File A121-R-61-7954SR-71AArticle 2005

61-7954

SR-71A · Article 2005
Lost11 Apr 1969

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

61-7954
2005
SR-71A
Not published
Not confirmed
Lost
Destroyed

Career

  • One of the six SR-71 flight test aircraft
  • Loss (similar to 61-7950) led to new aluminum wheels and stronger tires being retrofitted fleet-wide
  • NASA photo shows 61-7954 used as a stand-in for the YF-12A during construction of heaters for NASA's structural loads program

How it was lost

Destroyed 11 April 1969 at Edwards AFB during a maximum-weight takeoff test when the left main tires blew and the wheel debris started a fire; the takeoff was aborted. Lt Col Bill Skliar and RSO Maj. Noel Warner escaped from the aircraft uninjured.

Where the record disagrees

First flight date and total hours not found in sources checked (Merlin hours list shows unknown). A witness quoted by habu.org says the crew climbed out rather than ejecting.

Sources

  1. SR-71 Online (sr-71.org, read via Wayback Machine snapshot). Blackbird Losses (data courtesy of Peter Merlin). Archived copy · In the register
  2. Habu.org. Blackbird Photo Archive: 61-7954. Archived copy · 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. Joe Baugher. 1961 USAF Serial Numbers (61-7950 to 61-7981 entries). Open · Archived · In the register
  5. Roadrunners Internationale. Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird production list (article numbers). Open · Archived · In the register