Base Squadron, 1 March 1951 Re-designated: 5040th Air Base Squadron, 15 July 1958 Re-designated: 5073d Air Base Squadron, 1 October 1962 Re-designated: 5073d Air Base Group, 15 October 1974 – 27 January 1992 16th Surveillance Squadron, 1 January 1967 Re-designated: 16th Aerospace Surveillance Squadron, 3 January 1967 – 1 December 1979 673d Air Base Group, 27 January 1992 – 1 July 1994 611th Air Support Squadron, 1 July 1994 – present Accidents and incidents On 27 December 1957, a Royal Canadian Air Force North Star crashed during landing. The six crew and two passengers survived although the aircraft was written-off beyond repair. On 21 July 1961, a Douglas DC-6A, Alaska Airlines Flight 779, crashed at Shemya on a flight from Anchorage after the controller neglected to turn on the runway lights. All six on board were killed in the crash. On 13 January 1969, a Boeing RC-135S, serial 59–1491, ran off the end of the runway and broke up. There were no fatalities, but the aircraft was a total loss. On 5 June 1969, Boeing RC-135E serial number 62–4137, operating out of Shemya AFB, went down in the Bering Sea. On 15 March 1981, another RC-135 crashed while on approach to Shemya AFB in poor weather. Six of the twenty-four crew on board were killed. On 31 July 1983, Lockheed C-5A Galaxy 70–0446, was severely damaged when it landed short of the runway, bounced into the air and crashed on the runway. There were no fatalities, but the aircraft was severely damaged. After repairs, it was approved for a one-time ferry flight back to the mainland for a complete overhaul. On 6 April 1993, China Eastern Airlines Flight 583, a McDonnell Douglas MD-11, made an emergency landing at Shemya after slats were accidentally deployed in mid-air, causing severe oscillations. Sixty crew members and passengers were hospitalised, and two ultimately died. On 29 July 2015, Cathay Pacific Flight 884 from Hong Kong to Los Angeles, a Boeing 777-300ER, made an emergency landing at the air base after a cooling fan in the cargo hold failed, creating smoke in the cockpit. The crew was initially preparing for a water landing in case there was a real fire, but the aircraft continued to Eareckson/Shemya to make an emergency landing there. On 24 December 2018, Delta Air Lines Flight 128 from Beijing to Seattle carrying 194 passengers landed safely on Shemya Island due to