
                         THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
                 Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, June 26, 1994                    TAG: 9406260125 
SECTION: LOCAL                     PAGE: B3    EDITION: FINAL  
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS 
DATELINE: 940626                                 LENGTH: SPOKANE, WASH.

B-52 CRASH INVESTIGATION TO TAKE MONTHS \

{LEAD} As Fairchild Air Force Base struggled to come to terms with its second tragedy in a week, investigators Saturday began the long search for clues into the crash of the base's last B-52 bomber.

An investigation board of 12 officers from other air bases arrived here and combed through wreckage. All four crew members aboard, including a Suffolk native, were killed Friday.

{REST} Blackened parts of the fuselage were strewn across about five acres, with most wreckage concentrated in smaller area about one-half mile from the airstrip pavement and south of the base control tower. The only recognizable part of the unarmed B-52H was a stabilizer jutting about 15 feet off the ground.

Investigators hoped to interview several witnesses, including many from the Fairchild Survival School, said Col. Rich Wirth, 92nd Bomb Wing Support Group commander.

The huge jet struck the ground and burst into flames within about 200 yards of several of the school's buildings. No structures were damaged, and none of the hundreds of people inside the buildings at the time were hurt.

Investigators hope to analyze videotape footage obtained by KREM-TV that was shot by a witness, Wirth said. The footage shows the low-flying plane banking steeply and apparently losing airspeed before plunging to the ground and exploding.

The 33-year-old plane's maintenance records were seized as part of the probe, Wirth said.

Investigators don't expect to release any findings for at least two months, said Maj. Jerry Brown, a base spokesman.

The Air Force on Saturday identified the victims as Lt. Col. Arthur A. ``Bud'' Holland, the pilot, born in Suffolk, Va.; Lt. Col. Kenneth S. Huston, the navigator, born in Avenal, Calif.; and two instructor pilots, Col. Robert E. Wolff, born in Chicago, and Lt. Col. Mark C. McGeehan, born in East Liverpool, Ohio. Authorities would not release their ages, and their most recent hometowns were unavailable.

Holland and Huston were assigned to Fairchild in August 1988, with McGeehan arriving at the base in May 1993 and Wolff in August 1993.

The crash was the second tragedy at the base in five days. On Monday, a disgruntled ex-airman went on a five-minute shooting spree at the base hospital, killing four people and a 5-month-old fetus and injuring 23 others.

{KEYWORDS} ACCIDENT MILITARY ACCIDENT PLANE FATALITIES by CNB