Thirty-nine years ago, an A-7D Corsair II USAF jet crashed into the lobby of the Ramada Inn near Indianapolis International Airport (“IAP”). Ten people were killed: guests, employees, and a man who only stopped to use the phone. The crash should not have happened. 1/13

There are details of this case that I remember clearly. [FN1]. We alter records of history at the risk of repetition. Failure of a part caused the A-7D’s engine to shut down. The Air Force knew: splines on a specific gear would shear after X number of hours & cause engine failure. 2/13

The gear needed to be replaced by a gear with more durable splines, but the gear’s location made access difficult and costly. A directive directed that an A-7 would be pulled to replace the gear only as the gear neared failure. A Spectrographic Oil Analysis Program (SOAP) test 3/13

was a quick test required after each sortie. Ground crew wheeled a cart to the side of the aircraft. A small sample of oil would be squirted from the aircraft’s oil system & burnt in the cart to show contents of the oil. Too much ferrous content would indicate proximity to failure. 4/13

An A-7 could not fly after 3 sorties without that test.
The past few days, I read details of what occurred 39 years ago.
No mention is made of SOAP tests, their required frequency, or the cost-benefit analysis performed. People can be appalled at cost-benefit analyses, since 5/13

they place dollar values on human lives, & those dollar values usually are cheap, [FN2] Major Bruce Teagarden, pilot of the A-7D in the 1987 crash, did not perform, or order performed, any SOAP tests on the A-7D. The plane was under his control from take off at Nellis 6/13

through fueling at Tinker AFB & landing in Pittsburgh. Teagarden’s mission from Nellis via Tinker to Pittsburgh was to attend a funeral. Reports claimed the flight’s purpose was to check instrument landings and takeoffs, [FN3]but Teagarden testified all of his were visual. 7/13

Finally, the Air Force absolved Teagarden and blamed air traffic control in Indy [FN4] and summaries note their confusion about Teagarden’s emergency. No mention is made of Teagarden being handed off to Hulman in Terre Haute. 8/13

Actual audio of his conversations with IAP are limited. The day was overcast in Indy. The A-7D dropped from the clouds already half-way down that runway. Teagarden tried for another runway, but he had lost altitude too rapidly. He was forced to eject. 913

Nine people almost instantly. At least two people at the front desk were hit by the jet. Two hotel employees were in an office to the side of the lobby. The door appeared to have slammed shut, jet fuel gushed in under it, and they died of burns after no less than 2 ½ minutes. 10/13

1) Teagarden failed to run SOAP tests as required & that should have disclosed gear failure.
2) Air traffic control had no “fault” if Teagarden had followed regs and ditched in rural area.
Trying to land a flamed-out military jet in a highly populated area is violation of regs. 11/13

Footnotes:
FN1. I clerked for a firm that filed 4 actions for wrongful death & drafted the complaint: filed in U.S. District Court, Nevada, attended pre-trial proceedings, depositions in D.C., and briefed issues when the Government sought partial summary judgment & admitted to 9th Cir. 12/13

FN2. See, Grimshaw v. Ford Motor Company, 119 Cal.App.3d 757, 174 Cal.Rptr. 348 (1981). 13/13
FN3. Myram Borders, “Air Force Maj. Bruce Teagarden was on an instrument...” UPI, October 20, 1987, accessed Oct 20, 2026.
FN4. “F-117A: Loss of 4450th TG A-7D #69-6207,” Apr 1, 2002, updated December 16, 2019, accessed Oct 20, 2026. 13/13