"Now for what happened to Curly Moore:
"Curly was reassigned to Goose Bay about three months before I got there in December 1962. Our squadron, the 59th FIS, had beaten the 482nd in a competition at Dover AFB to see who would represent the 26th Air Division in "William Tell 1963." Our team was flying a "William Tell" training mission somewhere around September - Curly Moore was flying number one and I was flying number two (there were two other guys flying 3 and 4). The weather was not very good - we had a ceiling of about 3-400 feet with tops at around 18,000 feet. I released my brakes 30 seconds after Curly started his roll (the two behind me released their brakes at 30 seconds). This put us about 1 mile apart. After I started my roll I switched my radio from the tower to the radar site (Ground Control Intercept or GCI site) channel - as was the plan. Immediately I heard them trying to contact Curly - he had not checked in. I checked in and they asked me if I had Curly on my radar - I did not - normally I would have been locked on to him by the time I broke ground - I searched for him, but nothing! They told me that he had disappeared from their radar immediately after takeoff. The three of us continued to climb out - searching for Curly with our radar and the GCI controller was trying to contact Curly on Guard Channel - the emergency channel that would broadcast on all frequencies.
"The Goose Bay area is either water or rock, not much else. Curly went in about 3 or 4 miles off the end of the runway - probably still in afterburner! Where he hit was solid rock - not much left! As far as I know the real cause was never determined. The pilots didn't think it was a case of vertigo or disorientation, but more likely a heart attack or stroke - possibly a malfunction in his instruments, but not likely. I don't think there was enough wreckage left to determine anything. It was a sad day."