Near this site, at 1:42 am on January 13th 1964, the B-52 bomber Buzz One Four crashed during a blizzard while en route from Westover Air Force Base in Chicopee, Massachusetts, to Turner Air Force Base in Albany, Georgia, after suffering catastrophic structure failure over southern Pennsylvania due to severe turbulence. The plane, part of Operation Chrome Dome, carried a crew of five and was armed with two 9-megaton nuclear weapons. Four crew members ejected, and the pilot, Major Thomas W. McCormick, and co-pilot, Captain Parker C. "Mack" Peedin, were the only survivors. The navigator, Major Robert L. Payne, and tail gunner, TSgt. Melvin D. Wooten, died of exposure before rescue, while radar navigator Major Robert E. Townley was unable to eject and was found in the wreckage. Many local citizens endured brutal winter conditions to assist air and ground search teams trying to rescue the crew members.