File A121-R-60-6928A-12Article 125

60-6928

A-12 · Article 125
Lost5 Jan 1967

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

60-6928
125
A-12
334.9
Not confirmed
Lost
Destroyed

Career

  • Arrived at the test site in December 1962 and was outfitted for operational use
  • First OXCART pilot fatality; Ray is honoured at the CIA HQ A-12 display
  • 202 flights

How it was lost

Crashed 5 January 1967 in the Nevada desert about 70 miles from the test site after a faulty fuel gauge let it run out of fuel on descent. CIA pilot Walter L. 'Walt' Ray ejected at 30,000 to 35,000 ft but could not separate from his seat and was killed, the first OXCART fatality; the Air Force told the press a missing SR-71 was down.

In the chronology

5 Jan 1967Walter Ray killed in Article 125 OXCART
A faulty fuel gauge let Article 125 (60-6928) run out of fuel on descent about 70 miles from the base. CIA pilot Walter Ray ejected but could not separate from his seat and was killed, the program's first fatality; the Air Force told the press an SR-71 on a test flight from Edwards was missing.

Where the record disagrees

Popular Science (2021) reports the site near Meadow Valley Wash, Nevada, and adds a claim that a wooden block Ray fitted to his headrest contributed to the seat-separation failure; that detail is not in the CIA history.

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. Central Intelligence Agency. A-12 OXCART (CIA Museum exhibit page, Article 128). Open · Archived · In the register
  3. Wikipedia. Lockheed A-12 (aircraft table and accidents list). Open · Archived · In the register
  4. Popular Science. A CIA spyplane crashed outside Area 51 a half-century ago. This explorer found it.. Open · Archived · In the register