Fateful B-52 flight revealed plane’s deadly weakness

By: Associated Press - Texarkana Gazette

• This February 1964 photo shows Air Force Capt. Gerald Adler. Adler survived the crash of a B-52 bomber 50 years ago in Maine. Adler, 81, who lives in Davis, Calif., was a navigator aboard the bomber and one of only two who survived the crash that took the lives of seven others.

• Gerald Adler displays an altimeter Jan. 11 taken from the wreckage of the B-52. Adler and Lt. Col. Dan Bulli had to wait for nearly 20 hours before being rescued from a crash site in Maine.

ELEPHANT MOUNTAIN, Maine—Flying low over snowy terrain on a Cold War training mission, Lt. Col. Dan Bulli's massive B-52 bomber hit turbulence that shook the plane so violently that he couldn't read the gauges. Pulling back on the yoke and pushing forward on the throttle, he tried to fly ou...

Published: 01/14/2013