1943 — Dec 14, USAAF B-24J engine loss after takeoff, hits bluff on return 2M NE Council Bluffs, IA-16

Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 4-21-2024 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

—  16  Associated Press. “16 Die In Bomber Crash.” The Lincoln Star, NE. 12-15, 1943, p. 1.

—  16  Mireles 2006. Fatal Army AF Aviation Accidents…US…, V2, July 1943-July 1944, p. 615.

Narrative Information

Mireles: “At 2133 CWT, a Consolidated B-24J [42-100010] collided with rising terrain and crashed two miles northeast of Omaha, Nebraska,[1] killing 16 passengers and crew. Investigators stated,

 

“B- 24J airplane No. 42-100010 cleared Omaha Municipal Airport at 2125 CWT. The pilot at the time of take­off was apprehensive of the proper functioning of said airplane. Two minutes after leaving Omaha, the pilot asked for emergency landing instructions, stating that No. 4 engine was dead and the propeller was feathered. Landing instructions were given for a northwest land­ing and flood landing lights were turned on. The pilot made a turn and was lined up with the lighted high­way to the west and adjoining the airport. The tower cautioned the pilot [that he was-lined up with the highway] and gave clearances to land north or northeast. The pilot made a turn towards the airport and although at a high approach got into position to land on Run­way No. 2. The pilot however continued in level flight across the field slightly gaining altitude and contin­ued in a northeasterly direction. The tower cautioned the pilot about the bluffs ahead with the pilot acknowl­edging this information. The airplane made a right turn in the hills and crashed while headed in a southwest­erly direction. It is the conjecture of this board that the pilot, not realizing the height of the hills within two miles of the airport flew between two lines of hills and then executed a steep right slipping turn with his right wing probably partially stalled due to his dead No. 4 engine and crashed into the hillside”.”  (Mireles 2006, Vol. 2, July 1943-July 1944, p. 615.)

Newspaper

 

Sec 15, AP: “Council Bluffs, Ia., Dec. 15 – (AP) – Sixteen men were killed last night when a four-engined bomber, on a routine combat training flight from its base at the Fort Worth, Texas, army air field, crashed into the rugged cliffs five miles north of here, the public relations officer of the Lincoln, Beb., army air base said today. The public relations officer said there were no survivors and that a board of officers from the Lincoln base is investigating the crash.

 

“Five of the men were to have graduated today at the Forth Worth field as B-24 pilots. The other two officers aboard were instructors. Six others from the field were enlisted men and the remaining three occupants were passengers.

 

“The bodies of the 16 men were recovered from the wreckage this morning. The crash victims, whose names were released by the Lincoln air base public relations office, were:

 

Capt. Edwin H. Pate, pilot, Fort Worth, Tex.

2nd Lt. John A Fisher, Scarsdale, N.Y.

2nd Lt. Leroy G. Anderson, South St. Paul, Minn.

Capt. Abraham R. Johnston, Hunter, Okla.

2nd Lt. John W. Clark, Swartz Creek, Mich.

Flight Officer Stefan J. Akielaszek, Philadelphia, Pa.

Flight Officer Edward C. Jordon, Chicago, Ill.

  1. Sgt. Emory L. Gollin, Munger, Mich.
  2. Sgt. Joseph P. Diaze, San Antonio, Tex.
  3. Sgt. Ralph A. Bates, Dallas, Tex.

Cpl. Francis B. Gausepohl, New Athens, Ill.

Pvt. Robert H. Cross, Coleman, Tex.

Pfc. Kenneth A. Jeffries, Youngstown, O.

Edward Farrell, merchant marine, a passenger on the plane, son of Mrs. Hallie Farrell, Los Angeles, Calif.

 

“Of the 16 casualties two names are being withheld until home address and home military stations have been determined.

 

“The plane landed in an area of large clay hills and bluffs, bisected by hollows and ravines running toward the Missouri river. It was impossible to bring fire-fighting equipment close enough to extinguish the blazing wreckage, which burned more than five hours after the crash.

 

“Police Capt. W. H. Brown said bodies of only two men were thrown clear and that the remainder, badly burned, were found in or near the wreckage. The plane virtually disintegrated after grinding up to the crest of a small hill. Burning oxygen and gasoline prevented rescuers from approaching the plane for some time, Brown added.

 

“An eyewitness, Sgt. Frank Buglewicz of the Omaha police force, expressed the opinion the plane was one which left the Omaha airport shortly before the crash and that the craft attempted to turn back because it was in trouble.” (Associated Press. “16 Die In Bomber Crash.” The Lincoln Star, NE. 12-15, 1943, p. 1.)

 

Dec 15, Council Bluffs Nonpareil: “By Marjorie W. Gillespie. (Nonpareil Staff Writer.)

“Police Officers Bernard Lund, B. E. Montgomery, Ambulance Driver Bud Foster and I were the first to arrive at the scene. A police call from Omaha told us a plane with a load of 20 to 25 men had crashed on a hillside five miles north of the Omaha airport on the Council Bluffs side of the river….By the time we reached the dog pound we could see the fire in the hills high against the night sky. Ee decided the location of the plane must be near the junction of the Lime Kiln road with the North Western tracks in the hills to the east….We left the car and the ambulance crashed over a couple of fences, through a cornfield and clambered for a long way straight up a rough hill lined with cattle trails.

 

“When we reached the top the wreckage lay before us and our hearts sank at the horror of it. The plane, a four motored twin tailed B-24 Liberator bomber, was strewn across the west face of the hills, clumps of blazing debris scattered all over a 50-yard square. The fuselage was lying nearest the bottom of the hill 50 yards off the crest, a blazing inferno of white heat. Nothing could possibly be living in it.

 

“….Officer Montgomery spotted the first body. Then we say another with a parachute pack still under him. The fire was so intense it was impossible to remove the men….We waited [until flames died down] so the men went back to studying the wreckage, trying to discern human bodies through the flaring light of the plane. They found them. One by one the men pulled bodies out of that inferno – three, then four, then quickly two more. By 11 p.m., when the M.P.’s had arrived to take charge, six bodies had been fund. We didn’t know what had happened to the others….” (Council Bluffs Nonpareil, IA. “Nonpareil Reporter, First On Scene, Tells of Horror Which Greeted Rescuers.” 12-15-1943, p. 1.)

Sources

 

Associated Press. “16 Die In Bomber Crash.” The Lincoln Star, NE. 12-15, 1943, p. 1. Accessed 4-21-2024 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/lincoln-star-dec-15-1943-p-1/

 

Council Bluffs Nonpareil, IA. “Nonpareil Reporter, First On Scene, Tells of Horror Which Greeted Rescuers.” 12-15-1943, p. 1. Accessed 4-21-2024 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/council-bluffs-nonpareil-dec-15-1943-p-1/

 

Mireles, Anthony J.  Fatal Army Air Forces Aviation Accidents in the United States, 1941-1945 (Volume 2:  July 1943 – July 1944).  Jefferson, NC:  McFarland and Co., 2006.

 

 

 

[1] Two miles northeast of Omaha, NE, which borders an eastern bulge of Nebraska with Iowa, puts the crash on b bluff north of Council Bluffs IA. The bulge is explained by the fact that the states here are separated by and defined by the meanderings of the Missouri River.