Sierra Hotel Blog
On May 31, 1967, a lone USAF KC-135 Stratotanker crew commanded by Maj. John H. Casteel saved six Navy aircraft over the Gulf of Tonkin — two KA-3 Whales, two F-8 Crusaders, and two F-4 Phantoms — executing the first-ever triple air-to-air refueling in history. Running critically low on fuel themselves, the crew never considered leaving a fellow aviator behind. All four crew members received the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Mackay Trophy.
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NASA deliberately short-fueled the Apollo 10 lunar module to prevent Stafford and Cernan from attempting an unauthorized Moon landing. They came within 8.4 nautical miles of the surface — and set the all-time speed record for a manned vehicle at 24,791 mph on the way home.
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On December 4, 1959, Ensign Albert Joe Hickman's F3H Demon lost power on approach to Miramar with 750 children at recess directly in his flight path. He could have ejected safely. Instead, he stayed with the aircraft and guided it clear of the schoolyard, sacrificing his life at age 21.
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Before he created Star Trek, Gene Roddenberry flew B-17 Flying Fortresses with the 394th Bomb Squadron in the Pacific, survived a crash on takeoff at Espiritu Santo, then flew for Pan Am — pulling survivors from a burning Clipper in the Syrian desert. The same man who gave us the USS Enterprise once flew real ones.
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On January 27, 1967, the crew of Apollo 1 — Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee — were lost in a command module cabin fire during a pre-launch plugs-out test at Launch Complex 34, Cape Canaveral. The pure oxygen atmosphere at 16.7 psi turned the cabin into an inferno. The tragedy led to sweeping redesigns of the Apollo spacecraft and forever changed NASA’s approach to crew safety.
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