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Daniel L Arnes, CMDCM
to remember
Black, Earl G., AEC USN(Ret).
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Contact Info
Last Address Chandler, AZ
Date of Passing May 11, 1975
Location of Interment Valley of the Sun Mortuary and Cemetery - Chandler, Arizona
MESA AIR CRASH KILLS SIX. Mesa, Ariz. (AP) -- Investigators were attempting today to determine the cause of a crash of a four-engine plane enroute to Canada which crashed killing all six men aboard. The lockheed constellation crashed about 8 miles after takeoff from Mesa , all four engines failed due to overheating and seized .
The green-striped aircraft barely missed a playground, hit a tree with a tree-house where children had just been playing at Sunshine Acres Children’s Home and belly-landed in open, rocky desert.
Witnesses said it exploded 4 or 5 times after it hit the ground. The Super Connie had been converted by Helitec Corp/Aircraft Specialties into a crop duster/fire fighter. It was fully loaded with 3,500 gallons of fuel for a ferry flight to Canada via Kansas City. The plane was seen trailing black smoke as it took off. The pilot declared an emergency and attempted to circle back to Falcon Field for an emergency landing on the same runway he had taken off from following (first) the failure of the left inboard engine (the prop was feathered already at this point), but he was too low. He lost power on all four engines. The airplane was engulfed in flames when it impacted and the fire extended far out in front of the ship. It is believed the pilot deliberately attempted to avoid going down in a large trailer park east of the airport.
A witness stated, “…I could see the plane clearly. It was about 75 feet up. I could see a man in the cockpit working and the motor on the left was on fire. The pilot kept the nose up and the tail hit the ground first then the whole plane exploded.”
Firemen at the scene stated that all 6 crewmen appeared to have survived the crash landing. At least one made it out of the wreck but could not escape the flames. Others died trying to get out of the front of the plane. The pilot was the only one still strapped into his seat, burned beyond recognition. One crewmember was curled up in a ball behind the melted cockpit after being unable to face the intense heat all around him.
Killed on board were the following crew members:
Alan Moseley, pilot, of Litchfield Park, Arizona
Harold Julien, co-pilot, of Tempe, Arizona
Charles Lynn Jr., flight engineer, of Long Beach, California
Basil Baker, mechanic, of Peoria, Arizona ***Earl Black, mechanic, of Chandler, Arizona***
Sam Frasier, alternate co-pilot, of Glendale, Arizona
Vietnam War/Counteroffensive Phase VII Campaign (70-71)
From Month/Year
July / 1970
To Month/Year
June / 1971
Description This Campaign was from 1 July 1970 to 30 June 1971. In July the Vietnamese Navy assumed sole responsibility f or the Ready Deck operation, which was given a Tran Hung Dao designator like the other former SEALORDS areas. Also in July, the U.S. Navy ceased its combat activity on I Corp's Cua Viet and Hue Rivers. The Americans then transferred the last combatant vessels of Task Force Clearwater to the Vietnamese. A final turnover of river craft at the end of 1970 enabled the Vietnamese Navy to take charge of the Search Turn, Barrier Reef, and Breezy Cove efforts deep in the Mekong Delta. Except for continued support by HAL-3 and VAL-4 aircraft and SEAL detachments, the U.S. Navy's role in the SEALORDS campaign ended in April 1971 when Solid Anchor (previously Sea Float and now based ashore at Nam Can) became a Vietnamese responsibility.
The Vietnamese Navy, which grew from 18,000 men in the fall of 1968 to 32,000 men at the end of 1970, instituted organizational changes to accommodate the new personnel, material, and operational responsibilities. The Vietnamese grouped their riverine assault craft in riverine assault interdiction divisions (RAID) and their PBRs into river interdiction divisions (RID) and river patrol groups (RPG). They also augmented the existing RAGs and coastal groups, the latter now consolidated into 20 units for lack of sufficient patrol junks.
This dramatic change in the nature of the allied war effort reflected the rapid but measured withdrawal from South Vietnam of U.S. naval forces. NAVFORV strength dropped from a peak of 38,083 personnel in September 1968 to 16,757 at the end of 1970. As Admiral Zumwalt transferred resources to the Vietnamese Navy, he disestablished U.S. naval commands and airlifted personnel home. With the redeployment of the Army's 9th Infantry Division and the turnover of 64 riverine assault craft in June 1969, the joint Mobile Riverine Force halted operations. When the Riverine Assault Force (Task Force 117) stood down on 25 August 1969, it became the first major naval command deactivated in Vietnam. By December 1970, COMNAVFORV had transferred to Vietnam the remaining river combatant craft in his command, which included 293 PBRs and 224 riverine assault craft. That month, the River Patrol Force was disestablished and the Task Force 116 designator reassigned to Commander Delta Naval Forces, a new headquarters controlling SEAL and naval aircraft units still in-country.
