Two Tragedies
Two Tragedies
Methods of crevasse detection are laborious and something less than exact, especially with equipment available in the 1950s. Richard T. Williams, CD3, USN, a heavy equipment driver of MCB (Special) was killed when his D8 Caterpillar crashed through a bridge that had been placed over a crack in the ice at McMurdo Sound. A few weeks later, tractor driver Max R. Kiel fell victim to a huge crevasse while also driving a D8 tractor. These were the only two fatalities during Operation Deep Freeze I. In memory of these men, the Air Operating Facility at McMurdo Sound was named Williams Air Operating Facility and the airstrip at Little America V became Max Kiel Airfield.
