In addition to the aerial tanker conversion, the Air Weather Service by 1955 had worn out the WB-29s used for hurricane hunting and other weather reconnaissance missions. Thirty-six former SAC B-50Ds were stripped of their armament and equipped for long-range weather reconnaissance missions. The WB-50 could fly higher and faster and longer than the WB-29. However, between 1956 and 1960 it experienced 13 major operational accidents, six of them involving the loss of the entire crew, and 66 crew member fatalities. After the weather reconnaissance fleet was grounded in May 1960 because of fuel leaks, plans were set in motion in 1962 to modify B-47 Stratojets being phased out of SAC to replace it in the role. The WB-50 had an important role during the Cuban Missile Crisis, when it monitored the weather around Cuba to plan photo-reconnaissance flights. The WB-50 was finally retired in 1965 due to metal fatigue and corrosion.