June 24: B-52 aircraft crash at Fairchild Air Force Base

   The B-52 aircraft crash at Fairchild Air Force Base was a fatal air
   crash that occurred on June 24, 1994, killing the four crew members of
   a United States Air Force (USAF) B-52 Stratofortress during a training
   flight.  In the crash, Bud Holland, who was the command pilot of the
   aircraft based at Fairchild Air Force Base, call sign Czar 52, flew
   the aircraft beyond its operational parameters and lost control.  As a
   result, the aircraft stalled, impacted the ground, and was completely
   destroyed.  Video of the crash was shown throughout the United States
   on news broadcasts.  The accident investigation concluded that the
   chain of events leading to the crash was primarily attributable to
   Holland's personality and behavior, USAF leaders' reactions to it, and
   the sequence of events during the mishap flight of the aircraft.
   Today, the crash is used in military and civilian aviation
   environments as a case study in teaching crew resource management.
   Also, the crash is often used by the USAF during safety training as an
   example of the importance of compliance with safety regulations and
   correcting the behavior of anyone who violates safety procedures.

Read the rest of this article:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B-52_aircraft_crash_at_Fairchild_Air_Force_Base

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Today's selected anniversaries:

1314:
   Scotland regained independence as forces led by Robert the Bruce
   defeated Edward II of England in the Battle of Bannockburn.
   (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Bannockburn)

1894:
   Italian anarchist Sante Geronimo Caserio assassinated Marie François
   Sadi Carnot, President of the French Third Republic, after Carnot
   delivered a speech at a public banquet in Lyon, France.
   (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Fran%C3%A7ois_Sadi_Carnot)

1947:
   First widely-reported post-World War II sighting of UFOs: American
   businessman and pilot Kenneth Arnold saw nine luminous disks in the
   form of saucers flying above the U.S. state of Washington near Mount
   Rainier.
   (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_Arnold)

1948:
   The Soviet Union blocked access to the American, British, and French
   sectors of Berlin, cutting off all rail and road routes going into
   Soviet-controlled territory in Germany.
   (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Blockade)

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Wikiquote of the day:

   Absurdity, n.  A statement or belief manifestly inconsistent with one's
   own opinion.  -- Ambrose Bierce
   (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ambrose_Bierce)