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Re(5): C-141 STARLIFTER INCIDENT .... IP: 107.191.57.64 Posted on 17/1/2025 at 06:51:58 AM by Col Coyne
From the horses mouth:
The Day The Yanks Nearly Lost A Starlifter
31st October 1977
Recollection by FLTLT [Retd] Rick Lundberg, C-130E pilot in the Richmond circuit at the time of the incident.
It was 47 years ago at the end of October 1977 that the aircraft, bound for Alice Springs, departed Richmond on runway 28. Immediately after lift-off, before they got to about 200ft and still within the Base boundary that the #3 engine turbine disc split in two. One half exited the engine nacelle and lodged in the #4 engine compressor and stopped it in about one revolution. The other half penetrated the fuselage and lodged in a pallet of cargo, setting it on fire.
So here they were: 200ft agl, two engines out on the right-hand side one of them on fire, a fire in the fuselage, gear down, flaps at take-off and pointing at the rising ground of the Blue Mountains. And the Yanks didn’t train for two-engines out operations. . . !
They declared an emergency and Richmond tower cleared all other aircraft to another frequency to give them a quiet place to do their emergency drills. We all checked in on the new frequency with a bit more of the usual banter when reporting in when, to our surprise, a plaintive voice called “Can we have a little quiet, please, we’ve got a serious emergency here.” What the hell are we doing on the same frequency as the emergency aircraft?!
With the rising ground approaching they struggled through a turn to the south then having the acft under reasonable control they managed a further turn to the east to attempt a recovery at Richmond but because of their low altitude (they’d made it to 700ft), distance to the south and the fact that they were looking across the runway they couldn’t see it. They called tower for a heading to the Base, then they reported an airfield ahead and asked if they could land there. . . “DON’T LAND THERE it’s TOO SHORT!” In fact it was Schofields, the RAN training establishment.
Tower gave them a heading to steer to get to the Base but from where I was positioned that would put them over the middle of the airfield. Now, we didn’t know the exact nature of their emergency but whatever it was I reckoned they wouldn’t need any un-necessary manoeuvring.
I called Tower and said I had the C141 in sight and that I’d fly over and escort them back to the airfield. This was approved and I called a corrected heading to the acft which would put them directly onto the base leg for r/w 28. By the time I got on their wing they were off the heading so I called them back onto the proper one and called” the r/w is at your ten o’clock, two miles”.
The pilot threw the acft on the r/w and pulled it up at the end of a 4000t skid mark1! Well- bloody-done!
The damage bill was: two engines destroyed, two cooked, a pallet of cargo burnt out and the forward right-hand fuselage peppered with shrapnel holes and about seven weeks at Richmond being put back together. No reports on the crew but they retired to King’s Cross to celebrate. We continued with our training flight and had to fill in time for the next hour and a half until they got the C141 off the r/w.
Some weeks later I was summoned to the OCs office where I met Maj Gen Aldrich, the Commander of the USAF Military Airlift Command who presented me with the Distinguished Individual Safety Award plaque, and a very nice letter of commendation.
These Yanks are an appreciative lot.
You won’t find any account of this in the 37 Sqn Unit History Sheet - it was only a Training Flight.