On February 6, 1991, a USAF Boeing KC-135 military aircraft, operating as U.S. Air Force Flight WHALE 05, took off from Prince Abdullah Air Base, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, while en route on a Gulf War refueling mission.

During the landing in Jeddah, due to the damage of the engines to the hydraulic system, most of the descent was done without autopilot.

[1] The crew consisted of:[2][3]: 106 WHALE 05 was scheduled for take off from Jeddah at 17:24 local time and climb to 25,000 feet (7,600 m) for aerial refueling.

[10][4]: 1 [3]: 106 To maintain altitude and the speed of fuel discharge, the captain declared "Mayday" and decided to return to Jeddah.

[2] Upon landing, the pilot deployed a third engine thrust reverser, but immediately discontinued its use due to difficulty in directional control.

The plane had turned 110 degrees to the right and then to the left very quickly, it was discovered that another KC-135 was a few miles away, which led to the discovery that it was a powerful wake turbulence producing heavy G forces that caused the accident, although he did not regret not taking one more turn, since this could have caused the two right engines to also come off.