December 10, 1992

PRESIDIO COUNTY –– The Air Force is seeking help from the public in its investigation into last week’s crash of a B-1B bomber near Valentine that killed all four crew members.

“The Air Force is seeking witnesses of the crash, persons who saw the plane in flight or who can give any information helpful to the investigation,” Public Affairs Office Tech Sgt. Dave Crozier said Tuesday from Dyess Air Force Base in Abilene. Persons with information about the crash may call the Air Force toll free at 1-800/543-8831 or 915/283-2780 in Van Horn.

The Air Force has set up a Safety Investigation Board at the Plaza Inn motel in Van Horn. The plane and crew were on a routine night time low-level training flight when the crash occurred. No munitions were on board, the Air Force has said. The initial crash and explosion were seen 100 miles away.

Meanwhile, Air Force personnel remained at the crash site this week “searching for bits and pieces” of the aircraft which may lead to a cause of the accident, Crozier said. “We’re trying to find all the parts we can.”

Presidio County Judge Monroe Elms, who last week was flown by the Air Force to the crash site to pronounce the crew members dead, said plane parts no bigger than three feet in length were scattered over two to three miles. The crash occurred on the Chilicote Ranch in the Sierra Viejas about 15 miles west of Valentine in Presidio County. The Air Force Wednesday disputed a report in Monday’s edition of Aviation Week & Space Technology that the plane may have experienced autopilot malfunctions. 

Here’s what the magazine said: “Although the cause of the crash is under Air Force investigation, radio calls from PYOTE 69 suggested the crew was experiencing autopilot malfunctions. However, there was no indication that the problem was serious enough to abort the planned mission. “Steven A. Douglas, a Texas-based radio hobbyist who monitors military aircraft transmissions, recorded the last few exchanges between PYOTE 69 and the Dyess AFB command post. At one point a PYOTE 69 crewmember said, ‘Got uh … autopilot … porpoises, and the … navigator’s true airspeed indicator is inop,'” the magazine stated.

But a Dyess public affairs officer said Wednesday that the plane that crashed last week was dubbed PYOTE 70, not PYOTE 69. A Dyess aircraft dubbed PYOTE 69 was in the air last week as well, the public affairs officer said.