A son’s search for answers 49 years after father dies in Fort Drum plane crash

FORT DRUM, New York (WWNY) - Thursday marks the 49th anniversary of a plane crash on Fort Drum that killed a pilot who was flying for the Air National Guard.

That pilot’s son recently wrapped up a decades-long search for answers about his father’s death and is sharing his story.

October 1974. Seven-year-old Bill Havener Jr. and younger brother Tim are playing outside their home in Chittenango.

“I remember a gray sedan pulled into our driveway. Two uniformed servicemen came out and came up to the front door. And as a military family, you know that your family member is gone. You just know that,” said Bill Havener Jr.

His father, Air Force Capt. Bill Havener, had flown 230 combat missions in Vietnam without ever being injured. Now he was dead after his plane had crashed during an Air National Guard training mission over Fort Drum. As the grief-stricken family mourned, they also looked for answers. Initial reports from the military didn’t say much.

“Early on and right after the accident, there was all kinds of speculation. Was it a bird strike? Was it engine failure that caused the accident,” said Havener.

After years of trying to get military records, some results finally arrived.

“My father was in a group of four aircraft. They were doing basically target practice with practice bombs, rockets, and then they were going to do a strafing run with machine guns,” said Havener.

As Havener’s father dropped his practice bomb on Range 35 and banked sharply upward, the canopy came off his plane. Within seconds, the A-37 jet rolled over and crashed. Somehow, the canopy lock had been released.

“And the report kind of speculated that my father had brushed up against it with either his elbow or the sleeve on his left arm,” said Havener.

Wanting more answers, Havener asked for fewer redactions, appealed the denial, and, years later, finally got more including the flight surgeon’s report, which revealed his father’s cause of death.

“As the plane was going through the forested area and then impacted the ground, the jet fuel exploded and so there were massive injuries. And just let’s say that they - we didn’t get all off the remains back to even get cremated. There are still portions of my father that are at that gunnery range. That’s a hard reality that was really hard to deal with,” said Havener.

And that made Havener determined to visit Range 35, which he did this past July with his brother and a military escort.

In September, 7 News also made the trek. A bridge is as close as anyone can get to the scene of the crash because there’s unexploded ordinance on the land.

James Moore is Fort Drum’s director of training.

“It happened about 300 meters off in this direction in the impact area. The Air Force did a very good detailed list of everything that was removed from the site. However, it doesn’t specify if anything was left on the site,” said Moore.

For the Haveners’ visit, Fort Drum provided a chaplain, who read the 1941 war poem, “High Flight.”

“I also brought some blessed water from my priest that I poured over the bridge toward the area where the accident was,” said Bill Havener Jr.

Finally, after nearly 50 years, the Havener family has closure and Bill’s work means his dad’s sacrifice won’t be forgotten.

“There will be new recognition of what happened about a thousand meters that way. This historical marker is being placed on Range 35. It includes a QR code that will take you to a description of the crash,” he said. “I think my father would have really liked that. That they recognized his service with the 174th and just recognized the accident and his service with the Air National Guard. "

Havener has a long list of those he would like to thank for the successful conclusion to his odyssey, including his deep thanks to Fort Drum for arranging his visit to the site, and many others who supported him and helped him get the Air Force records he needed.

This is his list:

• My wife Jackie Havener and daughter Paige Havener
• My Parents John Casion and Sharon Casion (formerly Sharon Havener)
• My brothers Timothy and Jeffery Havener
• My grandparents Paul Havener, Anne Havener, Charles Thompson, Doris Thompson, John Casion, and Ellen Casion
• Henry Havener, Lisa (Havener) Crum, Ron Chapin
• Barbara and Anthony Covais
• The Air Force Safety Center - Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico
• The 10th Mountain Division
• Congresswoman Claudia Tenney & her military affairs representative - Jason Phelps
• Senator Charles Schumer & his military affairs representative - Emily Cole
• Senator Kirsten Gillibrand
• Former Senator John McCain
• Former Congressman John Katko
• Former Congressman Richard Hanna
• Former Congressman Dan Maffei
• My Oswego County Family
• Director of Public Health Vera Dunsmoor
• Former Director of Public Health, Jiancheng Huang
• Former Director of Environmental Health, Judith Grandy
• Former Director of Environmental Health. Natalie Roy
• Former Director of Veterans’ Services Donna Kestner
• Former Chairman of the Legislature Kevin Gardner
• God for every day of the 31+ years of my Father’s life

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