Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
In early 1966 the primary crew of Gemini 9 died in a plane crash when they tried to land a T-38 by circling to a runway under low clouds and poor visibility. Elliot See and Charles Basset were killed instantly when the aircraft collided with a building on the ground, McDonnell’s building 101, which by coincidence was the place they were supposed to be visiting for training.
The backup crew of Tom Stafford and Gene Cernan would take their place and both would fly to the moon during the Apollo program.
I recently re-read this story and with my recent training in instrument flying all the information now made sense, so I wanted to tell a story about the crash, and explain instrument approaches to non-pilots.
A lot of the best information comes from the book "Fallen Astronauts: Heroes Who Died Reaching For The Moon" by Colin Burgess
amzn.to/49fH5e0
Follow me on Twitter for more updates:
twitter.com/DJSnM
I have a discord server where I regularly turn up:
discord.gg/zStmKbM
If you really like what I do you can support me directly through Patreon
patreon.com/scottmanley
In early 1966 the primary crew of Gemini 9 died in a plane crash when they tried to land a T-38 by circling to a runway under low clouds and poor visibility. Elliot See and Charles Basset were killed instantly when the aircraft collided with a building on the ground, McDonnell’s building 101, which by coincidence was the place they were supposed to be visiting for training.
The backup crew of Tom Stafford and Gene Cernan would take their place and both would fly to the moon during the Apollo program.
I recently re-read this story and with my recent training in instrument flying all the information now made sense, so I wanted to tell a story about the crash, and explain instrument approaches to non-pilots.
A lot of the best information comes from the book "Fallen Astronauts: Heroes Who Died Reaching For The Moon" by Colin Burgess
amzn.to/49fH5e0
Follow me on Twitter for more updates:
twitter.com/DJSnM
I have a discord server where I regularly turn up:
discord.gg/zStmKbM
If you really like what I do you can support me directly through Patreon
patreon.com/scottmanley
