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An icon of the Cold War, the SR-71 had been in frontline service for almost a decade by the time it started flying from RAF Mildenhall, Suffolk, UK, on a regular basis. On Mar. 31, 1979, Detachment 4 (Det 4) of the 9th SRW was established at Mildenhall. The aircraft’s mission in-theater was simple — monitor Warsaw Pact troop movements along the Iron Curtain and photograph the various ports with access to the Baltic and Barents Seas that were home to the Soviet Union’s nuclear submarine fleet. During the course of these vital missions, the Soviets tried to intercept the SR-71 as it flew at Mach 3 just within international airspace.
As told by Paul F Crickmore in his book Lockheed SR-71 Operations in Europe and the Middle East, on Jun. 29, 1987, Det 4 had almost suffered an aerial disaster. Majs Duane Noll and RSO Tom Veltri, in SR-71 64- 17964, were conducting a seemingly routine Barents/Baltic Seas mission when there was an explosion in the aircraft’s right engine. Having just completed their anti-clockwise run off the coasts of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, and with ‘denied territory’ off to their right, the crew had no alternative but to turn left, decelerate and descend.
North of Gotland, and with the aircraft descending, Veltri turned on the IFF and declared an emergency on Guard frequency, as he recalls;
`That got the Swedish air force‘s attention, and a pair of Viggens were on our wing before we reached 18,000 ft. Given that the Soviets were monitoring our activity, I was glad to see a friendly escort. We later found out that the Soviets had launched numerous fighters with orders to force us to land in Soviet territory or shoot us down. The descent from 80,000 ft to 25,000 ft, where the aeroplane began to stabilise, took just a few minutes. The Viggens continued to escort us through the Baltic and along the Polish and East German borders until USAFE F-15s from West Germany intercepted and took over escort duties, but the worst was not yet over.
`Since fuel constraints made it impossible for us to make it back to Mildenhall, we were forced to land at Nordholz Air Base, in West Germany. The engine explosion also caused the complete loss of our auxiliary hydraulic fluids, which meant no brakes or steering on landing. The base closed off all surrounding roads prior to our arrival in anticipation of our going of the runway. Fortunately for everyone, there was just enough residual hydraulic fluid left in the lines for one application of the brakes. The aeroplane stopped just short of the end of the runway, and that’s where we left it for the rest of the day until maintenance crew from Mildenhall arrived and moved it.’
Four months later, on Oct. 20, Capts Larry Brown and RSO Keith Carter also experienced an in-flight emergency whilst on a Barents/Baltic Seas mission at night. Flying SR-71 64-17980, the crew had completed their reconnaissance runs and were closing on the tanker for their last aerial refuelling when the master warning light came on in the cockpit, telling Brown that the right electrical AC engine-driven generator had disconnected itself from the main AC bus. The ANS also went down at the same time, leaving the RSO without his primary navigation system. Although the second generator in the aircraft continued to function, the crew could not get the right generator back on line, so the aircraft was instructed to land at Bodø.
A short while later the remaining serviceable generator failed, forcing the crew to rely on the emergency AC generator. With diminished cockpit lighting and faltering systems, Brown formated with the KC-135Q and headed for the Norwegian base. Eventually, the stricken SR-71 managed to land at Bodø, where it sat for four days being repaired, prior to being flown back to Mildenhall at subsonic speed.
Lockheed SR-71 Operations in Europe and the Middle East is published by Osprey Publishing and is available to order here.
Photo credit: USAF
SR-71 Blackbird
