Air Force cleans up 30-year-old crash Published Oct. 23, 2007 By Senior Airman Clay Murray 75th Air Base Wing public affairs HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah -- An Air Force recovery team scaled a mountain peak just shy of 9,000 feet on the Utah-Nevada border in mid-October to recover pieces of an F-4 Phantom . The aircraft crashed into the Deep Creek Mountains on the Confederated Tribes of the Goshute Indian Reservation nearly 30 years ago. The crash claimed the lives of 1st Lt. Lawrence Larson, pilot, and Capt. James Winburn, navigator. A total of 72 people from Hill AFB volunteered for the recovery effort after successful negotiations between the installation commander and the Goshute leaders. A plan was then developed to initiate the cleanup endeavor. "This project is important because the Air Force is committed to building positive relationships with all the communities surrounding our base and the lands we manage, including the Utah Test and Training Range" said Col. Scott Chambers, 75th Air Base Wing commander. "We take every opportunity to show we are good neighbors who are committed to building and maintaining positive community partnerships." Hill AFB consults with 19 American Indian tribes that have ancestral territory on federal lands managed by the base. During annual consultation meetings with the American Indian tribes, the Goshutes requested Hill AFB remove the debris from their reservation property, said Col. Jim Weissmann, 75th Aerospace Medicine Squadron commander and on-scene commander for the recovery. To properly restore the hillside to its natural environmental state, Colonel Weissmann assembled a diverse team consisting of civil engineers, explosive ordnance disposal experts, medical personnel, logisticians, and people with asbestos knowledge. Members from 75th Civil Engineer Squadron and the 388th Fighter Wings' 729th Air Control Squadron were on scene one day early to provide accommodations for the volunteers The advance logistics team's efforts included tent construction, diesel heater installation, and hot meal service, all of which helped to ensure the recovery team could focus wholeheartedly on the mission at hand. "Help in the field was critical from a morale standpoint," said Colonel Weissmann. "It was just great to go out there and see a first rate operation when early on we were expecting to be in just regular tempered tents eating meals-ready-to-eat. The 729th ACS helped us out beyond measure with hot meals. The whole set up was just first rate." The four-hour bus ride to the Goshute reservation was the first leg of the trek to the crash site. From base camp, an eight-mile journey over rocky terrain, through brush and trees in the cold and snow stood between the cleanup crew and the remnants of the fighter. After spending more than an hour in the bed of an all-wheel-drive, turbo diesel truck, workers jumped out to tackle the rest of the journey on foot. The hike from the end of the road to the initial crash site wound uphill and downhill for one mile in the snow, dirt and rock. Many of the larger pieces of debris were removed from the crash site at the time of the initial recovery effort in 1977. However, at an altitude of nearly 9,000 feet, treacherous weather conditions kept the initial recovery team from completing comprehensive cleanup efforts. Because impact occurred near the peak of the mountain, a large amount of debris was catapulted up and over to the opposite face of the mountain and cascaded down approximately 56 acres. Air Force formation training proved valuable as the Hill AFB recovery team swept downhill scanning the mountainside for any bits or pieces of the F-4 Phantom. It took the team roughly 45 minutes to scale the entire length of the slope from top to bottom. The team recovered hundreds of pieces of the plane, including a buried tail hook, a turbocharger, a large segment of a wing, a section of the weapons pylon and a seat rocket motor. "The hiking was strenuous," said Airman 1st Class Phillip Northam, Aerospace Medical Service journeyman, "but the views were beautiful. It was uphill obviously until we got to the initial crash point. There were parts of it where it would level out so it wasn't as bad but I got a pretty good work out for my legs." In total, the pieces removed from the crash site amassed to more than 17 full metal crates of debris. Several of the pieces found were too large to fit into the boxes but were taken off site by a pick-up truck. The debris weighed more than two tons in total, and was collected and delivered to the Utah Test and Training Range North Gate recycle yard. "This effort is further proof that in the Air Force, there's no expiration date for turning a sensitive situation into an opportunity to promote positive relationships and problem solve alongside the communities we affect," said Colonel Chambers.