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Author
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Topic: See/Bassett crash and tail number reuse
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nasamad
Member Posts: 2141
From: Essex, UK
Registered: Jul 2001
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posted 08-28-2018 04:37 PM
   
Is it common practice to reuse aircraft numbers after an accident? I was reading about the Elliot See and Charles Bassett accident and that the tower asked Thomas Stafford "who was in NASA 901?" Then looking at later Apollo images I saw a shot of Jim Irwin five years later by a T-38 with the tail number 901. Would this be a like for like replacement to the fleet of NASA jets or a coincidence? |
thisismills
Member Posts: 297
From: Michigan
Registered: Mar 2012
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posted 08-28-2018 05:57 PM
Good question, I have wondered about this too because there was at least one other NASA T-38 number reused along the way (#907). - NASA 901 (N901NA)
USAF # 63-8181 - 1st T-38 (crashed 2/28/66)
USAF # 66-8381 - 2nd T-38 (delivered to NASA 9/10/69) - NASA 907 (N907NA)
USAF # 65-10327 - 1st T-38 (crashed 1/5/73)
USAF # 61-0912 - 2nd T-38 (delivered to NASA 10/12/78)
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LM-12
Member Posts: 3324
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 08-28-2018 06:14 PM
NASA 907 was the T-38 that Tom Stafford and Gene Cernan were flying to St. Louis in on Feb. 28, 1966, the day of the crash. |
nasamad
Member Posts: 2141
From: Essex, UK
Registered: Jul 2001
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posted 08-29-2018 12:46 PM
More intrigue, Is 907 the one Conrad ejected from? |
328KF
Member Posts: 1251
From:
Registered: Apr 2008
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posted 08-29-2018 03:06 PM
According to that source, and I have no idea what it uses for reference, the answer would be no. Conrad ejected from 957NA #69-7086 on 10 May 1972. The 907 listed there wasn't delivered to NASA until 10 September 1969 and crashed on 5 January 1973. |
David C
Member Posts: 1039
From: Lausanne
Registered: Apr 2012
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posted 08-30-2018 06:11 AM
quote:
Originally posted by nasamad:
Is it common practice to reuse aircraft numbers after an accident?
Yes. Individual airframes usually go by a variety of designators concurrently. Terminology varies between manufacturers, operators and nations, but for example it may go something like this:The manufacturer has a unique manufacturer's serial number for every airframe that runs off its production line, which is never reused. The purchaser will have its own serial number, or if civilian, the government authority will allocate a registration. They may be useful for accountants, planners etc, or used directly by crews, engineers etc, depending on the organisation (such as in the USAF). Depending on the nation, service etc, these are sometimes reused. They may change if the airplane is sold to a different operator. The squadron or other operating unit (in this case NASA, whose T-38s have USAF serials), may have its own "administrative" side numbers or letters ("modex" in the USN). These are large font, short designations (like "901") allowing easy, convenient use by those working directly with the airplanes. In the case of NASA's T-38s, these are the numerical portion of the full FAA registration (i.e. N901NA is 901 for short). They are always reused if the fleet is sufficiently large enough. In the case of NASA T-38s, different number blocks are assigned for use by different centers. They change on transfer to another unit. People can get too emotionally weird over this stuff. You remember and honour the crew. The jet is just a pile of broken metal. I guess it goes back to military wartime use where retiring side numbers would just be unsustainable. Hope that helps. |
nasamad
Member Posts: 2141
From: Essex, UK
Registered: Jul 2001
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posted 08-31-2018 08:36 AM
Yes that helps very much, thank David. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3324
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 11-09-2018 08:21 PM
quote:
Originally posted by nasamad:
I saw a shot of Jim Irwin five years later by a T-38 with the tail number 901.
That same T-38 had a different look a year later. |
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