File A121-R-60-6926A-12Article 123

60-6926

A-12 · Article 123
Lost24 May 1963

No display location
Dots mark every surviving airframe

No photo on fileNo openly licensed photograph of this airframe is in the archive yet. If you took one or know of one, it can be added with your permission.

Record

60-6926
123
A-12
135.3
Not confirmed
Lost
Destroyed

Career

  • First A-12 loss
  • Arrived at the test site in August 1962 and was outfitted for operational use
  • Collins wore a standard flight suit, which helped preserve the cover story; he later took truth serum to help investigators
  • Fleet grounded for about a week; wreckage recovered in two days
  • 79 flights

How it was lost

Crashed 24 May 1963 near Wendover, Utah, during a low-altitude subsonic test of an inertial navigation system after iced pitot tubing gave false airspeed readings and the aircraft stalled into an inverted spin. CIA pilot Ken Collins ejected safely; the press was told an F-105 had crashed.

In the chronology

24 May 1963First A-12 loss: Ken Collins ejects OXCART
CIA pilot Ken Collins ejected from Article 123 (60-6926) after an iced-up pitot-static tube gave false airspeed readings and the aircraft stalled into an inverted spin; it crashed about 14 miles south of Wendover, Utah. Collins was unhurt, and the press was told an F-105 had crashed.

Where the record disagrees

First flight date not found in sources checked. Collins's middle initial varies between sources, so it is omitted.

Sources

  1. Central Intelligence Agency, Center for the Study of Intelligence. Archangel: CIA's Supersonic A-12 Reconnaissance Aircraft (David Robarge, 2nd ed.; includes 'Inventory of A-12s' table, p. 50). Open · Archived · In the register
  2. Wikipedia. Lockheed A-12 (aircraft table and accidents list). Open · Archived · In the register
  3. The Salt Lake Tribune. Crash site of one of Area 51's mysteries lies near Wendover. Open · Archived · In the register