123

c/n 123

55-3276

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Photo:

c/n 123

55-3276

• 55-3276 United States Army. Delivered on 26th May 1956. Designated as U-1A.

Assigned to the 2nd Aviation Company, Fort Riley, KS.

April/May 1957 to Brookley AFB., Mobile, AL. Here the aircraft were loaded on board the 'USS Tripoli', an aircraft carrier then serving with the Military Sea Transportation Service, which set sail for Bremerhaven, Germany arriving on 16-May-1967

Accident: Baumholder, Germany, 21-Mar-1958. Crash occurred at the start of a border (East & West Germany) orientation flight as the aircraft took off in a strong g cross-wind. The tail plane stalled, the nose pitched up, the Otter came down hard and bounced into a ditch. Fortunately, no-one on board was injured but both wing struts were broken and the engine separated from the fuselage.

Deleted from the US Army inventory in September 1958, the remains of the aircraft having been broken up for spare parts.

• Written off •

Otter 123 was delivered to the United States Army on 26th May 1956 with serial 55-3276 (tail number 53276). It was assigned to the 2nd Aviation Company, Fort Riley, Kansas. This unit was destined for service in Europe after it had received its full complement of Otters and its personnel had been trained on the new type at Fort Riley. During April/May 1957 the 2nd Aviation Company flew its Otters, including 53276, from Fort Riley to Brookley AFB, Mobile, Alabama. Here the aircraft were loaded on board the 'USS Tripoli', an aircraft carrier then serving with the Military Sea Transportation Service, which set sail for Bremerhaven, Germany, where it arrived on 16th May '57. Here the Otters were re-assembled and flown to their new base at Illesheim, Germany.

53276 crashed at Baumholder, Germany while flying for the 2nd Aviation Company on 21st March 1958. New pilots joining the unit had to be shown the border areas, to ensure that they did not stray over the 'Iron Curtain'. The crash occurred in the course of such a border orientation flight. The Otter was taking off from Baumholder in a strong crosswind. The tail plane stalled, the nose pitched up, the Otter came down hard and bounced into a ditch. Fortunately, no-one on board was injured. The Otter however was a write off. Both wing struts were broken and the engine separated from the fuselage. 53276 was deleted from the inventory in September 1958, the remains of the aircraft having been broken up for spare parts.