Fig. 16. In 1958 while training for the upcoming U.S. Air Force Aero Medical Laboratory high altitude Man High III balloon flight, balloon designer Otto C. Winzen (right) and space physiologist Capt. Grover Schock (left), were seriously injured in a balloon accident near Ashland, Wisc. Additionally, two training flights at Holloman AFB also resulted in injuries to pilots. These injuries prompted Air Force officials to require close medical supervision during future training flights. (photo courtesy of Mike Smith, Raven Industries)
The three pilots, Kittinger, Kaufman and Fulgham, flew training missions together. Kaufman and Fulgham alternately flew the balloon while Kittinger instructed. The missions were flown at night to take advantage of light winds and avoid the effects of diurnal heating on the helium (the lifting gas that filled the balloon). Used for these missions were 30-foot diameter polyethylene balloons and an aluminum gondola especially designed for low altitude training.
The first training mission scheduled for May 19, 1959 was canceled due to equipment problems.[173] Problems overcome, the next day at 1:30 a.m. the mission launched from White Sands Proving Ground.[174] The objective of this flight was to practice gas valving and ballasting techniques necessary for balloon control and to practice landings. After a five-hour flight, the balloon landed without incident just after sunrise northwest of El Paso, Texas.[175]
The second training flight, launched at 2:41 a.m. on May 21, 1959, from behind the Balloon Branch building, Bldg. 850 at Holloman AFB.[176] Near the end of another successful training mission with the same objectives as the previous flight, a mishap occurred resulting in injuries to two of the pilots, Fulgham and Kittinger.[177]
Fig. 17. In May 1959, Capt. Dan D. Fulgham (left) and Capt. William C. Kaufman, pilots and Aero Medical Research officers from Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio were assigned temporary duty to Holloman AFB, N.M. to train as high altitude balloon pilots. Fulgham and Kaufman were trained by Capt. Joseph W. Kittinger, Jr. (photo collection of Dan D. Fulgham)
The Mishap. Just after sunrise on May 21, 1959, following a successful low level training flight east of Holloman AFB over the Sacramento Mountains, Kittinger, the instructor pilot, determined the balloon should be landed in a small field approximately 10 miles northwest of Roswell.[178] This was necessary because of approaching bad weather and the field was the last suitable landing site before overflying the city of Roswell.[179] When the balloon touched down, a higher than normal forward velocity for landing caused the gondola to overturn.[180] The three pilots, Kittinger, Fulgham, and Kaufman, were spilled from the gondola pinning Fulgham’s head between the edge of the gondola and the ground.[181] The impact shattered his helmet and he sustained a head injury.[182] When the three pilots climbed out from under the gondola, Fulgham noticed that his “head seemed to be protruding outward from underneath [his] helmet.”[183] Kittinger also received an injury, a minor facial laceration. The crew of the nearby chase helicopter and personnel in the ground tracking vehicles rushed to the scene.[184] For medical treatment, the pilots were transported by the helicopter to nearby Walker AFB.[185]
When the helicopter landed at Walker AFB, it was met by armed security personnel who sought to verify the purpose of the unannounced arrival.[186] The security personnel escorted the balloon pilots to the hospital.[187] The balloon recovery and communications crew, after retrieving the gondola and balloon, drove to Walker AFB to check on the injured crew and to inform the Balloon Branch at Holloman AFB of the accident.[188]
At the Walker AFB hospital, Fulgham and Kittinger received treatment for their injuries and neither required admission. Meanwhile, the Walker AFB security officials continued to escort the unannounced visitors while verifying their identities.[189] The pilot’s identities and purpose for their visit were confirmed via phone by Colonel Stapp, Aero Medical Laboratory commander at Wright-Patterson AFB (the pilots and Project Excelsior were assigned to this organization).[190]
Kittinger, the Excelsior project officer, wanted to leave the hospital as quickly as possible after he and Fulgham received medical attention.[191] The quick departure was to avoid unwanted scrutiny by Walker AFB flying safety officials.[192] When released by the flight surgeon, the three pilots boarded the chase helicopter and returned to Holloman AFB approximately 100 miles to the west.