23rd BS crew receives Eaker award

SHREVEPORT, La. -- The crew of SLAYR 21, from the 23rd Bomb Squadron, received the 2010 Ira C. Eaker Outstanding Airmanship Award March 3 for their handling of a serious aircraft emergency. The crew - Capt. Travis Thorpe, Capt. Dustin Faircloth, Capt. Phillip Demeter, Capt. Ian Barta, Capt. David Skelonc, 1st Lt. Corrine Hester and 1st Lt. Alex Brewster - demonstrated outstanding Airmanship while handling a significant B-52 in flight emergency on Oct. 26, 2010. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Chad Warren)

23rd Bomb Squadron crew named 8th Air Force winner

Published March 9, 2011
Minot AFB Public Affairs

MINOT AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. -- The 2010 Ira C. Eaker Outstanding Airmanship Award was awarded to the crew of SLAYR 21, from the 23rd Bomb Squadron here for their handling of a serious aircraft emergency. The mission occurred while deployed to Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, in support of a Pacific Air Forces Command continuous bomber presence mission. On takeoff, just seconds after the aircraft had broken ground, there was a loud bang and a catastrophic, failure of one of the aircrafts engines. An engine failure at this phase of the flight is dangerous because the aircraft is at its heaviest with fuel and ordnance, is low to the ground, and has not yet accelerated to a safe cruising speed.

The crew - Capt. Travis Thorpe, Capt. Dustin Faircloth, Capt. Phillip Demeter, Capt. Ian Barta, Capt. David Skelonc, 1st Lt. Corrine Hester and 1st Lt. Alex Brewster - demonstrated outstanding airmanship while handling a significant B-52 in flight emergency on Oct. 26, 2010.