have a separate entry for that event.

Baseball was in Spring Training. Football was out of season. There were 6 games in the NBA:

* The Chicago Bulls beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 99-87 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.

* The Atlanta Hawks beat the Charlotte Hornets, 100-92 at The Omni in Atlanta. Kevin Willis scored 32 points and grabbed 16 rebounds. Despite their proximity, Atlanta and Charlotte have never become an NBA rivalry.

* The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Dallas Mavericks, 112-109 at the Reunion Arena in Dallas. Doug Smith led all scorers on the night with 36 points.

* The Detroit Pistons beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 111-107 at The Palace in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Michigan.

* The Indiana Pacers beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 78-77 at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis.

* And the Orlando Magic beat the Utah Jazz, 98-93 at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.

There were 6 games in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers, who turned out to be Gretzky's last team, beat his 1st NHL team, the Edmonton Oilers, 5-3 at the Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton.

* The Toronto Maple Leafs and the Florida Panthers played to a tie, 1-1 at the Miami Arena.

* The Ottawa Senators beat the Detroit Red Wings, 5-4 at the Ottawa Civic Centre (now the TD Place Arena).

* The St. Louis Blues, for whom Gretzky played 18 games in 1996, beat the Buffalo Sabres, 3-2 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.

* The Winnipeg Jets beat the Montreal Canadiens, 3-1 at the Winnipeg Arena.

* And the Vancouver Canucks beat the Los Angeles Kings, 6-3 at The Forum, outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California. Despite the loss, Wayne Gretzky scored a goal for the Kings. It was the 802nd of his career, making him the NHL's all-time leader. I have a separate entry for that event.