File A121-R-61-7953SR-71AArticle 2004

61-7953

SR-71A · Article 2004
Lost18 Dec 1969

No display location
Dots mark every surviving airframe

SR-71A 61-7953 in flight, in a U.S. Air Force photograph.
SR-71A 61-7953 in flight, in a U.S. Air Force photograph.U.S. Air Force (National Museum of the U.S. Air Force) · USAF VIRIN 061122-F-1234P-049 · Public domain (US government work) · Source
Debris from SR-71A 61-7953, which crashed near Shoshone, California, on 18 December 1969, on display at the Shoshone Museum in February 2025.
Debris from SR-71A 61-7953, which crashed near Shoshone, California, on 18 December 1969, on display at the Shoshone Museum in February 2025.Eric Polk · 2025-02-14 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source

Record

61-7953
2004
SR-71A
290.2
4 June 1965
Lost
Destroyed

Career

  • Primary performance, stability and control test aircraft (Category II tests); reached 86,700 ft on one test mission
  • NASA analysed inlet and stability data from this aircraft in 1968 and 1969
  • Lost on the first flight with the Optical Bar Camera (OBC) nose installed

How it was lost

Crashed 18 December 1969 near Shoshone, California (southern end of Death Valley) after a loss of control during a functional check flight from Edwards (callsign DUTCH 68). Col. Joe Rogers and RSO Maj. Gary Heidelbaugh ejected safely.

Where the record disagrees

Cause disputed in secondary sources: The X-Hunters (Merlin) reports the accident board found a rolled-up piece of duct tape in a static line of the new OBC nose, corrupting air data so the aircraft was slower and higher than indicated, leading to compressor stalls and an unrecoverable pitch-up; the sr-71.org losses page and habu.org describe an in-flight explosion whose cause was never determined. Heidelbaugh's rank is given as Maj. (X-Hunters, sr-71.org) and Lt Col (habu.org).

Sources

  1. The X-Hunters (Peter Merlin, Tony Moore). Lockheed SR-71A (61-7953). Open · In the register
  2. The X-Hunters (Peter Merlin, Tony Moore). Lockheed SR-71A (61-7953): Ejection Near Death Valley. Open · In the register
  3. NASA. Mach 3+: NASA/USAF YF-12 Flight Research, 1969-1979 (Peter W. Merlin, NASA SP-2001-4525). Open · Archived · In the register
  4. SR-71 Online (sr-71.org, read via Wayback Machine snapshot). Blackbird Losses (data courtesy of Peter Merlin). Archived copy · In the register
  5. SR-71 Online (sr-71.org, read via Wayback Machine snapshot). Blackbird Flight Hours (data from Peter Merlin, NASA Dryden, as of 21 May 2006). Archived copy · In the register
  6. Habu.org. Blackbird Photo Archive: 61-7953. Archived copy · In the register
  7. Joe Baugher. 1961 USAF Serial Numbers (61-7950 to 61-7981 entries). Open · Archived · In the register