Mayday Over Wichita
The Worst Military Aviation Disaster in Kansas History
D.W. Carter
On the cold Saturday morning of January 16, 1965, a U.S. Air Force KC-135 tanker carrying
thirty-one thousand gallons of jet fuel crashed into a congested African American neighborhood
in Wichita, Kansas. When the fire and destruction finally subsided, forty seven people—mostly
African American children—were dead or injured, homes were completely destroyed and
numerous families were splintered. As shocking as it may sound, the event was seemingly
omitted from the historical record for nearly fifty years. Now, historian D. W. Carter examines
the myths and realities of the crash while providing new insights about the horrific four-minute
flight that forever changed the history of Kansas.
D. W. Carter is a historian, author and educator in Kansas, specializing in military and social
history. Originally from Elizabethtown, Kentucky, Carter first arrived in Wichita upon military
orders stationing him at McConnell Air Force Base in 2003. Since then, Carter considers himself
a transplant Kansan who currently resides in its capital city, Topeka.
Editorial reviews:
“Mr. Carter has given us a conscientious and commendable, if unsettling, account of a very dark
day in our military air history.”
-Richard Kluger, Pulitzer Prize-winning social historian
“D. W. Carter is a scholar to pay attention to. His book on the 1965 major plane crash in
Wichita, Kansas, the air capitol of the US at that time, incorporates survivor interviews, archival
material, wonderful photos, and analysis of why survivors of this crash that devastated a black
neighborhood during the Civil Rights Movement received little and late compensation. His
analysis is even handed and long overdue.”
-Gretchen Eick, Ph.D., Professor of History and author of Dissent in Wichita: The Civil Rights
Movement in the Midwest, 1954-72
“In the history of race relations in America there remain quite a few blank spaces. D. W. Carter
has written a book determined to fill at least one. Relying on extensive archival research and
interviews with key figures, Carter’s, “Mayday Over Wichita” turns the historical lens on the
crash of an Air Force KC-135 tanker into an African American neighborhood in Wichita, Kansas
in 1965 engulfing the streets and buildings in a blaze. The narrative examines not only the cause
and coverage of the crash, but the subsequent investigation and reaction of the African American
community, which in heavily segregated Wichita existed the gap between the American dream of
equality and on the ground realities.”
-Thom Rosenblum, Ph.D., National Park Service Historian and author of Of Merit, Achievement,
& Service: The Story of Topeka’s Monroe School
“Truly necessary but in a dreadful retelling of a horrific event that occurred over Wichita, Kansas
– on the bitter cold Saturday morning of January 16, 1965 – D. W. Carter provides a serious
account of the crash of an Air Force KC-135 tanker into the heart of one of the city’s, mostly
Black, northeast neighborhoods. In Mayday Over Wichita, Carter argues that for nearly 50 years
a historical record of this terrifying loss of life and human carnage was ‘seemingly omitted.’
Fortunately, this author has accepted the challenge of examining ‘the myths and realities of the
crash while providing new insights’ regarding a ‘four-minute flight’ over Wichita that will be
remembered throughout eternity. Simply – a must read.”
-Galyn A. Vesey, PhD., ACSW, Project Director of Research on Black Wichita: 1945–1958 and
former Senior Research Associate (Cornell University, 1998)
“My brother was one of the crewmen on the KC-135, and I’ve interviewed with Mr. Carter for
his book, Mayday Over Wichita. Mr. Carter speaks with a credible, healing voice about the
tragedy, a voice I expect characterizes his writing, bringing facts of the crash to light for those
who lost loved ones, and for anyone interested in military history, aviation, and the state of our
country’s civil rights movement in 1965.”
-Irene Huber (Kenenski)
“D.W. Carter’s Mayday Over Wichita is an important literary feat that compellingly captures
history, offers clarity and provides public service for a city enduring lingering pain from the Piatt
Street crash. Carter, using little-known government records, survivor and eye-witness interviews
and independent verification, offers his readers information, insight and intelligent reporting that
might possibly put to rest conspiracies related to the tragedy.”
-Van Williams, City of Wichita Spokesman, Founder and Board Vice President at Real Men,
Real Heroes
“Mayday Over Wichita promises to keep any reader spellbound…Mr. Carter’s research and
talent for telling the story is so impressive.”
-Belinda Larsen, Augusta Gazette Editor
“Mayday Over Wichita is for all readers, not just for historians or people from Kansas, but for
anyone with an interest in history and the human condition. Give Carter’s book a read – you will
not be disappointed.”
-Abigail L. Pfeiffer, Military Historian and specialist in 20th century American warfare and
POW history
