Continued
	"After the aircraft was airborne parts of the electrical system were turned on to make radio contact with C-123J number 393 which was flying as safety in the general vicinity. This radio contact was made and an emergency was declared. The C-123 informed Sondrestrom Air Base of our emergency and requested that 1200 feet of foam be laid on the runway. "During the take off, flight to Sondrestrom and landing, all personnel with the exception of myself, the copilot and system engineer were in the aft cargo compartment. In flight two persons were used to replenish the booster hydraulic system with 12 gallons of hydraulic fluid in order to maintain the flight controls. "The flight to Sondrestrom was made without incident and a landing was made without further damage to the aircraft. All 14 persons on board evacuated the aircraft in nine seconds in a very orderly manner." As a result of the described incident, his commanding officer at the Wright Air Development Center, Colonel Joseph Davis, Jr., made a recommendation that Major Fitzwater be awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. The proposed citation to accompany the award read: "Major Charles E. Fitzwater distinguished himself by an extraordinary feat of airmanship, 18 April 1958, when he successfully handled an aircraft incident on the Greenland Ice Cap. As Project Test Pilot of a highly experimental C-130A aircraft, he discovered that during a landing on the Ice Cap the nose gear of his aircraft collapsed rearward and was pushed up and back into the interior of the fuselage, breaking hydraulic lines, electrical equipment and binding control cables. Major Fitzwater displayed superb airmanship, and acted in the best interest of the USAF when he made an immediate decision to fly this aircraft, with limited flight controls, to an Air Base 200 miles away. By his heroic efforts he saved the lives of 14 personnel from Ice Cap elements, and an extremely experimental high priority aircraft." Because of the damage to the test aircraft, the Greenland ski tests were considered finished. A summary of the test results in the preliminary Flight Test Report for the ski installation evaluation contained the following remarks: The ground handling characteristics on skis of the test aircraft were found to be satisfactory with the exception of the large turning radius required. The turning radius was limited by the nose ski safety cables. Asymmetric power and nose ski steering was used to turn the aircraft when taxiing. Ski landings were made using 100% flaps and touching down in a nose high attitude at an indicated airspeed of about 90 knots. The optimum pilot technique for ski takeoffs at the 10,000-foot level on the Ice Cap was as follows:
	a.	Flaps set at 100%.
	b.	Maximum available power applied and directional control maintained with nose ski steering.
	c.	No attempt was made to lift the nose ski until an indicated airspeed of 65 knots was reached. Then full elevator was used to lift the nose ski, and the aircraft rapidly accelerated to takeoff velocity.
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