Bacon, Samuel K., Jr. – KWF

“History of the flight from the official accident report: A flight of six F-100 Super Sabre jet aircraft took off on a routine training mission from George AFB at approximately 1300 hours for Webb AFB, Texas, and return to George AFB on 25 July 1957.

Pilot 1st Lieutenant Samuel Bacon, was flying in F-100C, serial number 54-2090. Near El Paso Texas it was noticed that Lt. Bacon had taken a position high and in trail of his wingman. Lt. Bacon was then heard to say something to the effect that he was “getting out”.

When queried by other flight members, he negated his previous statement, saying he was alright and in the clear at 7,000 feet. He then called and said he thought his aircraft was on fire, then denied that and declared that his Heat and Vent Overheat warning light as on and there were fumes in the cockpit. Lt. Bacon was then directed to select the RAM OFF- PRESSURE OFF position on his cockpit pressurization selector and asked, “How do your gauges read?” Lt. Bacon stated that the warning light had gone out and the gauges “read O.K.” Lt. Bacon was advised to set a course to the Wink TX radio waypoint and climb to 3,000 feet to rendezvous at Wink TX.

The flight, minus Lt. Bacon, proceeded to Wink TX waypoint. Lt. Bacon then apparently flew by mistake to Carlsbad, NM (about 75 miles from Wink TX). The flight was then instructed to select UHF channel #10 for Ground-Controlled Interception (GCI). The GCI site established radar contact with all the aircraft and vectored Lt. Bacon to a rendezvous with the others at Wink, 15 to 20 minutes after he had become lost.

The flight then proceeded to Webb AFB under VFR conditions and GCI control. A formation of F-100C Super Sabres from the 434 FBS 479 FBW George AFB, USAF photo After landing at Webb AFB, the flight leader received a message advising them to return to George AFB as soon as possible. During the layover Lt. Bacon held a lengthy telephone conversation with a friend and was visited at the flight line by two other friends and their wives, identities unknown. Also during the turn-around time at Webb AFB, the flight leader talked with Lt. Bacon about his losing the flight previously.

Lt. Bacon said he had simply lost sight of the leader, when he looked at his instruments, his attitude Gyro was indicating a 45 degree climbing turn to the right, and he thought his instruments were inoperative. During his attempts to right the aircraft, he said, the airspeed dropped to 110 knots then built up to Mach 1, just prior to pull-out. The flight leader asked him if he had been in a spin, to which Lt. Bacon replied he wasn’t sure what maneuver he had done.

Some of the flight members noted that Lt. Bacon appeared not to be too well. He assured them he was alright and felt well enough to fly. He had gone to the Flight Surgeon at 0730 hours that morning, complaining of a sore throat and a low down cough. The doctor gave Lt. Bacon APC’s (APC – Aspirin, phenacetin, and caffeine) and he was told to gargle and get some rest. The doctor cautioned him against prolonged breathing of 100 % oxygen, as this may cause symptoms of “the chokes” because of the dryness. Formal grounding was never considered.

After determining that each aircraft had sufficient oxygen (all had more than three liters), the flight leader briefed all the pilots for the return flight to George AFB. Flight positions were the same as on the previous leg. The briefing included basic instrument flying, night flying, night formation, vertigo, hypoxia, lost flight procedure, lost wingman procedure, loss of radio, loss of flight instruments, emergency airfields en-route, weather en-route, emergency GCI procedures and the flight profile. Lt. Bacon was further briefed on the relative position he should maintain during the return flight. The flight was to consist of two elements of three aircraft each, with a separation of approximately one minute between elements.

All flight members had in their possession flight logs and maps covering the route, which was the reciprocal of the previous route. The entire return flight was to be at one thousand feet “on top”. The weather en-route included scattered thunderstorms with heavy turbulence and hail. It was also reported that the maximum cloud tops were at 49,000 feet with heavy icing at 14,000 to 25,000 feet in the thunderstorms. The flight took off at 2041 and climbed to 35,000 feet, then to 42,000 feet, then to 43,000 feet in order to remain 1,000 feet “on top”. While approaching El Paso TX Lt. Bacon’s wingmen maintained “fairly close formation” for approximately five minutes, but then Lt. Bacon entered a steep bank toward the element leader and crossed under his aircraft.

At about this time he called that he was crossing and re-crossed to his original position. The wingman could “Think of no apparent reason for this maneuver.” Subsequently, Lt. Bacon’s formation position varied excessively. F-100C Super Sabres of the 479th Fighter Day Wing, George AFB, CA, USAF photo As the cloud tops were becoming lower, the flight leader called his element to “close in,” so as to descend to a lower altitude. He then repeated the order without response from Lt. Bacon. Immediately there-after Lt. Bacon’s aircraft was observed dropping slowly out of sight and into the cloud tops and Lt. Bacon was heard to say that he had lost sight of the flight. Lt. Bacon was then told the heading, altitude and airspeed of the element while the flight began a slow descent to 40,000 feet, remaining 1,000 feet “on top”. Lt. Bacon acknowledged the instructions to maintain his heading and to descent to 40,000 feet.

As the cloud tops continued to lower, the flight descended to 38,000 feet, also acknowledged by Lt. Bacon. Approximately five minutes east of Tucson AZ, two aircraft engaged afterburners to assist Lt. Bacon in establishing visual contact, but without success. The heading, altitude and airspeed information was again transmitted and Lt. Bacon was advised to notify the flight when he had a compass swing on Tucson Radio. Lieutenant Bacon acknowledged the radio call. At 2043 hours Lt. Bacon called that he had a compass swing on Tucson. Lt. Bacon was then instructed to turn to a heading of 284 degrees for Gila Bend AZ Radio, and Lt. Bacon acknowledged.

That was the last transmission heard from Lt. Bacon. F-100C Super Sabre, USAF photo courtesy F-100.org A radar search was immediately conducted seventy miles in front of and behind the flight of jets using both height and search radar, but contact could not be established with Lt. Bacon’s aircraft. There being nothing further the flight could do, they proceeded to George AFB and landed at approximately 2135 hours.

First Lieutenant Samuel K. Bacon Jr. was lost. Approximately 200 planes were involved in the daily search for the lost jet for almost a month. During the search, telegrams, telephone calls, and thousands of letters were received by the family from all parts of the world. They expressed the theme: “We are praying for Lt. Bacon’s safety.” There was a front page article in the LA Times about how the family offered a $2500 reward for information about him.

The jet crash site was finally located on August 20th after 28 days of searching. It had crashed on the western slope of the Egan Mountain Range about 10 miles west of the town of Cherry Creek and about 40 miles NNW of Ely, NV. The pilot was found in the burned out cockpit deceased. Officially the primary cause of the accident was undetermined.”(1)

“The young pilot, 1st Lt. Samuel Bacon, was 28 years old at the time. He was a graduate of Brigham Young University and was married with a six month old daughter. He also had a brother and two sisters.” (1)

Source: (1) From: The Legend of Airplane Canyon Story, By Dave Trojan, davidtrojan@earthlink.net July 2015