Paul Meyer and the 1969 Mildenhall C 130 Theft
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- Опубликовано: 20 фев 2022
- A homesick U.S. Air Force sergeant, stationed in England, struggling with alcoholism and possibly PTSD, makes a fateful decision to steal a C-130 transport, intending to fly back to the United States to be with his beloved wife. This foolhardy endeavor fails and Sgt Meyer crashes into the English Channel, leaving a legacy of mystery.
Episode Timeline
00:34 Meet Paul Meyer
02:57 Meyer Steals the C-130E
03:50 Meyer’s Flight
04:57 Analysis
06:28 Shot Down?
I was in Air Force Security at RAF Weathersfield, not far from Mildenhall during the time of this incident. Several major changes were implemented because of this incident. One that I remember was the requirement for a mobile security team to park their truck directly in front of any C-130 that was being "run up" (ground tested) by maintenance so as to block any possible attempt by the maintenance personnel to taxi the plane. We conducted this exercise for several months after the Meyer incident. The fate of the plane has been discussed for years, but most Air Force Security personnel know what happened .
C-130s are so old but still gorgeous. Something about them just screams it's the epitome of what a plane should look like.
My Dad was on-board AN RNXS coastal Minesweeper and took part in the search they found a large part of the crashed aircrafts undercarriage and part of the fuselage and towed it back to the channel Islands.
Dude was only on TDY for 4 months and was so homesick that he felt this was the answer? Jeez. Just do your short time and then go back home.
Very sad...I was at RAF Mildenhall when this happened. We were on Tdy from Pope Afb, NC for 3 months. I'll never forget this, or when Neil Armstrong walked on the moon while I was still in England.
When I was in basic training in the late 80’s, a fellow recruit went AWOL, a couple of times and returned and eventually one weekend, showed up with his wife of only a few months. It came to light that, he was the recipient of ongoing badgering from his wife about not being home and that was the reason he went AWOL, the reason why he was allowed to return, and the reason why she was seen at the local theater with him on the weekends. After several weeks he went AWOL again, disappearing with her for the last time.
I was in the 38 TAS at Langley in 1968 and flew as a flight engineer on a C-130E. I did not hear of this until a few years later. I was also stationed at RAF Lakenheath as an F-100F crew chief. There were no F-100s on conventional alert while I was there. There were nuclear armed aircraft but they never even taxied let alone take off. It doesn't seem plausible an F-100 could be preflighted, armed, and flown within the time frame of the C-130 leaving Mildenhall at that time of night. The 38TAS did deploy to Japan in the winter of 1968 for a three (?) month TDY to support the build up in Korea after the capture of the Pueblo. However, we were stationed at Na Trang because of the Tet Offensive was also going on. I didn't experience anything at Na Trang they would remotely trigger PTSD. The crew chiefs didn't fly with the airplanes and Na Trang was never under fire from the bad guys. We ran out of beer a couple of times and that was traumatic. The F-100s at Lakenheath were replaced by F4s but I don't know the dates. The C-130 would not be sitting on a ramp with a nuclear weapon without lots of security. Meyer would have been stopped by the AP security. If he didn't stop he would have been shot.
I knew a Marine who stole an A4M Skyhawk in the 80s. It was July 4 weekend and L/Cpl Foote stole the A4 flew around LA and landed it back in El Toro
Interesting story I have not heard before, thanks for sharing.
RAF Mildenhall and RAF Lakenheath are right next to each other and are still used for tankers, transports and for fighters respectively.
It's HIGHLY unlikely that they would shoot down an empty transport plane, regardless of whether or not it was stolen. Had it been an armed aircraft, with possible nefarious intent by the person flying it, that would be more possible.
When I was in the Air Force in the late 60s I was a C141 engine mechanic and regularly ran the engines. If I had known how to fly the airplane it would not have been difficult to steal a 141 and fly it away.
All, A flight of USAF Phantoms was dispatched with orders to turn him around or shoot him down as a "Hazard to Aerial Navigation." When they intercepted him, he ignored them and they flew past, closely, and control of the aircraft was lost. It was only one of about 10 "Block and Tackle" events in USAFE/
I WAS DEPLOYED TO MILDENHALL RAF. WE WERE TOLD OF GHOST OF HARDSTAND 21 . THAT HIS GHOST WONDERS STILL.
If I was going to pick an aircraft to shoot down a C-130, it'd definitely be an aircraft with better low-speed performance like a Hawker Hunter, compared to a BAE Lightning...
Enlisted servicemen are not "passed over" for promotion. While they may get blackballed for performance issues, there may not be available slots (especially in the USAF), or other logistical reasons. Officers getting passed over are another thing altogether.
I remember listening to this on AFVN DaNang
This one didn't make the regular news but I read of it an an issue of SOF magazine (Dad's-retired-USMC aviation).
My C-130 squadron, 348th TAS from Dyess AFB TX was sent TDY to Mildenhall in September of 1969. I was an assistant crew chief on a C-130E and was about one year into my 4 year enlistment. I was an E-3, Airman First Class.
I was a crew chief on C-130s at Mildenhall in '76 (MAC Rotation) and one of the guys in Job Control had been Meyer's roommate back when that happened, this story is mostly correct. The guy told me that Myers was for a fact shot down.