1943 – Jan 24, USAAF B-17F flies into terrain flying under low ceiling ~Ordway, CO– 10
Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 5-18-2024 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/
— 10 Greeley Daily Tribune, CO. “10 Killed in Army Bomber Near Pueblo.” 1-25-1943, p. 1.
— 10 Mireles 2006, Fatal Army AF Aviation Accidents in US 1941-1945, Vol. 1, p. 249.
Narrative Information
Baugher: “Boeing B-17F-45-BO Fortress….5334 wrecked Ordway, CO Jan 24, 1943. Crew killed.” (Baugher. 1942 USAAF Serial Numbers (42-001 to 42-30031). 10-28-2011 rev.)
Mireles: “At 2305, a Boeing B-17F flying in poor weather collided with terrain and crashed near Ordway, Colorado, killing the crew of ten…. Investigation revealed that the airplane was trying to stay under a very low ceiling when it struck the ground with the port wing. The B-17 cartwheeled into the ground and exploded into flames. Wreckage and bodies were scattered over a considerable area. The air-plane had taken off at 1645 MWT from the Pueblo Army Base, Colorado, on a local bombing mission and routine night flying.” (Mireles 2006, Vol. 1, p. 249.)
Newspaper
Jan 25: “Associated Press. Ordway, Colo., Jan. 25. – A four-motored army bomber crashed and burned 18 miles north of this little southeastern Colorado town last midnight, killing 10 men. The plane crashed near a prairie bombing range, north of the scene of a mid-air bomber collision which killed seven fliers last month. It was from Rapid City, S. D., but had been based temporarily at the Pueblo army air base 50 miles west of here, the Pueblo public relations officer said. Bodies of the 10 victims were taken to a Pueblo mortuary….
“The bomber crashed shortly after it was reported missing from the Pueblo base at 11:30 p. m., mountain war time. Undersheriff J. J. O’Connell reported that all aboard the plane were killed.
“John Jonach, Ordway businessman, reported the crash to authorities at the La Junta army air base southeast of Ordway. He said he was about a mile away when the bombed plunged to earth and was the first to reach the scene. ‘It came over real low and it’s engines didn’t sound, right,’ Jonach said. ‘It was pretty dark and I didn’t actually see the plane crash but a big flash lit up the sky when it hit. I saw the plane bounce once in the flare of the explosion. When I reached the scene burned wreckage was spread over the country. You couldn’t get close to it because it was burning so hot. I put in a call for the army air base at La Junta and went back to the scene. There were quite a few ranchers around the wreckage by then. Ambulances from La Junta showed up early today, but I don’t know how many bodies the crash crew picked up.’….” (Greeley Daily Tribune, CO. “10 Killed in Army Bomber Near Pueblo.” 1-25-1943, p. 1.)
Sources
Baugher, Joseph F. 1942 USAAF Serial Numbers (42-001 to 42-30031). Oct 28 2011 revision. Accessed 12-9-2011 at: http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1942_1.html
Greeley Daily Tribune, CO. “10 Killed in Army Bomber Near Pueblo.” 1-25-1943, p. 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=52020621
Mireles, Anthony J. Fatal Army Air Forces Aviation Accidents in the United States, 1941-1945 (Volume 1: Introduction, January 1941 – June 1943). Jefferson, NC: McFarland and Co., 2006.