1943 — June 7, USAAF C-47 airport approach crash in thunderstorm ~Red Springs NC–20
Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 5-7-2024 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/
— 20 Baugher, Joseph F. 1942 USAAF Serial Numbers (42-001 to 42-30031). 10-28-2011 rev.
— 20 Gero. Military Aviation Disasters: Significant Losses Since 1908. 1999, 25.
— 20 Kebabjian. Planecrashinfo.com.
— 20 Lethbridge Herald, Alberta, Canada. “20 Dead in U.S. Air Crash,” June 9, 1943.
— 20 Mireles 2006. Fatal Army AF Aviation Accidents…US…, V. 1 Jan 1941-Jun 1943, p. 398.
— 20 Robesonian, Lumberton, NC. “Number Killed in Plane Crash Set at Twenty…” 6/9/1943.
Narrative Information
Baugher: “Douglas C-47A-20-DL….23512 crashed near Red Springs, NC Jun 6 [7th], 1943 while trying to land in thunderstorm. 20 killed.” (Baugher, Joseph F. 1942 USAAF Serial Numbers (42-001 to 42-30031). 10-28-2011 rev.)
Gero: “Date: 7 June 1943 (c.04:00)
“Location: Near Red Springs, North Carolina, US….
“At 11:20 20 American servicemen aboard were killed…including the crew of four, when the twin-engine transport crashed and burned 20 miles (30km) south-west of Fayetteville. The passengers were glider pilots, and the aircraft had been on an intrastate flight from Pope Field to Maxton Army Air Base when the accident occurred, in pre-dawn darkness. Proceeding on a southerly heading at a height of only about 200ft (c.60m), the C-47 had turned northward and then back towards the base, located 5 miles (10km) to the south-west, before it slammed to earth moments later in an area of thunderstorm activity….” (Gero. Military Aviation Disasters: Significant Losses Since 1908. 1999, p. 25.)
Mireles: “At 0400, a Douglas C-47A flying in poor weather crashed four miles northeast of Laurinburg-Maxton Army Air Base, Maxton, North Carolina, killing four crewmembers and 16 glider pilots….
“The airplane had taken off from Pope Field, Fort Bragg, North Carolina, at 0339 EWT on a flight to transport the glider pilots to Laurinburg-Maxton AAB and encountered a powerful line of thunderstorms upon arrival. The storms included heavy rain and “terrific” lightning. The C-47, trying to find the air base in the severe thunderstorms, was flying under the ceiling about 200 feet above ground level. The pilot apparently attempted a right turn at very low altitude, causing the starboard wing to strike the terrain. The airplane smashed in on its starboard wing and engine, cartwheeling across the ground and exploding into flames. Investigators speculated that the pilot was unaware of his proximity to the ground when he attempted the turn. An airplane that had departed Pope Field five minutes after the accident airplane returned to Pope Field after encountering the storms.” (Mireles 2006, Vol. 1, p. 398.)
Newspaper
June 9: “Fort Bragg, June 9. — The toll of dead in the crash of an Army transport plane near the Laurinburg-Maxton Air Base Monday was set at 20 yesterday as Pope Field officers revealed the entire crew of four, and all 16 passengers were killed.
“Col. Sam Price, Pope Field executive officer, said two C-47 transports took off from Pope Field, aid base at Fort Bragg, about 3 a. m. on a routine flight to Laurinburg-Maxton. En route they ran into a thunderstorm and one plane turned back, landing safely at Pope Field.
”About 5 a. m. a searching party was sent out, and the wreckage of the plane, with the bodies of all the 20 passengers and crew, was found within sight of the Laurinburg-Maxton field. An eye-witness told Colonel Price that he heard the plane fly low around his house, then turn in the direction of the Laurinburg field. A few seconds later he heard the crash.
”Colonel Price said that the pilot apparently had found an opening in the storm and had sighted the field, but that when he attempted to turn toward the field a wing had struck the ground.
The plane was practically demolished…” (The Robesonian, Lumberton, NC. 6-9-1943.)
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
Gero, David. Military Aviation Disasters: Significant Losses Since 1908. UK and Newbury Park, CA: Patrick Stephens Limited, an imprint of Hayes Publishing, 1999.
Kebabjian, Richard. 1943. Planecrashinfo.com. Accessed 3-5-2009 at: http://www.planecrashinfo.com/1943/1943-14.htm
Lethbridge Herald, Alberta, Canada. “20 Dead in U.S. Air Crash,” 6-9-1943. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/freepdfviewer.aspx?img=4021291
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.
Robesonian, Lumberton, NC. “Number Killed in Plane Crash Set at Twenty Men,” 9 June 1943. http://www3.gendisasters.com/north-carolina/5383/maxton,-nc-army-plane-crashes-near-fort-bragg,-june-1943