CORPUS.CRASH.FINAL
Airman missing after Navy air crash kills one other
Publication Date : January 15, 1992
Searchers recovered one body and continued looking for a second missing airman after a midair collision between two Navy aircraft over Corpus Christi Bay, Coast Guard officials said.
The T-34 training aircraft, assigned to Training Squadron 27 at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, plummeted into the bay about 4:15 p.m. Tuesday after it clipped the wing of a Navy F-14 aircraft, said Lt. Leslie Hammes, spokeswoman for the air station. A student pilot and instructor were aboard the propeller-driven T-34, Hammes said.
The F-14 landed safely at the air station and its pilot was uninjured, she said. "We located one body about 4:30 p.m. and we're still searching for the second missing crewman," Coast Guard Petty Officer Joe Bynum said.
The dead pilot was identified late Tuesday as Navy Lt. Richard Michael McBride, 29, of Houston.
McBride had been a member of Training Squadron 27 since Nov. 1989, Hammes said.
The missing crewman was not identified.
The collision occurred when the pilot of the F-14 jet, from a reserve squadron in Miramar, Calif., notified officials there were indications his landing gear had not deployed properly, Hammes said.
The T-34, part of a training formation flight that was under way, was dispatched to visually check the F-14's landing gear.
The trainer's crew flew the plane close to the F-14 and confirmed the landing gear was deployed, Hammes said, but when it veered to leave it clipped one of its wings on the F-14.
The cause of the accident is under investigation, officials said.
McBride is survived by his wife, Laura McBride, who is expecting a second child. He is also survived by a daughter, Megan McBride; mother, Brenda Edinburgh of Missouri City; and father, Jon McBride of Lewisburg, W. Va., Hammes said. His father is a former NASA astronaut.
San Antonio Express-News
Page 17A
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NAVY.COLLISON
Safety requirements changed after collision of Navy planes
Associated Press
Publication Date : January 14, 1993
CORPUS CHRISTI The Naval Air Training Command has altered safety requirements in the wake of an investigation into a midair collision that killed two Navy pilots one year ago.
One new requirement that aircraft fly at 2,500 feet or higher when visually inspecting landing gear could have saved the pilots' lives if it had been in place at the time of the crash, according to a report on the investigation.
"In this accident, the aircraft should have been higher," Rear Adm. William McGowen, head of the training command headquartered at Corpus Christi Naval Air Station, wrote in the report.
Details of the report were published Wednesday.
Investigators also concluded, however, the cause of the accident probably never will be known for certain.
Ensign Graydon Webster and Lt. Richard McBride were killed Jan. 14, 1992, when their T-34 'Turbo Mentor' trainer aircraft and an F-14 'Tomcat' collided and tumbled into Corpus Christi Bay.
Before the crash, they had been flying at about 1,000 feet in close formation underneath the F-14 to check whether its landing gear had malfunctioned.
The report says it is likely the T-34 lost control while flying in the aerodynamic wake of the much larger, heavier F-14.
Investigators also stated communication between the two craft was "woefully inadequate" while they were flying in close formation and the crew of the F-14 pulled out of a turn without warning Webster and McBride.
Navy investigators determined at least one of the aviators tried to bail out. But the 1,000-foot altitude allowed too little time for an escape, investigators said.
T-34s have no ejection system. In the event of an emergency, students and instructors must open the canopy and jump from the craft.
In addition to the new altitude requirement, operating procedures in the training command now include data on hazards of flying different aircraft in close formation.
Lectures on aerodynamic interference have been added to the indoctrination classes that new student pilots must take. Instructor training includes lectures on the hazards of flying close formations with different aircraft, and the Naval Post Graduate School in Monterey, Calif., is conducting an analysis on how air acts around different airframes.
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In Honor of Lt. Richard McBride
Dear Rich,
Twenty years ago today, you followed Christ to the end of your life on earth when you laid down your own to help save the lives of your fellow naval airmen. I did not know you or your family then, but your life impacts mine in ways that neither of us could have dreamed. You see, I met your little brother the same year you entered Jordan, only, at 6’2″, he wasn’t exactly little anymore! A few years later, I married him and took your precious family to be my own.
I never met you, Rich, but you had a profound impact on your brother — I thank you for loving him and helping him grow into the man he is today. The Christmas before you died, you gave him a Bible in which you wrote:
We hope you find the keys to future success through these pages. All our Love…”Less than one month later, your brother used that Bible as he addressed the crowd at your service. A sticky note inside the Bible marks the place he used as a text that day and today. You see, your favorite Bible verse rippled through his heart and still impacts the way he lives his life today. Deuteronomy 29:29 was true that day just as it is true today:
The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.”I didn’t know you, Rich, but I feel as if I do know you when I think on that favorite verse of yours. I see that you revered God’s holiness and righteousness. I can tell that your daughter and then-yet-unborn son were vitally important to you. You viewed it your responsibility to share what God’s law revealed to you to your children.
Speaking of children…your daughter and your son grew up into beautiful people who love the Lord. Your gorgeous wife eventually remarried and added another daughter to the family. Your daughter’s inner beauty shines through her artistic endeavors — photography, painting, sketching, poetry, graphic design…she does it all with God-given talent.
And your son, who was born just a few months after you died, is studying biochemistry and is on track to follow his medical dreams. One day he’d like to serve as a missionary doctor. It’s a privilege to know and love them both. In a way, I learn a little about you through my interactions with this precious family you left behind.
The letters you wrote give me even more insight into your personality, and they also illustrate your love and concern for your family. I hope you don’t mind that I share a little of one of these letters here on my blog because I think your advice is applicable to all of us as we look ahead to the coming year.
Monday, 22 June
9:12 a.m.
I’ve been at sea now for some time and it has finally dawned on me that I have a younger brother who is about to embark on one of the great adventures of all time: your senior year in high school. I can’t help but be amazed at how swiftly time has passed as it seems like only last year that I was in your shoes. My, what a glorious, if not treacherous, time.
I suppose you are well into the summer by now and enjoying all that the season has to offer. You realize that I envy you as I sit on this floating piece of steel in the middle of the Indian Ocean. It would be heavenly to feel my toes dig into the sand and listen to the waves pound up on the beach again. Are you taking advantage of your windsurfer? I have a friend on board who windsurfs in Hawaii all the time. He’s a pretty radical character. He lives for those 25-30 knot trade winds. He’s offered to teach me how when we get back to Hawaii, so when you come over to see us we can go for it.
This cruise has been relatively uneventful thus far. We’ve spent a lot of time in Diego Garcia — a small island in the middle of the Indian Ocean which isn’t too bad considering we could have been out at sea during this time. I’ve managed to start getting into pretty good shape out here. I’ve been doing a lot of running, swimming, and lifting. I’m going to enter a few triathlons when I get back home. I thought I would take advantage of all the outdoor sports Hawaii has to offer. There’s also a 5 mile open ocean, rough water swim coming up that I plan on entering. I’ve managed to run three-four miles every other day followed by a 2000 meter swim (about 1.25 miles). It’s really relaxing when you get into it. Diego Garcia just had a 1 0K run last Saturday and I got 44th out of about 160 runners. I felt pretty good, though, because it was the first time I’d run hard since my knee operation, and it was my first 10K.Well, Rich, I want you to know that your brudda has taken up your fitness torch and is running a half marathon for Team Red, White and Blue tomorrow at the Louisiana Marathon Race Expo, in honor of your sacrifice. He will be carrying your flag in his backpack, so, in a way, you really will be behind him as he runs the race tomorrow.
I guess you’ve done some thinking about where you might want to go to college. Mom said that you aced your SAT which is super. I just want to make a plug about schools in general. The most important service you can do yourself is to follow your own desires and goals. Make sure that you don’t do something for anyone but yourself when it comes to college selection, field of study, etc.
There is nothing as disappointing as not enjoying where you are, or what you do. You’ll have to search your own heart and be honest with yourself, which may be not entirely comfortable, but you will benefit from it in the end. What is important is that you’ll have my support no matter what road you choose. And feel free to ask me anything about schools, etc. I’ve known people from the best schools and the worst schools, and have a few insights of my own.Well, I’ll close for now, but I promise to do better about writing in the future. Let me know what’s happening around the home front. And send me a picture if you can. You know that I’m behind you at all times, even though I’m far away a lot. Take care and be good. Support Mom and M. and Dad as much as possible. I love you!
Your “brudda,”
Rich
I believe you’re behind him as he runs the race for Christ…and your wisdom and love are behind him still today.
Thank you, Rich, for your sacrifice. I look forward to the day we will meet on the other side.
