into the accident area after the explosion to help the injured, also attributed Soldiers ran in to take West with S Sgt Michael T. Kelley and Mrs. Lisa One by one, their names were called. [4] Interv, Lt Col Iris J. Around 1410 an F-16D Fighting Falcon collided with a C-130 Hercules arrived to transport casualties. . He looked over his left shoulder in time to see the jet, broken in half and hurtling toward him as some in the formation yelled: Crash!, I took two steps and I was diving for the ground, and the fireball swept over me. "[37], Spc. said. assembled at Pope Air Force Base for training in the early afternoon. carried litters, whatever was needed." He and many others ran toward the fence at the end of Getentrepreneurial.com: Resources for Small Business Entrepreneurs in 2022. Dane County EMS Banquet Honors Survivors, Responders Involved In Cardiac Saves; On This Day In History: The First 911 Call Is Placed In 1968; With Safety and Fire Prevention For All. the blast, felt the extreme heat from the explosion and the debris falling on He was dead. He gave the ultimate sacrifice, his own life, said Sanchezs platoon leader, Lt. Ronald D. Walker. Burns covered 70 percent of his body. Honored for Heroism During Pope AFB Tragedy Last Year," Korus Monthly, "horribly cut and torn"; a few had no apparent injury but were just Joel Myers. They were fortunate that protection was . Several buildings sit along its western edge, including Building 900, the building housing the Air Force operations group. soldiers. There was a lot of looking at each other trying to figure out what it was.. The twenty-third of March 1994 was a fitting day for an airborne jump. Most did not. together they poured foam and water on the C-141 to keep its fuselage from A debris-filled fireball, estimated to be some 75-feet in diameter, tore through the waiting soldiers. The Green Ramp disasterwas a 1994 mid-air collision and subsequent ground collision at Pope Air Force Basein North Carolina. Joel Myers, was the engineer. one in flames. He tripped over ruck sacks and fell as a piece of the F-16 tumbled over him and the fireball washed his body in flames. reattach the severed leg.[19]. But in that darkness, soldiers and airmen exclled. His His "training took over," Debris struck Naeyaert on the back of the head and threw him, unconscious, up against the door. volkswagen" on the chalk line where he had been standing. Christopher D. Dunaway, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, Capt. I looked to my right and there was a man on fire.". The aircraft were on short final approach to runway 23 at an altitude of about 300 feet (90m) above ground level. seconds after he "heard a loud 'whoosh' from the other side of the berm," the hospital . at the level of the second mock door when he started running. recalled Kelley. Altfather's wife, Sgt. Gerald K. Bebber, chaplain of the 525th Military Intelligence Brigade, recalled the high-pitched screech of the jet at open throttle give way to a deep reverberating thud before the massive explosion. on the soldier and pulled off his smoldering BDU. The C-141B crew was preparing the aircraft for joint Army-Air Force operations; however, no Army troops besides the jumpmaster team had yet boarded it. On Wednesday, survivors gathered at a training discussion to reflect on the event. taking time to warn others, he perished in the fireball's wake. A later investigation stated that pilot error by the F-16 pilots also contributed to the mishap, but no disciplinary action was taken against the pilots. commander who had served with a special operations unit during the Gulf War. not sure if I dove the 5 feet or stepped it off, but somehow I managed to get Force Base clinic and later transported to Womack. ambulances from Cumberland, Moore, Hoke, and Harnett Counties stood by to move [2] Two months after the accident, only one paratrooper remained critical, while the others were either in satisfactory condition or convalescing at home. 2:09:43 Pope Tower to the C-130 (HITMAN31): HITMAN31 continue straight in make a low approach, wind one niner zero at one five traffic ah F-16 four mile. Families of the fallen, survivors and first responders all gathered for a memorial ceremony Friday to mark 25 years since the tragedy at Fort Bragg. was. hands in the process. ObserverTimes, 26 Mar 94, p. 4A. Then his thigh. Most of the key provisions are effective in the 2024-2025 timeframe . Some braced themselves behind metal containers that offered protections. "[35], Capt. airfield where aircraft are parked and does not include the paratroopers' Rescuers used drones and abseiled down a deep gorge looking for the last missing person from Nepal's worst air disaster in 30 years, in which at least 71 people died including small children and . National Preparedness Month: Special Needs Disaster Planning; National Preparedness Month: Creating Communication and Evacuation Plans Of the 500 paratroopers in various stages of preparing for jumps, most were crowded into a narrow corridor with containers on one side and a snack bar and mock planes on the other. . was the left one of a pair of C-141s parked there. As of 2022, this incident remains the largest loss of non-passenger life in the accidental crash of an aircraft on U.S. soil. Maj. Jeffery Bond, a survivor of the 1994 Green Ramp Disaster at Pope Air Force Base, N.C., speaks to attendees of a memorial ceremony at Fort Bragg, N.C. marking the 25th. [22] As quoted in Porter and Kasmussen, ``Heroes of Green Ramp," p. 4. Gerald K. Bebber, the 525th Military Intelligence Brigade chaplain, In the charred grass of Green Ramp, Clapp said time slowed. others came to him and put the flames out. Airborne Division, Maj. Gen. William M. Steele, said: It was soldiers saving soldiers. He stood up and saw thick black smoke, soldiers on fire, and people racing Luckily, the hospital was in the middle of a shift change and had double the staff on hand. in the area. It really was organized chaos, he said. Andrew J. Jones, A Company, 2nd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, Pfc. Despite Crash Losses, Leader Says," Fayetteville Observer-Times, 31 ground and as close to the concrete as I could. Brigade, to Chaplain, XVIII Airborne Corps, 12 Apr 94, sub: After-Action Report, Monday, survivors, their family members, and family of the fallen, reunited to commemorate the Green Ramp disaster and support the victims. I turned and ran from the flame, to just beyond the right end of the pack shed, where . dead. Intelligence Brigade's assistant S-3 (operations officer), had saved his wife's the day's manifest were the 82d Airborne Division's 504th Infantry, 505th After their On Monday, 20 years after a tragic accident claimed the lives of 24 members of the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, survivors, families and the military met to remember and mourn. down safely. of the hummer, his arms stretched out, almost like he was crucified." faith in their fellow soldiers that they would "not be left" and would . Waddington Sanchez, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, Staff Sgt. come his way." He yelled for everyone to get down or out of the way. A few climbed into a truck, which brought them to the hospital. Alan D. Miller, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, Staff Sgt. Other chaplains joined Bebber in praying and listening . which had already been good, reached new heights of camaraderie and Anything they could do to A new mutual aid program, devised by the Bragg's 44th Medical Brigade, who were training nearby; and others who happened More Then somebody ricocheting across the tarmac and sliding into one of the parked C-141 Daniel E. Price, B Company, 2nd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, Staff Sgt. Gus Siettas of the 2d Battalion, 504th Infantry, said: "If Here's how to trace it, Love for old houses turns Cary mom's casual hobby into a booming business, Moderna reveals how long its COVID-19 vaccine may last, Wake County school staffer dies after being hospitalized for COVID-19, College student found dead in sorority house parking lot at Iowa State University, DuPont, Chemours reach agreement over 'forever chemicals', 1 found dead on . Also included are descriptions of the accident from those soldiers and airmen who survived or witnessed the disaster. [29], Contingency planning also helped medical rescue teams respond with alacrity. No matter how hard you patted you couldnt get the fire out, he said. the last smoldering places." As soon as I could think this, a great roaring rush of fire entered my sight above and to the left of the pack shed. Jonathan C. Gibbs III, the 159th Aviation Group chaplain, had been He heard chunks of debris hitting the mock door and thought it Remembering the Green Ramp Disaster. The paratroopers used the mock-ups, each positioned on a It was also the worst peacetime loss of life suffered by the division since the end of World War II. mock-up directly to my front and in between me and the oncoming fireball. But there would be no jump that day. He Then Clapp, who was still on fire, was tackled by a fellow soldier in an attempt to put out the flames. The "pack Upon seeing a man on fire from head to toe, Iying in the middle of the road splinting and control of bleeding. When a Humvee arrived, they lifted the casualty onto a ply~vood . I recognized the sound from my Everywhere there were groups gathered around the injured trying to help them. shed" referred to in this memorandum is the pax shed. They were black, covered with soot. Hospital officials would later say that the response to the explosion was nothing short of extraordinary. offtheir helmets and were wearing battle dress uniforms (BDU) and boots. flames, but the soldier's fuel-soaked clothing kept reigniting. The fire blast crackled as it blasted in, and at its sides it curled outward as it went forward. I recognized the sound from my experience in battle in Desert Storm. something to do. Paratroopers at the scene pulled troopers from the flames and the exploding 20mm (0.8in) ammunition from the F-16. The calm, pleasant day was shattered in an instant, ruined by a crash, an explosion, confusion and a ball of fire. Jose Raices and 1st Lt. Adam Zaret. [17], Pfc. military and civilian fire chiefs, helped the fire departments to respond But Clapp, like many others, did not make it to safety. Accidents, Aviation. as he turned and looked, he saw "fire in the air and debris starting to some "TA-50"individual equipment-issued items, helmets, It was the worst peacetime loss of life suffered by the Division since the end of World War II. Richard Clapp recalled the loud noise and panic at then-Pope Air Force Base when two planes collided in the sky. Rich, the jumpmaster, was standing near a mock C-141 when he heard someone yell Its gonna crash. He turned, but could only see an orange glow, surrounded by smudgy black smoke., Despite hearing the word run, for some reason I determined that my only chance of survival lay not in running but finding something solid between myself and the oncoming fireball I think one of the compelling factors in my decision to dive behind the mock door was an over whelming understanding that there was no way in hell I could outrun the oncoming debris I also remember that whatever cover I found had to be within about 5 feet of where I was standing. The last thing he saw was the flagpole on the Womack lawn. The nose of the F-16D severed the C-130E's right elevator. Those who escaped injury Matthew J. Zegan, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, Spc. It When the alarm sounded, Pope Air Force Base Kenneth J. Golla, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, Staff Sgt. prejump exercises within twenty-four hours of taking off, Army paratroopers had His writing has appeared in The National Interest and other news media. "[39], One month before the accident the 2d Battalion, 504th Infantry, had to were on fire. it went forward. Rich and Godfrey gained It was a beautiful day; a paratrooper would tell the Observer two decades later. Gibbs also helped move the Instead, he lived through the Green Ramp disaster, one of the U.S. military's worst peacetime accidents. the smoke.[8]. were trying to get behind the third mock door but did not make it. Soldiers putting out fires on Hewas burned over 45 percent of his body in the Green Ramp accident, and 20 years later, he is still serving. They left Pope Air Force Base at 1 p.m. but didnt go far. [2] [3] We could have followed that F-16 onto Green Ramp, he said. situation, but they were never overcome by it." Those were among mock conditions emergency officials in Westmoreland County had to contend with Tuesday as part of an exercise in responding to a major ice storm. Fayetteville ObserverTimes, 24 Mar 94, p. 1A. That was important. DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) Ukraine's first lady scolded world leaders and corporate executives at the World Economic Forum's annual gathering in the snowy . Mark E. Fritsch, D Company, 2nd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, Pvt. MARBURY, Ala. An Alabama engine mechanic took refuge in a shipping container as a tornado from a violent storm decimated his shop and killed two of his neighbors along its destructive path across Alabama and Georgia. 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