The "High Flight" program had been active for a considerable period of time. This program involved the return of the F86 aircraft from Europe to the USA, via Scotland and Keflavik, and the delivery of the new F100’s to European bases via the same route in the opposite direction. This was a Priority One project in all respects since these aircraft often arrived with five minutes of fuel left and any failure in the system could result in tragedy. We all remember the terrible weather conditions in Iceland at times.

About 9AM on this day I was working with General Electric field engineer Ray Keller on improving the maintenance schedules for our four radars, when the alarm system activated and smoke commenced to pour into the radar area and the lights went off. We quickly located the problem. The power to the radar area was an underground conduit with four very large conductors in the crawl space below the main floor. It was later determined that the failure was due to vibration of the wires inside the steel conduit at a 90 degree below, causing a dead short of one phase to the conduit. In fact it melted about three feet of the conduit and destroyed all the cables.

The following will back up the statement many of us made frequently "nothing was easy in Iceland". After learning the extent of the damage, Ray and I began our quest to find a temporary fix so we could get the radars up and running. Ray, who had been at H-1 for about five years, remembered that there was a full reel of heavy conductor wire in the bottom of the tower. We ran this on the ground to the powerhouse; unfortunately it was about twenty feet too short.

We refused to quit at this point because there might have been aircraft enroute that would need radar assistance. Our only possible fix for this problem was to cut a hole through the outside wall of the radar building which we asked for and received Authorization to do. We were then able to connect the power line and place the FPS-3 and FPS-6 in operation.

However there was one more problem to be solved. Our temporary cables were of less ampacity than the original cables, causing the new cables to heat up. Fortunately the Bendix Radar Depot in Keflavik had an identical reel of power cable which we obtained and connected in parallel with the first temporary cable, solving the overheating problem.

With the two main radars in full operation we slowly started a period of reducing our blood pressure and adrenalin level to something near normal. We were extremely pleased with the support we received from all personnel at the squadron and the Bendix Depot. It was later proven that our radars were only off the air for about 2 hours and 45 minutes; it seemed more like two days!!!

Our patchwork power distribution system was in operation for several weeks. It took that long to assemble the personnel and materials at Rome AFB, then transport to Rockville to replace the underground power distribution system.

Many people and organizations involved in this situation were later praised and commended for their highly successful efforts in overcoming this very serious equipment failure. Also, we were never notified of any loss of pilots or aircraft as a result of the down-time of the radars, which was the greatest reward of all.