1 - The Black Vault

PRAETORIAN STARSHIP
trapped in the inferno. In a matter of seconds, the
organized withdrawal from Desert One had
turned to tragedy. The three helicopters near the
accident were abandoned by their crews and were
ripped apart by the exploding ordnance. With
Bluebeard 2 already grounded behind Tharp’s Republic
5, only Bluebeard 7 remained flyable on the
south runway. Kyle passed the word that nobody
would leave until he could sort out the casualty
situation and organize the withdrawal. 144 He made
the decision that all helicopters would be left at
Desert One.
Kyle directed that a thorough search of the
area be made to ensure that everyone was aboard
one of the three remaining C-130s. Carney and
his CCT were Kyle’s primary means for ensuring
that no one was left. Three roadblock team members
came out of the darkness and were loaded on
to one of the C-130s. The CCT picked up the remotely
activated landing lights and replaced them
with chem-lite sticks (a decision that would
nearly cause the loss of two airplanes on takeoff).
The bus passengers that had been loaded on
Fleming’s aircraft were moved back to their bus
and released. Tharp, in Republic 5, was the first
aircraft to be cleared to depart Desert One. As
Tharp’s aircraft accelerated down the dirt runway
and neared the 3,000-foot point, the aircraft hit
the berm of the dirt road and catapulted over it on
to the other side. There was a large cloud of dirt
kicked up by the impact, but the aircraft continued
to accelerate. Tharp managed to get the aircraft
airborne, and he struggled for altitude. With
the aircraft slowly accelerating, Tharp had made
it. The second to take off was Steve Fleming in
Dragon 3, also on the south runway. Just as
Tharp had done, Fleming ploughed through the
dirt berm and continued his takeoff. Dragon 3
struggled for altitude, became airborne, and then
slowly climbed into the night sky en route back to
Masirah Island. When the CCT removed the runway
lights and replaced them with chem-lites,
they did not realize that the pilots could not see
the dimmer chemlites that outlined the runway.
After Tharp successfully departed, Fleming lined
up on the tire ruts made by Tharp’s aircraft and
followed them down the runway. 145 A catastrophe
was avoided thanks to the durability of the tough
C-130 aircraft and the superior flying skills of
their crews.
Kyle and Carney were the last to board Uttaro’s
aircraft for departure from Desert One. Uttaro
made a perfect takeoff from the north runway, and
in minutes the aircraft was flying smoothly over
the dark Iranian desert miles from Desert One.
Over four hours had passed since Brenci had first
landed in the Iranian Desert. Tharp had shut
down an engine after takeoff due to loss of engine
oil pressure and was proceeding to Masirah Island
on three engines. Uttaro soon passed him,
with Kyle electing to continue on to Masirah Island
and monitor Tharp’s progress by way of
SATCOM radio. (Uttaro’s aircraft had burn victims
on board, and Kyle wanted to get them to
Masirah Island so that their medical needs could
be better attended.) By 0500 Uttaro had cleared
Iranian airspace and was one hour out of Masirah
Island. 146 None of the aircraft returning from Desert
One needed fuel from the KC-135 tankers
scrambled by Hess from Wadi Kena. The additional
fuel taken from the fuel bladders allowed
the two EC-130Es to complete the return leg
without refueling. Fleming’s aircraft showed less
than 4,000 pounds of fuel remaining when he
touched down at Masirah Island.
Tharp was the last to land back at Masirah
Island. The burn victims from Uttaro’s aircraft
were transferred to a waiting C-141, and Delta
Force boarded a second C-141 for the five-hour
flight back to Wadi Kena. General Gast organized
a head count of all Air Force personnel to determine
exactly who did not return from Desert One.
The count verified that Hal Lewis and four of
his crew members aboard Republic 4 had been
killed in the accident (along with three Marine
crew members). The full impact of what had
happened only hours before began to sink in. A
noble effort to free American hostages in Iran
had ended in tragedy. The Combat Talon force,
however, flying both MC-130Es and EC-130Es,
had performed exceptionally well and had adjusted
their plan when operational requirements
changed. Operation Eagle Claw had come to an
unfortunate end.
* * * * * *
At Wadi Kena Pinard brought the news of the
Desert One disaster to Meller’s crew. Pinard had
been up throughout the night and had monitored
the mission at Vaught’s JTF headquarters. Meller’s
crew had been in crew rest for the Night
Two portion of the operation after being extremely
busy since its arrival at Wadi Kena. On
24 April Thigpen and Williamson had configured
the Night Two mission aircraft (64-0562, 64-
0567, and 64-0572) with IR lenses and rotatingbeacon
covers, a challenging feat without an operational
“cherry picker” to reach the tip of the
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