Bouy15. Was that Bud Hollands fault or the supervisors fault.
Could it happen today?
19 May 1991
Fairchild Air Force Base held an airshow and Holland was aircraft commander of the exhibition. During the event, he exceeded the B-52's banking and pitch limits. He also flew directly over the crowd which is a violation of FAR (Federal Aviation Regulation) Part 91 policy. Though both his commanders were present and realized the violations, nothing was done.
12 July 1991
A change of command ceremony took place and Holland was aircraft commander. He performed the same maneuvers as he did during the air show except now he accomplished a "wingover", where the pilot rolls the aircraft onto its side and allows the nose of the aircraft to fall towards the Earth to regain speed. Damage can occur during this maneuver. This time his commanders realized this was setting a bad example for the younger B-52 crews, yet it is unknown whether Holland was punished.
17 May 1992
During the airshow Holland exceeded the recommended bank angles and performed a flyby down the runway. At the end of the pass he completed a high pitch angle climb, or pitch up, at about 60 degrees nose high, and leveled off with a wingover. Though it is known that Holland was verbally reprimanded, there is no documentation.
14 & 15 April 1993
This time Holland was mission commander of a two aircraft exercise to bomb ranges in the South Pacific. During an exercise named Global Power, Holland permitted his crew members to photograph his wingman at close visual formation, as well as allowing one of his crew to film live munitions being released from the B-52. Both acts disregarded regulations. During this episode, the leadership both encouraged and discouraged Holland to act in the way he did. There was no disciplinary action taken.
8 August 1993
Holland was the 1993 Fairchild B-52 exhibition commander. Banking and pitch angles were exceeded. Holland was able to fly the aircraft at nearly a 90 degree angle. By this time many younger pilots wished to emulate Holland. At least two incidents occurred where less experienced pilots attempted to imitate Holland with a pitch-up and a fly-by at 60 degrees, both were successful. Holland was not disciplined.
10 March 1994
This day Holland flew practice munitions to a range in Yakima. An authorized film crew recorded the event. He was taped flying within 30 feet of the ground and during another pass prompted the film crew to duck for cover. During one of these passes the aircraft would most likely have crashed if the co-pilot, Captain Eric Jones, had not intervened. After the mission Jones stated he would not fly again with Holland to the squadron commander, Lt Col Mark C. McGeehan, who then recommended Holland be grounded. Holland was never grounded and these events prompted McGeehan to make the decision restricting his crews from flying with Holland unless he was in the aircraft. Holland was upset by the fact that McGeehan had attempted to have him grounded. Holland verbally confronted McGeehan by stating he did not respect him as a man, commander, or pilot.
17 June 1994
Holland flew the practice route in his B-52 in preparation for the upcoming airshow. He exceeded pitch and bank restrictions. His commander witnessed the display and concluded it was all within Air Force parameters. During the briefing for the show a few days earlier Holland had stated that he would perform another wingover and no one objected. By this time Holland's actions had polarized the air crews, many refused to fly with him. Also, the B-52 Wing was being dismantled at Fairchild so this airshow may have been the last one.
Time and time again the same phrase is repeated. "Nothing was done".
Now I for one agree that Holland was a complete and utter...... BUT, I would hope that today someone would stand up and say STOP.
Last edited by vecvechookattack; 9th Jul 2007 at 23:54.