SR71

Aircraft by type

Lockheed A-12 & SR-71 Ejections

List being compiled - photos / contacts sought

Date	Air Force	A'cft	Unit / Serial	based	crashed	crew	photo	seat
24th May 1963		A-12	60-6926			Ken Collins ejected safely from vertical flat spin		Lockheed
9th July 1964		A-12	60-6939		Complete hydraulic failure during approach to Groom Dry Lake	Pilot Bill Park ejected safely		Lockheed
25th January 1966	USAF	SR-71A	61-7952		Crashed near Tucumcari, New Mexico			Lockheed
						Lockheed test pilot Bill Weaver survived- his ejection seat never left the plane	RSO Jim Zwayer died in a high-G bailout	Lockheed
30th July 1966		A-12 D-21	60-6941					Lockheed
						Pilot Bill Park ejected safely	LCE Ray Torick ejected but drowned	Lockheed
5th January 1967		A-12	60-6928			Walter L Ray ejected, but was killed after he failed to separate from his ejector seat		Lockheed
13 April 1967	USAF	SR-71A	61-7966		subsonic, high-speed stall near Las Vegas, Nevada			Lockheed
						Pilot Captain Earle M. Boone	RSO Captain Richard E. Sheffield	Lockheed
25 October 1967	USAF	SR-71A	61-7965 ASPEN 28	Beale AFB	near Lovelock, Nevada			Lockheed
						pilot Captain Roy L. St.Martin	RSO Captain John F Carnochan	Lockheed
28th December 1967		A-12	60-6929		Crashed during takeoff from Groom Dry Lake	Pilot Mel Vojvodich ejected safely		Lockheed
11 January 1968	USAF	SR-71B	61-7957		crashed on approach to Beale about 7 miles from Beale			Lockheed
						instructor pilot Lt Col Robert G. Sowers	Captain David E. Fruehauf	Lockheed
10 October 1968	USAF	SR-71A	61-7977		takeoff was aborted when a wheel assembly failed at Beale			Lockheed
						pilot Major Gabriel Kardong - remained with aircraft - survived	Major James A. Kogler was ordered to eject	Lockheed
18 December 1969	USAF	SR-71A	61-7953		Inflight explosion near Shoshone, California			Lockheed
						RSO Lt Col Garry Heidelbaugh	Lt Col Joe Rogers	Lockheed
10 May 1970	USAF	SR-71A	61-7969		operational mission from Kadena, Okinawa against North Vietnam crashed near Korat RTAFB, Thailand.			Lockheed
						pilot, Major William E. Lawson	RSO, Major Gilbert Martinez	Lockheed
17 June 1970	USAF	SR-71A	61-7970 ASPEN-33		post-tanking collision with the KC-135 tanker crashed 20 miles east of El Paso, Texas			Lockheed
						Lt Col "Buddy" L. Brown both legs were broken	RSO Maj Mortimer Jarvis	Lockheed
24th June 1971		YFA-12A	60-6936					Lockheed
						Jack Layton	William Curtis	Lockheed
21 April 1989	USAF	SR-71A	61-7974		left engine blew up over the South China Sea			Lockheed
						Pilot Lt Col Dan House	RSO Blair Bozek	Lockheed

Christopher Freeze for permission to link to his excellent website and providing an image of Joe Rogers (Dec 18th SR-71)

I recently came across your excellent ejection web site. As I read the A-12/SR-71 page I couldn’t help noticing that you are using an inaccurate serial number format for the SR-71. For example, 64-17953 should be 61-7953.

Numerous Blackbird books and articles have been published containing incorrect SR-71 serial numbers with a ‘64’ prefix. Regrettably, the ‘64’ numbers have been published so often that authors and researchers continue to use them.

Official documentation on the Blackbird released by various government agencies includes technical manuals, accident reports, maintenance records, and test reports. Many of them contain references to the serial numbers, all with a ‘61’ prefix. Not a single official document has yet surfaced in which a ‘64’ prefix was used. When a few SR-71s were reactivated for operational duty in the mid-1990s their markings included standard USAF tail numbers with the FY61 base number followed by the last three digits of the sequence number.

For reference, see this article: “The Truth is Out There: SR-71 Serials and Designations,” Air Enthusiast, No. 118, July/August 2005.

Peter W. Merlin

Below are some examples of Blackbird serial numbers, and their sources:

USAF Accident/Incident Report (AF Form 711), 25 January 1966
"Vehicle Involved: SR-71, SN 61-7952 (#2003)"
"On 25 January 1966, SR-71, 61-7952, was airborne from Edwards..."

USAF Accident/Incident Report (AF Form 711), 25 October 1967
"Vehicle Involved: SR-71A, SN 61-7965"
"SR-71 serial number 61-7965, call sign ASPEN 28, departed Beale AFB at..."

Aircraft Flight Status and Maintenance Record (AF Form 781H), October 1967:
"ACFT SERIAL NO. 61-7965"

USAF Accident/Incident Report (AF Form 711), 18 December 1969
"Aircraft/Serial Number SR-71 61-7953"
"SR-71 Serial Number 61-7953, production number 4, was assigned..."

Maintenance Discrepancy/Work Record, December 1969:
"Serial No. 61-7953"

Special Order AB-147, 18 December 1969:
"...to investigate the SR-71, SN 61-7953, aircraft accident..."

Weight And Balance Clearance Form (DD Form 365F), 18 December 1969:
"Serial No. 61-7953"

SR-71A Category II Performance Tests, March 1970:
"These tests were conducted on SR-71A USAF S/N 61-7953 at the..."
"evaluation was conducted on SR-71B USAF S/N 61-7956 during the..."

USAF Accident/Incident Report (AF Form 711), 17 June 1970:
Vehicles Involved:
"SR-71A SN 61-7970, KC-135Q, SN 59-1474"
"SR-71A, Serial Number 61-7970, call sign ASPEN 33, was..."

Aircraft Flight Status and Maintenance Record (AF Form 781H), 25 May 1970:
"ACFT SERIAL NO. 61-7970"

Technical Manual: Powerplant (SR-71-2-4), 15 November 1984:
"Applicable to AF S/N 61-7956 and subsequent."

Technical Manual: Mission Recorder System (SR-71-2-12), 1 May 1985:
"Airplane Serial Number Wiring Diagram"
"AF SER NO 61-79( )( )"

Technical Manual: Airframe Group (SR-71-2-2), 15 September 1987:
"AF Serial No. 61-7950 thru 61-7955"
"AF S/N 61-7956 and subsequent"

Operations Fact Sheet, 15 April 1997:
"SR-71B NASA Tail Number 831 (S/N 61-7956)"

Aerospace Vehicle Flight Report and Maintenance Document (AF Form 781F), 1997:
"Serial Number 61-7956"

in email 8th December 2009

site note: Serial Numbers amended 9th December 2009