Mayday Over Wichita: The Worst Military Aviation Disaster in Kansas History

by D. W. Carter

Overview

On the cold Saturday morning of January 16, 1965, a U.S. Air Force KC-135 tanker carrying thirty-one thousand gallons of jet fuel crashed into a congested African American neighborhood in Wichita, Kansas. When the fire and destruction finally subsided, forty-seven people—mostly African American children—were dead or injured, homes were completely destroyed and numerous families were splintered. As shocking as it may sound, the event was seemingly omitted from the historical record for nearly fifty years. Now, historian D. W. Carter examines the myths and realities of the crash while providing new insights about the horrific four-minute flight that forever changed the history of Kansas.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781626190528
Publisher:	Arcadia Publishing SC
Publication date:	08/20/2013
Pages:	160
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

D. W. Carter is a historian, author and educator in Kansas, specializing in military and social history. Carter first arrived in Wichita when he was stationed at McConnell Air Force Base in 2003. Carter considers himself a transplant Kansan and currently resides in Topeka.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements 7

1 Seven Men 9

2 A Routine Sortie 17

3 Impact 22

4 Fire All Around 27

5 Going into Hell 31

6 The KC-135 42

7 Inside the Cockpit 52

8 Recovering Victims 57

9 Picking Up the Pieces 63

10 Racial Barriers in Recovery 72

11 A Divided City and Country 76

12 Why It Crashed: The Rumors 86

13 Why It Crashed: The Report 96

14 A Subtle Killer 106

15 The Settlement Process 112

16 Final Settlements 117

17 The Long-Awaited Memorial 122

Epilogue 129

Notes 133

Bibliography 151

Index 157

About the Author 159