Stand 1 - T56

From Stand 1 you can look up at the crash site for Air tanker T56. The road you are standing on goes to The Rulison Blast Site. This was the site of a 43-kilo ton atomic blast, 8,426 feet below the surface, which was conducted as part of the Operation Plowshare project on September 10, 1969. The blast was part of a program to convert the government's 27 nuclear programs into one of various peacetime uses of atomic power. At the time of the fire, there were still large amounts of equipment and two aboveground storage tanks on site. Each tank contained explosive vapors and low-level radioactive materials. At the time of the fire, the well had been plugged at the top and bottom, but had not yet been cemented.

T56 was a converted military B 26, adapted to fire suppression activities. It was flown from Denver to Grand Junction on July 15, 1976 and assigned to work with two other air tankers on the Battlement Creek Fire. On Friday morning, July 16, 1976, all three planes were assigned to continue working on the Battlement Creek Fire. The first plane arrived to the fire at approximately 0735. T56 was the third plane to arrive at about 0840. T56 circled the fire as the lead plane flew the desired flight path. Both the lead plane and T56 flew south into the large bowl. It was determined that T56 never completed its turn prior to impacting the ridge. The pilot did jettison the retardant load just prior to impact.

At 0855, pilot Donald Goodman of Missoula, Montana, was killed.

As a result of the impact, a fire was started and involved approximately 1 acre of scrub oak. The Line Boss and the Sawtooth Interregional Crew worked the fire resulting from the tanker crash.

Tanker operations were halted after the accident and not resumed until following day.

As you look up toward the flag to the left and down amongst the aspens is where the main fire camp was set up. There were several hotshot and Snake River Valley crews that had just come off the July 15th night shift that must have been filtering into camp at the time of this accident.

View looking upslope from Stand 1. The Memorial Flag is located to the left and above the band of bare shale at the top of the ridge. This area is on private property and there is no public access to the site.

Memorial presentation photo presented to Donald Goodman's family at the July 21, 2001 Memorial Service. The flag and plaque serve as the location marker for the impact site. The plane's control levers are entwined in the brush at the base of the flag pole.

Memorial placed at the Grand Junction Interagency Air Center, Walker Field Airport, Grand Junction, Colorado.

Closeup of memorial.