On this date in 1956, the first of two prototype Martin XB-51 three-engine attack bombers crashed on takeoff from El Paso International Airport which shared runways with Biggs AFB. The pilot, Major James O. Rudolph, survived the crash although he died the next month from severe burns. Staff Sergeant Wilbur R. Savage, engineer, was killed instantly.
This XB-51 had finished its flying sequences the month previous for the movie, Toward The Unknown, 1956. Read my comments at Unknown Hollywood. “Gilbert XF-120” was the fictitious name given to the bomber in the film. Pieces of the wreckage were still marked as such. The second prototype had previously crashed at Muroc Army Air Field (now Edwards AFB) in 1952. The XB-51 was a serious competitor to Boeing's B-47 but the Air Force contract was awarded to Boeing. Pilots have said the XB-51 was nimble, innovative and fast but casting a pall on the whole program was the crashing of both planes.
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