Toterman Canyon Jet Crash

Sheep Range, Nevada, north of Las Vegas

Photos from Harlan W. S. and Pierre M.
Nov. 11, 2005

I first read about this crash in a Sierra Club report from 1992. Rob Longstown of the RPS (Remote Peaks Section) was on a hike in 1992, when his group had some bad weather with poor visibility. The group had to leave the peak quickly, and headed down for uncharted territory; serendipitously, they found jet wreckage in the stream bed. I contacted Rob in November 2005, and got some critical details on the location. Two of my hiking comrades (Admiral Nelson and Desert Danny) went the next day, and defined the position of the stream debris by GPS. Then, a few days later, Pierre and I looked for and found the probable impact site.

This is a remote area, requiring at least 14 miles (RT) of trailless hiking and 3000' elevation gain to visit the site. I won't put the exact location on this page, because some crash sites are vandalized after their locations become known. I would give the location to serious crash historians, as long as they don't have itchy fingers for souvenirs and promise to keep the location to themselves. In any case, unless you are in good shape and have good navigational skills, you aren't going to make it in and back during a normal 8 hour day. There is no reliable water en route.

In many pictures below, you can judge scale either by a hand, or by my boot (dark gray, size 9.5).

After reviewing the photos and the paint colors, an aircraft expert (Tony M) concluded this plane was likely an F-15. I'll add some of his suggested IDs below. Further work by Craig F, Doug S and others showed that an F-15 went down in that area (+/- 1/2 mile) in September 1979, with one fatality.

Click on any small image to see the corresponding large image.

GPS trace. We went up the hill on the SW side, and came down by the impact site on the W side.	The middle of the canyon is rather rugged.	Halysites, a tabulate coral.

	Pierre comes up to the flatter stream stretch that holds most of the heavier debris.	One theory holds that this was not a plane at all, but an alien spaceship piloted by sheep-like creatures.



	Note the date.	Turbine-driven fuel pump.

	Turbine disk.	Engine fuel nozzle.

		This valve has the latest date I saw on the wreckage -- 2Q 1977.

	Fragment of turbine disk with blade fragment.

		There were lots of exploded 20mm machine gun shells.



Near the top of the cliff band at 9000', metal scraps became less frequent, smaller, and were generally aluminum.	View W from the top of the cliff band.	The first metal scrap I saw, on coming down from the cliff band, was this small piece of Al with a rubber backing.

Just below the cliff band, some wires, and even some small metal pieces, were stuck in these dense woody shrubs.	As we descend a shallow ravine, we see more and more debris.	This is a printed circuit board, with some of the ICs burned off and now visible only as the legs and solder points.

	Another circuit board; most resin has burned off, leaving the fiberglass and metal traces.	Asbestos and rubber.

The probable impact site is surrounded by burnt trees and scorched rock.		These panels consist of a laminate of aluminum honeycomb sandwiched between two very thin sheets of tough metal (possibly stainless or titanium). The metal is "blued" from heat; this was not blue paint.

	Bomb-missile rack section.	Note the inked inspection stamps; may be part of the flight-control system.

	Again, what was the type of tailhook?* I am told that the rectangular area above the word "danger" l may have been a "low observable flight formation light".	This material had a thick aluminum honeycomb sandwiched between a fiber-filled composite. The resin burned, leaving nasty fibers that stuck in my skin. This may be the Al-honeycomb and boron-epoxy composite used in F-15 rudders.


		One version of the USA F-15 had an aluminum skin painted robin's-egg blue. [F-15a] [F-15c] -- thanks, Tony.

More pics to come. A picture I forgot,

This debris was below the impact site. I presume the armaments were bombs or rockets. The panel on the right is the same honey-combed sandwich described above, but this time it is not "blued" from heat.

*Apparently, there are two types of tailhooks: a robust type designed for multiple use on carriers; and a much lighter, single-use type meant for catching an arresting cable at the end of a dry-land runway. Most Air Force jets ca. 1960-1995 had single-use tailhooks.

Here are Pierre's photos -- very good!

You can contact me at:

hwstock _AT_ alum point mit point edu