Lost 1963 - US Air Force Boeing KB-50J aerial refuelling tanker (modified B-50 bomber)
For decades Bermuda's dive guides described this site as a B-29 bomber that went down in April 1961 with a fuel problem, though the Royal Gazette's files for 1961 record no such loss. The real story only came out when the aircraft's former co-pilot, Bill Tilton, came forward: the wreck is a Hayes-converted KB-50J, a Boeing B-50 bomber rebuilt as an aerial refuelling tanker, with two auxiliary jet engines added under the wings.
On 20 October 1963 the tanker took off from Kindley Field on a refuelling mission that was to end at its home base, England Air Force Base in Louisiana. While it was still climbing, the left-hand auxiliary jet engine blew up and set half the left wing alight. In Tilton's account the aircraft exploded at roughly 1,000 ft; eyewitnesses quoted by the Royal Gazette next morning said it blew up as it struck the water at 10.32 a.m., sending flames 60 ft high, and the bang was heard as far away as St George's. It came down in two main pieces in shallow water off the West End.
Coast Guard aircraft, Navy and Air Force helicopters, naval crash boats and local boats joined the search. Of the eight men aboard, six were picked up alive - the last, refueller operator W. I. Webster, not until 3.55 that afternoon - and only the observer, Tech. Sgt. E. M. Corbin, was hurt, with a broken leg. The aircraft commander, Captain John 'Curley' Moore, was found still in his seat when divers reached the wreck, and the crew chief, Staff Sergeant Charles Crigler, was also lost. A USAF board of inquiry was convened, its findings not to be made public.
The wreckage now lies on the west-end reef platform close to two much older wrecks, the brig Caesar (1818) and the iron sailing ship North Carolina (1880), and it is a buoyed, protected dive site.
An easy, shallow dive or snorkel in about 20-25 ft of usually very clear water (often 70 ft visibility in summer, 100 ft+ in winter). Do not expect an intact aeroplane: the aircraft broke up and its parts are spread over a wide area. Divers usually find it by the glint of sunlight on the aluminium fuselage panels, then pick out the four piston engines with their bent propellers still attached, wing sections and pieces of fuselage.
Because aluminium does not encourage growth, the metal itself carries little coral, but the wreck sits among healthy reef and attracts plenty of fish, particularly sergeant majors. Suitable for all levels; often combined with the Caesar or North Carolina.
Accounts of the 1963 crash differ: the co-pilot said the aircraft blew apart at about 1,000 ft, while people on shore said it exploded as it hit the water. Did you or your family see it?
If you have information, photographs or family memories, please email [email protected]. Anything we use will be credited to you, with your permission.
Approximate position, for interest only - never use for navigation.