1943 — Jan 26, USAAF C-67 structural failure in turbulence crash 11M S of Flomaton, AL-10
Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 5-18-2024 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/
–10 Aviation Safety Network, Flight Safety Foundation. ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 99561.
–10 Baugher, Joseph F. 1938-1939 USAAS Serial Numbers. March 5, 2011 revision.
–10 Mireles 2006, Fatal Army AF Aviation Accidents in US 1941-1945, Vol. 1, pp. 250-251.
Narrative Information
Aviation Safety Network, Flight Safety Foundation. ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 99561:
“Date: Tuesday 26 January 1943 Time: 10:00
“Type: Douglas UC-67 Dragon (B-23)
“Owner/operator: United States Army Air Forces (USAAF)
“Registration: 39-043 MSN: 2729
“Fatalities: 10 / Occupants: 10
….
“Location: 11 mi S of Flomaton, AL
….
“Departure airport: Drew Field, Tampa, FL
“Destination airport: Brookley Field, Mobile, AL
….
“Crew and passengers (all killed):
Major Sidney B Gimble, Jr. (pilot)
F/O [Flight Officer] Glenn A Johnson (copilot)
Lt Edward A Drucia
M/Sgt Pius C Witherow (engineer)
S/Sgt J C Melder (radio operator)
Brig Gen Carlyle Hilton Wash (passenger, 62 years old, a former commanding general of
the Third Air Force USAAF and now commanding general of the Second Air
Support Command)
Lt Col James H Cunnigham (passenger, Second Air Support Command)
Lt Col James A Cain, Jr. (passenger, Second Air Support Command)
Major John R Lee (passenger, aide to General Wash)
Lt John A Simon (passenger, Second Air Support Command)
Baugher: “Douglas B-23 Dragon….43 (c/n 2729) redesignated UC-67 Dec 27, 1941. Crashed near Flomaton, AL Jan 26, 1943. 10 killed.” (Baugher, Joseph F. 1938-1039 USAAS Serial Numbers. March 5, 2011 revision.)
Mireles: “At 1000, a Douglas C-67 (a B-23 type bomber modified into a high-speed transport) flying in poor weather suffered a catastrophic structural failure and disintegrated in mid-air, crashing into the ground 11 miles south of Flomaton, Alabama, and killing the ten passengers and crew on board. The airplane had taken off from Drew Field, Tampa, Florida, on a personnel transport flight to Colorado Springs, Colorado, via Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
“The Aircraft Accident Classification Committee stated,
“This accident occurred at approximately [1000 CWT]. There was an active cold front with severe turbulence, heavy rain, with thunder and lightning in the vicinity of Flomaton, Alabama. Reports of other pilots indicate the intensity of this frontal activity. The airplane fell in a wooded area and came straight into the ground as the top on none of the trees were broken, indicating that the airplane did not glide in. Immediately upon impact with the ground the ship exploded and burned to an unrecognizable mass. It was difficult to identify the type of aircraft from the wreckage. One body was thrown clear and did not burn, however, the other nine were charred to such an extent identification was particularly difficult. Sections of both wings were found a distance of about two and one-half miles from the scene of the crash and a truckload of fragments was picked up over an area of about three and one-half miles from the scene.
There was no indication or evidence that the airplane had come in contact with trees or the ground [prior to crashing]. The door to the fuselage and the life rafts were found about two miles from the scene. An inspection was made to determine whether or not the emergency release on the door had been pulled, however, it was found that the hinges on the door had been pulled out completely. The rivets on the parts of the wings were split loose. All of the bodies of the occupants had parachutes strapped on. From these facts, it is the conclusion of this board that either due to extreme turbulence, lightning, or an explosion due to low outside pressure, the wings gave way and the ship literally disintegrated in the air. This conclusion is based on the fact the ship and the bodies of the occupants therein, were found such a distance from the wings and other debris and the fact that the ship came in straight down. Apparently the ship was flying at an altitude high enough so that when the structural failure occurred, the engines and forward speed carried the fuselage some distance from the point the wings fell off. The parts of the airplane and wing which were picked up a distance of from one to three and one-half miles from the scene of the crash, ranged in size from small fragments to large sections of the wing. One of these fragments had markings thereon, with a pencil, indicating that some part of the airplane had been reinforced at one time or another. Whether the structural failure occurred at this point or elsewhere, this board is unable to state, but the conclusion seems to inevitably be that the wings and perhaps other parts of the airplane gave way in flight, resulting in the crash.”
(Mireles 2006, Fatal Army AF Aviation Accidents in US 1941-1945, Vol. 1, pp. 250-251.)
Sources
Aviation Safety Network, Flight Safety Foundation, Database, 1943. ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 99561. Accessed 5-18-2024 at: https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/99561
Baugher, Joseph F. 1938-1939 USAAS Serial Numbers. March 5, 2011 revision. Accessed at: http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1938.html
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.