Steven was a USAF flight instructor pilot on a training mission out of Williams AFB. His plane, with a student pilot aboard, crashed in the Superstition mountains outside of Phoenix. The cause was determined to be mechanical failure. Steven left a wife and infant daughter. He was a great guy.
Capt. Steven Michael Wildman, USAF, died in a plane crash on February 23, 1977 near Mesa, Arizona. As an instructor pilot, Steve was accompanying one of his students on a flight that originated out of Williams AFB, when a small cotter pin in the aileron linkage of their T-38 failed, resulting in the aircraft's uncontrollable spin into the White Mountain range of Arizona on the Apache Reservation. Earlier in his career Steve had been decorated with the Distinguished Flying Cross for bravery while serving in Vietnam. Steve was a patriot and a hero to his family and his nation.
Steve is survived by his wife, Andrea Wildman, and his two daughters Lindsay W. Kuntz and Julianna Oakes. Also surviving are his parents, Col. (USAF, retired) and Mrs. Winthrop W. Wildman, and his grandmother, Gertrude Mitchell (who recently turned 100 years old!). Steve now has two grandchildren, Dillon and Jasmyn.
Joanie Jensen (Christopher) (1965)
Steven was a USAF flight instructor pilot on a training mission out of Williams AFB. His plane, with a student pilot aboard, crashed in the Superstition mountains outside of Phoenix. The cause was determined to be mechanical failure. Steven left a wife and infant daughter. He was a great guy.
Linda O'Bert (Kidd) (1966)
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From Steve's family, September 2002:
Capt. Steven Michael Wildman, USAF, died in a plane crash on February 23, 1977 near Mesa, Arizona. As an instructor pilot, Steve was accompanying one of his students on a flight that originated out of Williams AFB, when a small cotter pin in the aileron linkage of their T-38 failed, resulting in the aircraft's uncontrollable spin into the White Mountain range of Arizona on the Apache Reservation. Earlier in his career Steve had been decorated with the Distinguished Flying Cross for bravery while serving in Vietnam. Steve was a patriot and a hero to his family and his nation.
Steve is survived by his wife, Andrea Wildman, and his two daughters Lindsay W. Kuntz and Julianna Oakes. Also surviving are his parents, Col. (USAF, retired) and Mrs. Winthrop W. Wildman, and his grandmother, Gertrude Mitchell (who recently turned 100 years old!). Steve now has two grandchildren, Dillon and Jasmyn.