SR-71 Suffered Catastrophic Engine Failure: The SR-71 Blackbird set a world speed record that still stands today, even after fifty years, making it the fastest air-breathing, operational, crewed aircraft ever built — so despite its age, every story about this aircraft and the men who flew it still inspires the imagination of aviation enthusiasts. And in one story, the historic plane suffered catastrophic engine failure while flying at Mach 2.88.
On July 28, 1976, an SR-71 Blackbird reached 2,193.167 miles per hour while flying a measured course, making history. Its performance was incredible for the time, and even today, with its extreme speed and ability to fly at high altitude, it could conduct reconnaissance missions at more than three times the speed of sound. It could operate at altitudes where crews could actually see the Earth’s curvature.
SR-71 at the National Museum of the Air Force.
SR-71 at the National Museum of the Air Force.
YF-12, a plane that is related to the SR-71, looks very similar. 19FortyFive.com image from the National Museum of the Air Force.
And while that speed was an enormous benefit, it did not eliminate the dangers facing the two men inside the aircraft.
It was hugely risky to fly, in fact.
Eight years before the record-setting flight, one SR-71 crew experienced a catastrophic engine failure while traveling at Mach 2.88, roughly 2,000 miles per hour, at 68,000 feet.
A Last-Minute Crew Change
The emergency began on July 29, 1968, during a test of the aircraft’s long-range capabilities. Lt. Col. Ben Bowles was piloting SR-71A 61-7960, while Col. Richard “Butch” Sheffield served as the reconnaissance systems officer, or RSO. Sheffield wasn’t originally assigned to the flight, but took the place of RSO Jim Fagg after Fagg failed his preflight physical.
An account published by his daughter, Linda Sheffield Miller, explains:
“On July 29, 1968, I was sitting at my desk in the 1st. SRS when the phone rang. It was someone from PSD saying Jim Fagg had just failed his pre-flight physical and cannot fly today. Did anyone want to take his place? I told them I would be right over and I rushed over to PSD, took the pre-flight physical, ate the pre-flight meal and rushed downstairs and suited up in my pressure suit for the flight. I did not have time to get my own checklist so I took Jim’s checklist and flight data from him. Ben Bowles, Jim’s pilot, and I had known each other for a while and he was one of the wings best. They had already taken him to the aircraft and were strapping him in so we could make an on-time takeoff.”
The aircraft, he said, took off and refueled before heading toward the East Coast. It then turned west and accelerated back toward Mach 3.
An SR-71 Blackbird Engine Failed at 68,000 Feet
The SR-71 achieved its incredible speeds through a combination of its shaping and the two powerful Pratt & Whitney J58 engines that powered it.
The engines were designed to operate continuously at extraordinary speeds.
At Mach 3, much of the aircraft’s propulsion depended on precisely controlling the supersonic air entering its engine inlets — because that air was moving too quickly and was too hot.
An inlet “unstart” could cause violent yawing and buffeting, meaning the aircraft would suddenly jerk sideways and shake violently as one engine lost its airflow and thrust. What happened to 61-7960, however, was even more serious than that.
Sheffield described:
“We were at Mach 2.88 and 68,000 feet over Oklahoma when the right engine suffered catastrophic failure. The aircraft became very hard to control and we could see the right engine burning even though we had shut off the fuel to it. Ben asked me if I wanted to ‘get out.’ My back was still sore from ejecting the year before, I thought, if I eject again, it might break my back, I said, ‘no.’”
“It was a very rough ride down from 68,000 feet. The aircraft was bucking like a bronco. We were running lots of different checklists; (1) engine fire; (2) engine failure; (3) generator failure; (4) hydraulics failure; (5) descent and (6) others (still classified),” he continued.
Bowles had a separate account of the emergency, in which he described hearing a loud explosion and experiencing severe aerodynamic buffeting. He also described a large smoke trail behind the aircraft as it happened.
The Crew Didn’t Abandon the Aircraft
The crew responded by shutting down the right engine and declaring an emergency. They then began descending toward Carswell Air Force Base near Fort Worth, Texas.
Sheffield had selected Carswell because it was ahead of them, and Bowles had landed there earlier while flying the B-58 Hustler. Sheffield then contacted Beale Air Force Base in California, set the aircraft’s transponder to emergency code 7700, and worked through several checklists simultaneously to keep the aircraft moving and operating safely.
But the danger continued even as he did it, and even after fuel was cut off to the damaged engine.
“I could see the fire & smoke coming out of the engine even after we shut off the fuel. We had fuel tanks in the wing of the SR out to near the engine. If the fire reached that fuel we would blow up,” the account reads.
“As we approached Carswell, smoke was still pouring out of the right engine. I said to Ben that if it were still burning when we stop on the runway and the fuel pools, it might explode. He agreed. I suggested we fly by the tower and ask them if they can see flames, which we did. They said no flames and we landed. The fire trucks surround us once on the runway and I could see the fire chief making a large circle with his hands and arms—it was the size of the hole in the engine,” it continued.
Structurally Unsound
Firefighters surrounded the Blackbird after it stopped, and what they found was extensive damage. Part of the engine nacelle had gone, the wing had sustained extensive fire damage, and the aircraft was later deemed structurally unsound.
Against extraordinary odds, Bowles and Sheffield managed to land safely — and the badly damaged Blackbird was ultimately repaired and returned to service. It was then preserved at California’s Castle Air Museum.
About the Author: Jack Buckby
Jack Buckby is a British researcher and analyst specializing in defense and national security, based in New York. His work focuses on military capability, procurement, and strategic competition, and he produces and edits analysis for policy and defense audiences. He brings extensive editorial experience, with a career output spanning over 1,000 articles at 19FortyFive and National Security Journal, and has previously authored books and papers on extremism and deradicalization.
