Outcome 54 and 55 commemoration ceremony

Greg Staples salutes the memorial plaque honoring those involved in a 1958 B-52 Stratofortress collision before a commemoration ceremony at Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington, Sept. 8, 2023. The 92nd Air Refueling Wing leadership team hosted Staples, Dennis Cork and retired Col. Jerry Molstad to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the collision involving Outcome 54 and Outcome 55 that claimed the lives of 13 Strategic Air Command Airmen. Staples is the son of son of Maj. Donald Staples, who lost his life on board Outcome 54. He was nine years old at the time of the collision. On Sept. 8, 1958, 13 crewmembers on board Outcome 54 and Outcome 55 made the ultimate sacrifice while defending freedom during the Cold War with the Soviet Union. The two B-52s collided in the Fairchild AFB traffic pattern two miles from the runway. Only three Airmen survived the incident. Among those lost was Lt. John Cork, whose son Dennis also attended the commemoration ceremony. Dennis was a year old when his father passed.