Wood of Indian Springs, who witnessed the crash as he drove along U.S. 95. The Air Force said that before yesterday the Thunderbirds had lost 15 air crew members since the air show program started in June, 1953. Aaron Paul; Jesse Plemons; Robert Forster; Scott MacArthur; Scott Shepherd; Charles Baker; Matthew Jones; Crew. Immediately after takeoff, Stricklin attempted a \"Split S\" maneuver (which he had successfully performed over 200 times) based on an incorrect mean-sea-level elevation of the airfield, 1,100 ft (340 m) higher than the home base at Nellis. The pilots were practicing the four-plane line abreast loop, in which the aircraft climb in side-by-side formation several thousand feet, pull over in a slow, inside loop, and descend at more . The plane returned to flight just last year after an extensive rehab. U.S. Drone Lost Over Tripoli The Day After Italy Lost a Predator B in Libya: New Jamming Capability Deployed? The Thunderbirds' "Diamond Crash" At Indian Springs Auxiliary Air Base, Nevada. Maj. Stephen Del Bagno of Valencia, California, was a slot pilot with the Thunderbirds who flew the team's No. Marine CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter crashed Tuesday, April 4: Marine helicopter crashes, killing all four aboard. Eyewitnesses said a giant ball of flame shot into the sky after the four planes dove into the ground one after the other only yards apart at 1:43 p.m. EST. Box 378 Red Hook, New York 12571 United States. Samuel E. Waters was that his image, and the similar images of men, fighter pilots, like him shaped my impression of what a real man truly was. Officials did not disclose the type of aircraft Schultz had been piloting. Every September, the South Oxfordshire market town of Wallingford remembers a display of heroic Second World War airmanship that unfolded there in 1944. COCOA BEACH, Florida -- A restored World War II dive bomber made an emergency landing at a beach in Florida. The following Idaho Statesman story was published Sept. 15, 2003. October 9, 1958: 19 people are killed when the team's cargo plane crashes, making it the worst accident in Thunderbird history. The pilot was Capt . Especially during this era in the Thunderchiefs history, it was best to stick to observations that acknowledged its curvaceous, needle-nosed fuselage, artfully shaped wings that leave one with the visual impression of speed, and its remarkable performance. The 1982 Diamond Crash was the worst operational accident to befall the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds Air Demonstration Team involving show aircraft. var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); On Oct 9, 1958 happened the worst accident in the history of the team. Following their leader to the end, all four planes plowed in the ground. One of seven survivors of Northern Thunderbird Air flight. Barrett is the world leader in long-range, large-caliber, precision rifle design and manufacturing. Through air shows and flyovers, they aim to excite and inspire. COCOA BEACH, Florida -- A restored World War II dive bomber made an emergency landing at a beach in Florida. The photograph above gives an impression of how close the town came to experiencing a large-scale catastrophe. General crash help and suggestions. According to the Dayton Daily News, stunt walker Jane Wicker's . Luckily, Smith and Staff Sgt Dwight Roberts, 31, the crew chief riding tandem behind him, both ejected from the plane. The pilot was able to eject before that crash. In 1981 a fatal accident involving the Air Force Thunderbirds took the life of Lt. Col. David L. Smith. Thunderbird pilot Capt. Posted: April 21, 2011. Andrew. One Person Rescued, 2 Missing After New Orleans Plane Crash. Perhaps the most significant inscription is on the one displayed at Maxwell AFB in Alabama. The USAF Air Demonstration Squadron ("Thunderbirds") is the air demonstration squadron of the United States Air Force (USAF). Indeed, when British Airways flight 5390 from Birmingham to Malaga lost its windscreen in June 1990, causing its captain to be partially sucked from the aircraft, debris was found just down the road from Wallingford, in the village of Cholsey. Its luxurious interior contains a comfortable lounge in each of its two main wings; its cargo area includes a vehicle garage (seen in The Impostors); and its cockpit is located, unconventionally, in the tail fin. The pilot was performing the "Maximum Climb and Split S on Takeoff' maneuver when the mishap occurred. *Lighting a path to truth* Former Navy JAG Worldwide U.S. Military Defense. The pilot, John . It did not, however, deliver great survivability during this era. 2023 The SOFREP Media Group. But it would get worse. Gen. Jeannie Leavitt, commander of the 57th Wing at Nellis AFB, said in a statement. ", George LaPointe, a construction worker, watched the jets disappear behind tree tops, "They didn't come back up," he said. The Thunderchief looked the part of a supersonic fighter. What aviation news will you check out next? "Just as they pulled out of the dive, all four of them hit the ground," he said. U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds were conducting a flypast of . 'The plane got about 30 to 40 feet off the ground and then came back down,' said Mike Barth, deputy commissioner at Burke, who witnessed the crash. He was apparently referring to the Air Florida crash into the Potomac River and a Washington subway accident last Wednesday and the killing of an American attache in Paris today. Photo: The captain of the BA flight survived the incident, which took place just a few miles from Wallingford. Mountain Home airfield elevation is 2,996 feet above Mean Sea Level (MSL). Photo: Thunderbird: How Heroic Flying Saved A UK Town From A Plane Crash In 1944, RCAF 426 'Thunderbird' Squadron Association, Over 9 Million Passengers Flew To Mexico In January, 18 Destinations: AirAsia X's Summer Operations From Kuala Lumpur, Venezuela's Conviasa Announces New Destination In Syria, Tom Stuker: The Story Of The World's Most Frequent Flyer, How The Shuttle Carrier Was Butchered For Parts For NASA's Boeing 747 'SOFIA' Jet, A Brief Guide To The Airbus A320 Family's Main Variants. With robust designs and vintage classic style, discover the heritage of military timepieces today! "They were going full tilt, really screaming, and at the time I thought they were too low.". Thunderbird updates are regularly released and a number of the fixes in them are crash related. Make sure you are using the latest version. [2] In the 29-year history of the Thunderbirds, Air Force pilots have performed in 2,455 air shows before an estimated 153 million spectators. The low altitude at which the engine failure occurred put the Halifax on a collision course with the sleepy market town of Wallingford. The four pilots died instantly: Major Norm Lowry, III, leader, 37, of Radford, Virginia; Captain Willie Mays, left wing, 31, of Ripley, Tennessee; Captain Joseph "Pete" Peterson, right wing, 32, of Tuskegee, Alabama; and Captain Mark E. Melancon, slot, 31, of Dallas, Texas. IE 11 is not supported. The jets crashed almost simultaneously with what near-by Indian Springs residents described as an earthquake-like explosion that looked like a napalm bomb. On September 9th, 1944, one of the squadron's Halifax bombers set out to perform a raid over Le Havre, on the north coast of France. The USAF Thunderbirds are currently thefastest flying (multiple jet) flight demonstration team in the world and based at Nellis AFB in Las Vegas, Nevada. Del Bagno, of Valencia, California, was known as a slot pilot who flew the team's No. The town grew in the postwar period, and two of its new roads were named after the young men. As the jet continued to dive, it appeared to have an engine failure . I just think that airshows give more people more of an . Elsewhere in Oxfordshire, the county's London Oxford Airport (then known as RAF Kidlington) was the planned destination of pioneering aviator Amy Johnson's last flight in January 1941. The Thunderbirds said in a statement that the team's participation this weekend at an expo at the March Air Reserve Base in Southern California had been canceled. There are a remarkable number of great American stories to be told on Memorial Day. ''They did not collide with each other,'' he said. Samuel E. Waters and Lt. Karl W. Richter, but for every service person we remember on Memorial Day in the U.S. who gave their lives for freedom and security. Having narrowly missed Wallingford's residential areas, the stricken plane crashed in . Four Air Force Thunderbird aerobatic jets failed to pull out of a loop and slammed into the Nevada desert outside Las Vegas yesterday, killing all four pilots in the worst disaster of its kind. (function() { Despite its proximity, the plane's state meant that it couldn't reach the nearby base at RAF Benson. They didn't pull up fast enough. The US ends its major airlift to Israel. He managed to bring the plane down without getting hurt. The worthy subject of statues in town squares or the name of a new high school. On April 21, 1962, an Air Force F102 airplane - part of a squadron performing at opening day ceremonies for the Seattle World's Fair -- crashes into two homes in a Mountlake Terrace neighborhood (now part of Shoreline.) Based in Norwich, UK. It is already difficult to sort through accurate records about Captain Samuel E. Waters. Christian Murdock/The Gazette via AP, Pool. They were supposed to pull out of the loop 100 to 200 feet above the ground. I was saying to myself pull up, pull up, and that was it, John Avery said. The highly trained pilots perform aerobatic formations and maneuvers during military ceremonies. Technical Sergeant Alfred R. King filmed the accident from the ground. Four jets fr om an Air Force stunt team crashed today, one after another, into t he rugged Nevada desert and exploded in flames, killing all four pilo ts. As Wallingford came to terms with the crash, there was little doubt that the brave sacrifices of Andrew and Wilding prevented a greater catastrophe on September 9th, 1944. This photo provided by The National Transportation Safety Board shows NTSB investigators documenting the wreckage of a Pilatus PC-12 airplane at the crash site in Dayton, Nev., on Sunday, Feb. 26 . Interestingly enough, the situation involving Andrew and Wilding's stricken Halifax isn't the only example of an aircraft finding itself in peril over South Oxfordshire. Images that shaped my boyhood impression of what it means to be a hero. See the article in its original context from. The F-105 Thunderchief itself was an ambitious aircraft. While it is a somber holiday it is also a celebration of heroes. It wasnt until we were walking off the base, I said to my wife Im actually trembling. . The Thunderbirds pilot killed in a fighter jet crash in central Nevada was an experienced aviator who had logged more than 3,500 flight hours, the Air Force said Thursday. The worst previous disaster for military aerobatics was in July, 1973, in Lakehurst, N.J., when two Navy pilots and a crewman were killed practicing for a show. In all, a staggering 382 Thunderchiefs were lost in Vietnam, nearly half the total number that was built. The investigation found that there was insufficient back pressure on the control stick of Thunderbird #1 during the loop. Another crew member was injured when the plane hit a house in the city of Kamloops . 1:08. Even more so than the F-104 Starfighter, the F-105 Thunderchief was what most Americans visualized when they heard the term Jet Fighter in the 1960s. The crash at the . Thunderbirds Crash (GAO/NSIAD-84-153) This is in response to your June 12, 1984, letter requesting an investigation of the facts surrounding the partial videotape erasure of the Air Force Thunderbirds crash. A keen amateur photographer, he also recently reached the milestone of flying his 100th sector as a passenger. He survived with only minor injuries and no one on the ground was injured, but the $20 million aircraft was completely destroyed. He was a hero. Barrett products are used by civilians, sport shooters, law enforcement agencies, the United States military, and more than 75 State Department-approved countries around the world. Indian Springs also was the site of a crash of a C-130 cargo plane last September, unrelated to Thunderbird training, in which seven men died and 61 survived in a joint Army-Air Force night training mission. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. -- An Air Force Thunderbird jet crashed south of Colorado Springs just after a flyover for a graduation of Air Force Academy . The results were catastrophic. Fireflash is a hypersonic airliner, capable of travelling at six times the speed of sound. See Updating Thunderbird for details. The team would convert to the Northrop T-38A Talon for the 1974 show season. A member of the Air Force Thunderbirds flies over Daytona International Speedway during the Daytona 500 on Feb. 18. Updated on: June 2, 2016 / 5:40 PM / CBS/AP. . According to the RCAF 426 'Thunderbird' Squadron Association, it had a crew of seven airmen onboard, of which five came from Canada. The pilot, Capt. 03/2/2023 - 9:56 am | View Link; Man charged with criminal negligence, arson in Ottawa explosion Divers identified the 1996 Ford Thunderbird's license plate . The planes a pparently failed to turn up out of the loop soon enough to avoid impact, witnesses said. The accident report was released later. ''They didn't pull up fast enough, I couldn't believe they crashed. [4] However, the Air Force concluded that the crash was due to a jammed stabilizer on the lead jet. We will miss him greatly; hell always be part of the team. One home is empty - its owners are on vacation -- but the second home's occupants are killed instantly. Both the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating why the engine malfunctioned. The pilots were practicing a maneuver in which their T-38 training jets, flying one behind the other in a single line, swoop low to the ground, then roll up into a loop, according to a spokesman for the Thunderbirds. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. The idea is it'll be an original take on Thunderbirds taking inspiration from each era. . Tom Demerly served in an intelligence gathering unit as a member of the U.S. Army and Michigan National Guard. A total of 21 Thunderbirds pilots have died. The four "Diamond" aircraft, Thunderbirds #1, 2, 3, and 4 (tail numbers 68-8156, 8175, 8176 & 8184), were training for an air show at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona. Its base at the time appears to have been Yorkshire's RAF Linton-on-Ouse. His footage would help determine the cause for the AFR 127-4[8](Air Force Regulation covering "Investigating and Reporting US Air Force Mishaps") accident investigation. U.S. Air Force Air Demonstration Squadron Slot Pilot Thunderbird 4, Maj. Stephen Del Bagno, was killed when his F-16 Fighting Falcon crashed over the Nevada Test and Training Range April 4, 2018. https://t.co/18AUe8PhMu, "We are mourning the loss of Major Del Bagno," Brig. Their supreme sacrifice and conspicuous gallantry almost certainly saved the lives of many of the town's inhabitants.". It is a day when we recalibrate what it means to be an American. The team's escorting cargo plane C-123D crashed killing all 19 peoples from the Thunderbirds support staff. "It happened so fast I couldn't tell you if one hit sooner. In September, a U.S. Air Force pilot, Lt. Col. Eric Schultz, died of injuries after a crash on the training range at Nellis, about 100 miles northwest of the base. Nonetheless, the 1982 season was cancelled for the Thunderbirds while they rebuilt the team. [6], "At the speed they were going when they came out of the loop, I just thought, "That's the end of that for them fellows,'" said W. G. Wood of Indian Springs, who witnessed the crash as he drove along 95. Make sure to use the latest version of Thunderbird. In Washington, D.C., a White House spokesman said President Reagan's eyes ''filled with tears'' when he was informed of the crash. In the beginning of 1960's for the first time on the body of F-100C was painted the well-known silhouette of a thunderbird. At New Orleans, the USAF Thunderbirds fly their 518th and last show in the McDonnell Douglas F-4E Phantom II. [9], On 2 April 1984, at the direction of Gen. Wilbur Creech, Commanding General, USAF Tactical Air Command, all copies of the crash videotape were destroyed, with Creech himself erasing the final crash segment of the master tape. The plane crashed in the field below the dark rectangle terrain in the black and white photo. According to three websites and social media posts, Capt. The Thunderbirds perform for people all around the world to display the pride, precision and professionalism the U.S. Air Force represents. He had successfully bombed his target and was exiting the area when his aircraft was struck by an SA-2 Guideline surface-to-air missile (SAM). Support Veteran Journalism . When a fully-loaded Handley Page Halifax bomber suffered an engine fire in flight, two of its crew members stayed onboard to guide the stricken aircraft away from the town. "It happened so fast I couldn't tell you if one hit sooner. The crash opened public debate on such federally-funded aerial exhibition teams, Some argued that groups like the Thunderbirds were "hot-shot stunt pilots" who were spending too much of the taxpayers' dollars, and risking lives in the process. At the time of the destruction, the families of the pilots and NBC had already demanded access to the tapes as part of a suit against Northrop and a FOIA request, respectively. It was the wrong altitude. At only 23 years old and still a First Lieutenant, Richter was the youngest USAF combat pilot to shoot down an enemy aircraft in the Vietnam conflict at the time. This is a digitized version of an article from The Timess print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. The Air Force on Tuesday released . 19 Sep 2011 | Posted by Member 26835147. ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? The pilot ejected ad was medically evaluated. Below the chiseled figure of F-105 Thunderchief fighter pilot Lt. Karl W. Richter the Biblical inscription of Isaiah 6:8 reads: Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Heart-stopping moment Air Force Thunderbird has to take evasive action amid fears of a midair crash during flyby over Southern California. Meanwhile, in a selfless display of airmanship, Andrew and Wilding's last actions guided the plane away from the town. A permanent memorial to Andrew and Wilding stands at the corner of the roads which bear their names. But also in fairness, the F-105 Thunderchief shouldered the majority of the USAFs burden of bombing heavily defended targets in North Vietnam. In this "line abreast" loop, three of the four pilots key their moves to those of the plane to the left. Joseph Peterson, 32, of Tuskegee, Ala., and Capt. We lost a friend yesterday. The farthest left plane is the leader, meaning the other three are supposed to do exactly what it does. Chiseled features, serious countenance, heroic look, stony glare. . In the first five years of the American involvement in the air war over Vietnam, the F-105 Thunderchief flew 70% of all attack missions. Richter learned to fly the F-105 Thunderchief at Nellis AFB, Nevada. Some of the more famous acts included the Air Force Thunderbirds, the Navy's Blue Angels, and the Army's Golden Knights parachute team. May 9, 1964: Captain Eugene J. Devlin killed during a three-plane formation pass. Once he arrived in Thailand he was assigned to the 421stTactical Fighter Squadron (TFS) of the 388thTactical Fighter Wing (TFW) at Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base, a hub of F-105 action over Southeast Asia. The plane crashed around 10:30 a.m. during . >> MORE: NewsCenter 7 had rare access to Thunderbirds just weeks . The pictures in this post were taken at the end of January at Ahmed al Jaber airbase, in Kuwait, where A-10 Thunderbolt []. Loren Conaway, who lives in a mobile home at Indian Springs and who saw the crash, said: ''I saw a huge column of black smoke going up. A U.S. drone was lost over Tripoli, Libya, on [], The program is said to improve situational awareness and aircraft survivability during missions in support of Special Operation Forces. Lt. Richter flew his first F-105 Thunderchief combat mission only four days after arriving in Southeast Asia. Marc Auth of Boise said at first he didnt realize the jet was about to hit the ground. Willie Mays, 31, of Ripley, Tenn., flying left wing; Capt. "They were going full tilt, really screaming, and at the time I thought they were too low. They tour in the USA and Worldwide performing - close formation flying, a signature diamond configuration, and a number of solo and group combinations. THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING VETERAN JOURNALISM - JOIN SOFREP+ , PO Box 1077 MURFREESBORO, Tennessee 37133 United States, P.O. The deadliest Thunderbird accident was the crash of a team support C-123B Provider, 55-4521, en route from Hill AFB, Utah to McChord AFB, Washington, on 10 October 1958.The plane flew through a flock of birds and crashed into a hillside six miles (10 km) east of Payette, Idaho, just before 6:30 p.m., killing all five flight crew and 14 maintenance personnel on board. An icon. Gene Devlin in aircraft 57-5801. . Featured image ofMountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho Capt. The four planes went into the loop in a row, wingtip to wingtip, and zoomed toward the earth at about 400 miles an hour. On September 8, 1981, the commander of the Thunderbirds since 1979, Lt. Col. David L. Smith, 40, was taking off in his T-38 Talon when, shortly after departure from Burke Lakefront Airport, it ingestedseveral seagulls, stalling the engines. Nicknamed 'Thunderbird,' the motto of the squadron, which is active today, is "on wings of fire.". The Thunderbird F-105 crash killed USAF Capt. Demerly is an experienced parachutist, holds advanced SCUBA certifications, has climbed the highest mountains on three continents and visited all seven continents and has flown several types of light aircraft. The Air Force's Thunderbirds headlined the Cocoa Beach Air Show Saturday when the TBM . Realistically, far too many to tell in a single day. But Smith's ejector seat chute did not have time to open, and he impacted on rocks next to the lake and rolled into the water, killing him instantly. Major Joe Howard died in a crash at an airshow in Virginia after his plane suffered structural failure. In a 32-day operation during the Yom Kippur War, Military Airlift Command airlifts 22,318 tons of supplies. I was amazed how quiet everyone was as they were leaving. COCOA BEACH, Florida -- A restored World War II dive bomber made an emergency landing at a beach in Florida. List of battleships of the United States Navy, The deadliest Thunderbird accident was the crash of a team support, Articles incorporating text from Wikipedia, Accidents and incidents involving United States Air Force aircraft, Aviation accidents and incidents in Nevada, U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds Air Demonstration Team, http://web.archive.org/web/20110609175541/http://www.check-six.com/Crash_Sites/Thunderbirds-Diamond_Crash.htm, http://web.archive.org/web/20110628193518/http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/usaf/usafads.htm, http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,954982,00.html, "Misjudgment held 'possible' in fatal Thunderbirds crash", http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ulUaAAAAIBAJ&sjid=WicEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4319,345670&dq=thunderbirds+crash+history&hl=en, "Air Force finds mechanical failure led to crashes of flying team", http://www.nytimes.com/1982/04/11/us/air-force-finds-mechanical-failure-led-to-crashes-of-flying-team.html?scp=4&sq=thunderbirds%20indian%20springs&st=cse, http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1968.html, http://www.system-safety.org/Documents/AF_System-Safety-HNDBK.pdf, "The U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds, Turn 50, Part One", http://web.archive.org/web/20110711073322/http://www.garypalamara.com/Articles_Tbird_AFM-01.htm, "Partial Videotape Erasure of 1982 Air Force Thunderbirds Crash (GAO/NSIAD-84-153)". He immediately volunteered to ferry an F-105 over to Thailand where he knew he would be put in the action. The Air Force was shocked and saddened by the crashes. Stay informed: Sign up for our daily and weekly aviation news digests. Please support this channel by following me on Patreonhttps://www.patreon.com/allecibayCaptain Chris Stricklin, flying Thunderbird No. June 2, 201601:48. Colonel Smith died when his parachute failed to open. Richter also shot down a North Vietnamese MiG-17 on September 21, 1966 using the cannon on his F-105. It explains that: "By remaining at the controls of their damaged and bomb-laden aircraft, [they] steered it clear of Wallingford to crash and explode in open fields. Richter was an Air Force Academy graduate from 1964. The "Diamond Crash," as it was later called, led to the Thunderbirds upgrading their T-38s to the frontline F-16A "Fighting Falcon" jet fighter, built by General Dynamics, for their performances. 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The June 2 crash of the F-16 fighter in a field just south of the Colorado Springs Airport destroyed the $29 million plane, but the pilot safely ejected. Its also best not to discuss the calamitous employment of the F-105 by the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds that ended in a fiery aircraft disintegration on May 9, 1964 at an airshow venue in California. The pilot did not survive either. A mother and three children died on the ground where the aircraft crashed. The Marine Corps identified the four members on Thursday. It looked like all of them hit at the same time. Even after years I unearth new names and heroic exploits every week. Tom Demerly is a feature writer, journalist, photographer and editorialist who has written articles that are published around the world on TheAviationist.com, TACAIRNET.com, Outside magazine, Business Insider, We Are The Mighty, The Dearborn Press & Guide, National Interest, Russias government media outlet Sputnik, and many other publications. Andrew and Wilding sadly died in the crash, which also detonated the plane's bombs, shattering windows in the town. There is one era that produced images that are particularly iconic to me. President McManus said 25 minutes ago a man was shot dead by SAPD officers in a shooting at the Motel 6 parking lot. Thousands watch in shock; pilot ejects safely. It is fair to acknowledge the Republic F-105 Thunderchief was a plane thrust into a mission that was largely misunderstood, frequently evolving, and very different from what the Thud was originally designed for, low-level, supersonic nuclear strike missions. The crash was caused by birds entering the engine through the air intakes on either side of the fuselage. His military experience includes being Honor Graduate from the U.S. Army Infantry School at Ft. Benning, Georgia (Cycle C-6-1) and as a Scout Observer in a reconnaissance unit, Company F, 425th INF (RANGER/AIRBORNE), Long Range Surveillance Unit (LRSU). Wreckage was strewn across a 1-square-mile area of the desert 60 miles north of Las Vegas. It was not because the Thunderchief was somehow cursed. As part of the opening day ceremonies, 10 Air Force F102s with the 64th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron at Paine Field near Everett did a flyby . Eyewitness details fatal plane crash at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport. His target was the Yen Vien railroad yard just ten miles south of the city center outside Hanoi. The 426 Transport Training Squadron was one of several Canadian (RCAF) squadrons to fly the Handley Page Halifax during the Second World War. Nobody moved until after they announced that the air show was finished, Avery said.