More detail on this person: Milton R Roberts
age 35 born in 1936 died Jan 22 1971 at Patuxtent
NAS, MD from a training accident at Patuxent Naval
Air Station. His helicopter crashed into
Chesapeake Bay. He couldn't release his safety
harness due to a hand injury and drowned. Burial information: Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA
This information was last updated 05/18/2016
Please send additions or corrections to: HQ@vhpa.org VHPA Headquarters
Return to the Helicopter Pilot DAT name list
Return to VHPA web site
Date posted on this site:
03/10/2024
Copyright © 1998 - 2024 Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association
He was a graduate Civil Engineer from Texas A&M
College in 1958 and a native of Dallas Texas where
he graduated from Technical High School. He
reached the rank of Major before his death in a
helicopter accident.
Survivors: May have had a wife, 2 children, data
unconfirmed.
Graduate of Texas A&M College, 1958,
Distinguished Military Graduate, Major USA, test
pilot program at Patuxtent NAS. Two tours in
Vietnam as Air Rescue pilot, company commander,
got injured in a rocket attack at Danang AB,
coming out of mess hall. Information from his
mother.
From: Noel Garland
A copy of the Popular Mechanics article,
September, 1971, about his and others experiences
and deaths in helicopters, "Unsafe at Any Height,"
will be sent to you and others forthwith. Perhaps
his classmates at Crozier Tech High School in
Dallas will find this informative. I wonder why
his grave site isnt listed in the websites listing
military personnel buried at the Arlington
National Cemetery do not include him and that
location. May have not looked at the right website
perhaps.
From: "Noel Garland"
Subject: Re: Questions about the life of Milton
Roberts
Good morning, Noel -- Here are the answers to your
questions as best my memory can retrace events of
35 years ago. I may have given too much
information on some. But, obviously, you can use
what you wish. For reasons I cannot explain, this
recollection and report was also somehow good for
me. Sincere regards, Bruce
From: Bruce Valley To: Noel Garland Sent:
Saturday, March 26, 2005 7:29 AM
Bruce, Here is a list of quick questions that come
to mind, I may have more, and some of these you
may be able to combine in quicker, or fewer
answers. I leave it up to you as to what you can
or will answer, hopefully the answers wont be
difficult to come by, or be too painful memories
considering the friendship you had or feel about
Milton. By the way, I have recently learned that
his Corp nickname was Milton (Snake) Roberts,
something his friends at A&M don't remember or
know how he came by that. I never heard him
referred to by a nickname in high school, he was
just always Milton. I know he and a good friend
here were avid miniature golf players, and may
have played golf also.
Questions:
When did you first meet Milton?
October 1970, as Class 58 convened at the US
Naval Test Pilot School, Patuxent River, MD. 21 of
the military's hottest pilots, including five
helicopter pilots (Major Milton Roberts, USA
(Leader), Captain Morrie Larson, USA, Capt Fred
Gregory, USAF (later an astronaut and shuttle
commander, now deputy director, NASA), myself,
and a USMC Captain who dropped out in the first
week).
You mentioned some knowledge of Milton's
helicopter experiences that he had in Vietnam. I
understand from his mother that he was burned
severely on the arm coming out of the mess hall in
the DaNang mess one morning due to a mortar or
rocket attack. He then spent months at Brook Army
Medical Hospital in San Antonio until he was able
to regain his flying status and thus remain in the
Army. What knowledge do you have of these
periods in his life?
My recollection of Milt's background (though
aviators will talk ceaselessly about their
airplanes, fast cars and girlfriends, most do not
discuss themselves in detail!) is that he'd had
two or three Vietnam tours. On the last his left
wrist was terribly damaged, eliminating him from
further flight status (that hand has to pull the
collective up and down, controlling the rotor
pitch and thus altitude, but also must twist that
lever to control the engine rpm). Milt
rehabilitated himself somehow and was able to
return to flight status. He had over 3000 hours in
the Huey (UH-1) helicopter and was a masterful
pilot.
When did you both begin the Test Pilot School, and
where was training performed?
See question 1 above. The course was one year in
length, with the rotary wing pilots required to
complete both fixed and rotaty wing courses (some
28-30 test flights each), while learning to fly
some forty different airplanes or helicopter and
attending school (master or PhD level math and
aero) one half day each weekday.
What was the course of instruction in both
classroom and in flight training?
See above. The content of all courses was intended
to prepare the (primarily Navy) pilots for duty in
the test divisions of NATC (the Naval Air Test
Center) at Patuxent River, where they would
typically serve for three years following
completion of test pilot school. These divisions,
like the course content, were Flying Qualities &
Performance (the two subjects upon which the
school concentrated), Weapons Systems Test and
Service Suitability.
You mentioned 30 flights in fixed wing aircraft,
and 30 flights in rotary wing aircraft. Why was it
necessary for experienced helicopter pilots to
take 30 additional flights in helicopters when the
fixed wing pilots did not have to accomplish
that?
This is opinion : It would be preferred that all
test pilots be trained as unrestricted (ie.
certified to test anything, fixed or rotary wing).
But the reality was that the test flying of a
helicopter was much more dangerous than that of a
fixed wing aircraft. Having fixed wing pilots
become qualified as rotary wing test pilots would
have greatly heightened the fatality rates (which
was already 10-20% per class, I believe). Finally,
while I believe based on thousands of hours of
flying helicopters that they are just as safe as
airplanes, their inherent instability makes them
far harder to fly in test regimes beyond normal
flight parameters. Thus survival doing such tests
depends significantly upon experience, which the
fixed wing pilots would not have had. All of Class
58's helicopter students had at least 1000 hours
of flying time in helicopters and had flown in
combat.
What knowledge did you have of Milton's family and
life outside of the training?
Like my family, Milt's home life was quiet and
normal. That was a hard-drinking, hard-living time
and neither Milt or I drank or partied. Milt had a
lovely wife (Amanda) and two small children
(4-8?), one boy and one girl. I know little else
but my impression was that Amanda's family lived
around Washington, DC.
What common experiences did you and Milton have
outside of the training and classroom experience
if any?
Due to the 24-hour pressures of the school, there
was precious little time to do anything else. Milt
and I -- and the other helo drivers -- spent a lot
of time together at the school or in one of our
homes studying. The academics were incredibly
rigorous and often required all-nighters to
prepare for the next day. As I recall we did
occasionally get together for a Friday or Saturday
night bring-your-own dinner at someone's home,
where we would all sit around and complain how
demanding the school was.
What are the details of the crash as you remember
them?
The date was January 22, 1971. We took off early
at 7 AM. The test was Climb To Service Ceiling,
which required us to fly the UH-1B to fly to an
altitude greater than 20,000 feet where the air is
thin and controls are mushy. It is very dangerous
flying and I believe another helicopter and crew
were lost doing this test a few years earlier. We
were supposed to take along two flight engineers
as cabin observers -- one Italian and one Japanese
-- but the maintainance crew had forgotten oxygen
equipment for those two and Milt elected to leave
them behind. The day was overcast and calm, so
calm that it was difficult to see how high you
were above water which reflected the clouds. Navy
pilots live in this environment often flying from
aircraft pilots but Army pilots do not. Though
Milt was the A/C (aircraft commander), I discussed
this with him because our test climb required that
we fly very low to begin ascent and obtain our
data. He acknowledged, and added that he wouldn't
want to crash at sea because he could not swim
well. We began our test with me flying the
aircraft and Milt managing the data panels and
stop watch. I believe the first of several climbs
was at 40 KT. At 1000 ft I heard Milt say "Damn".
He had hit the stop watch but failed to start it
and we would have to repeat the climb test. He
took over flying the aircraft, and asked me to
reset all the switches in the dashboard to zero so
the flight data recorder would be ready to
restart. I was still doing this when we hit the
water in a steep right turn flying at perhaps 100
kts. I remember an explosion (the engine), being
struck by something and then my mouth filled with
water. At impact, my first thought was we'd had a
mid-air collision with another aircraft. The
aircraft was under water immediately (or I may
have been briefly unconscious). I started to
extricate myself but was pinned in by the
instrument panel and could not release the
seatbelts (we were wearing parachutes and oxygen
masks for this test, which complicated things
considerably). By the time I finally got free the
aircraft was sitting upside down on the bottom in
about 70 feet of water. I reached over to the
pilot's seat, which was empty (I later was told
that Milt had gotten free but had gone into the
cabin where he was trapped, though they also said
he would not likely have survived his head
injuries had he escaped the helo) and swam free
(the door was gone) into the blackness, eventually
reaching the surface. There was wreckage, an oil
slick, two helmets but no Milt. I assessed my
situation. The water temperature was 32 degrees
(as the Survival Officer of a Navy Squadron that
had flown missions above the Arctic Circle, I knew
my time to live was approximately 10-12 minutes in
those conditions). I was in the middle of the
Patuxent River, with ice chunks all around, and
the nearest land was roughly one-half mile way. I
took a chunk of floating fuselage for support and
began to swim to the western shore. Though
typically it is best to stay near the wreckage
offering more of a target to searchers, I knew I
had very little time and could not expect rescue
in the time I had to live. After one-half hour I
had made it about half way to shore. At that time
a police boat passed me perhaps 300 feet nearer
the shore heading south. But I had no voice and
only my shoulder and hip joints still moved,
everything else now being frozen. The boat, whose
radio transmissions I could clearly hear above the
engine noise, did not see me and, for the first
time, I felt my hopes flag. But I kept swimming,
turning on my back to help keep my mouth out of
the water, and abandoning the piece of wreckage.
Some time later I heard an outboard motor. Looking
up I saw a small rowboat heading north then,
seeing me, it came alongside. The man, L. Ray
White, had heard my initial cries for help or
perhaps the sound of the crash itself, and come to
investigate. Somehow this 140 lb man got a wet
and disabled 200 lb aviator into his boat. He took
me to his home on Cuckhold Creek, sat me before
his stove and called the ambulance, which rushed
me to the Navy Hospital. My body temperature was
85 degrees, right at clinical death. After 2-3
hours sitting on a stool in a hot shower, I was
able to lie down. By the end of the day, I was
able to go home.
What caused the crash to occur?
Like almost all accidents, the cause must be
speculative. I would guess that Milt was fooled by
the images of clouds in the water and did not
closely monitor his altitude. The flight
conditions, his unfamiliarity with over-water
flight, and the wearing of parachutes and oxygen
masks may all have contributed to the accident. I
have always blamed myself for not checking outside
while re-setting dozens of switches but both of us
were feeling pressure for the time we'd lost due
to the stop watch not working, and I will have to
live with the rest.
What was the day and the flight like prior to the
crash?
See above.
Who recovered Milton's body as well as the
helicopter?
A barge and crane recovered the helicopter before
dark on the day of the crash with Milt's body
inside. The helo was brought to the test pilot
school hanger for the accident investigation.
Where is Milton buried? Some reports say that he
is buried in the Arlington National Cemetery but
that proof cannot be found on the Arlington
National Cemetery websites that Ive looked at.
I attended Milt's funeral with Class 58 and the
USNTPS staff at Arlington National Cemetery.
Was there an investigation into the crash?
Yes, as there is for all military aircraft
accidents. Somewhere I may have a copy. No one
was found to be at fault in the crash.
Where is Milton's family now, do you continue to
have contact with them?
I regret to say that I have no idea. I hope Amanda
was able to remarry.
From: Bruce Valley
Now I thought that we need to finish up the story,
your story to complete the report.
What were your injuries, and/or experience in the
water? We have the name of the fisherman who
rescued you. By the way do you have a copy of that
issue of the school graduation notice?
No injuries to speak of -- just cuts and
scratches. To say I was lucky is perhaps an
understatement. I did dream of the crash for many
years, and would wake up with huge, uncontrollable
shivering. And my lower back was apparently
damaged, as the doctors recommended fusing
several sections to reduce pain. I choose not to
have the operation, accepted the pain and
stiffness for about a decade, then found myself
pain free thereafter.
What effect did it have on you immediately
afterwards, and later during the remainder of the
training?
Obviously, I felt a sense of guilt that a friend
had died and, somehow, I had lived. My emotional
visit with Milt's family the day after the crash
remains one of the most intense experiences of my
life. Going to his funeral and burial were very
difficult experiences for me. Capt Fred Gregory,
USAF (later an astronaut, shuttle commander and
now deputy director of NASA) came to my house
the afternoon of the crash to tell me we had to go
flying the next morning. I was dumbfounded! He
said I was too good a pilot to quit but that, if I
didn't get back in the air right away, I might
give up flying. So at 7 AM the next morning, we
took off in an old Sikorsky UH-34 Seahorse
helicopter. My recollection is that the act of
lifting the collective and pulling the aircraft
into the air was very difficult to do -- for the
first time, opposing forces existed in my brain
newly-aware of the risks in that action -- but
having done so, lifted into a hover, and
translated to forward flight, it felt normal and
thereafter I never let the crash bother me again,
flying for some fifteen more years and perhaps
3000 plus more flight hours.
Did it have an effect on your future career in the
Navy?
None. Although I chose to retire after twenty
commissioned years (and four previous at the U.S.
Naval Academy), I felt I had a wonderful career
with many unique opportunities. The helicopter
crash played no further role in my naval career,
except that for many years flight surgeons would
call or write me annually to ask questions. It
seems that my 45-50 minutes surviving 32 degree
water, then surviving severe hypothermia, was some
kind of record. During my career, I was privileged
to personally serve a NATO Commander in Chief, A
Secretary of the Navy, A Secretary of Defense, the
first Director of Strategic Defense (Star Wars
program) and, on occasion, two US Presidents,
Reagan and Bush, Sr. -- and to graduate not only
from the US Naval Test Pilot School but also the
Naval Postgraduate School (M.S. Management) and
the Naval War College -- and to spend one year as
a Federal Executive Fellow.
What effect did it have on the remaining members
of the class as far as you know?
Milt Roberts, in addition to being the senior
helicopter pilot and thus our class leader, was
the kind of officer and man that was
well-respected and well liked by everyone. His
loss, under the extreme pressure of the test pilot
school and its schedule, was keenly felt by not
only his fellow students but by the staff as well.
Having said that the business of testing aircraft
-- and of training test pilots -- has always been
expensive in human life. These sacrifices
hopefully enable the saving of many more lives out
in the fleet because test pilots have found ways
from their test results to make the aircraft more
safe or reliable. Military professionals do not
often show their feelings when their friends and
squadron-mates are loss. They cannot, because
they have to go right back into the cockpit and
the air themselves. But, inside, they feel these
losses just like anyone else -- though it does not
show.
One other question about Milton's wife, did she
come from McDonald, Ohio, or elsewhere, if you
have that information?
Regrettably, I have no information about Amanda or
the children -- and do not know what her hometown
may have been.
From: Bruce Valley