Franklin Dale Howard

Preferred Name: Frank
Nickname/Call Sign: Lucky
Date of Birth: May 7, 1933
Highest Military Grade: 0-5 – Lieutenant Colonel
Hometown: Venice, IL
Headed West Date: November 9, 2010

From TAC ATTACK, JULY 1973, VOL. 13, NO. 7

Second Lieutenant Joseph G. Broker and Lieutenant Colonel Franklin D. Howard, 175th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Joe Foss Field, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, have been selected for the Tactical Air Command Aircrewmen of Distinction Award for May 1973.

Lieutenant Broker was number two in a flight of four F-100s led by Lt Col Howard. The flight was scheduled as a routine air-to-ground range mission. Shortly after level off at FL 190, about 30 miles south of Sioux City, Iowa, Lt Broker’s aircraft experienced a severe compressor stall followed by two less severe stalls. EGT was excessively high, so Lt Broker retarded the throttle. Lt Col Howard, as flight lead, was notified of the situation, immediately declared an emergency, and turned the flight back toward Sioux City.

Passing 15,000 feet, Lt Broker noted engine RPM at 77 percent and an EGT of 600 degrees. He flew a precautionary landing pattern with Lt Col Howard flying wing. The aircraft was configured for landing while passing through 7500 feet on downwind. Due to a strong headwind, altitude loss on base leg was more than desired.

Lt Col Howard called for the flaps to be raised to one-half. When he saw that he wasn’t going to make the runway, Lt Broker advanced power to full military, with no response. Lt Col Howard then advised Lt Broker to raise the landing gear. External stores were retained because of the densely populated area. When Lt Broker saw that he had the runway made, he lowered the gear and made a heavyweight touchdown at 190 knots. The drag chute was deployed normally, and the rollout was uneventful.

Preliminary investigation revealed that all turbine wheels were badly burned and the bucket tips were destroyed.

Both Lieutenant Broker and Lieutenant Colonel Howard demonstrated high degrees of flying skill and judgment in their handling of this serious emergency.

Their combined efforts transformed a potential disaster into a safe landing and certainly qualifies both pilots as Tactical Air Command Aircrewmen of Distinction.