1943 – Nov 25, two USAAF B-24E’s collide/crash 5M N of Army Air Field, Liberal, KS– 11
Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 4-22-2024 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/
–11 Hutchinson News Herald, KS. “Eleven Dead in Collision of Bombers.” 11-26-1943, p. 1.
–11 Mireles 2006. Fatal Army AF Aviation Accidents…US…, V2, July 1943-July 1944, p. 596.
Narrative Information
Baugher: “Ford B-24E-25-FO Liberator…42-7316 collided in midair with 42-7363 6 mi N of Liberal AAF Nov 25, 1943. All aboard killed.” (Baugher, Joseph F. 1942 USAAF Serial Numbers (42-001 to 42-30031). 10-28-2011 rev.)
Mireles: “At 1545 CWT, two Consolidated B-24E airplanes collided in mid-air and crashed five and one-half miles north of the Army Air Field at Liberal, Kansas, killing 11 fliers…. The airplanes had taken off separately from Liberal Army Air Field on instrument training flights. B- 24E #42-7363 took off at 1304 and B-24E #42-7316 took off at 1328. After completing their respective missions, both airplanes began to let down through the overcast. They collided in mid-air at the base of clouds at about 1,200 feet above ground level. Statements of witnesses indicated that B-24 #42-7363 was traveling in a northerly direction and B-24E #42-7316 was traveling in a southeasterly direction when they collided. Investigators stated,
“Upon collision, the tail section of [42-7363] came off and the wing of the other airplane [42-7316] came off. When the airplanes parted, one airplane fuselage [42-7363] cartwheeled several times on its way to the ground, where it struck in an inverted position, very nearly below the point of the mid-air collision. The other airplane [B-24E #42-7316] (without a portion of the right wing) made a left turn of approximately 180 degrees, cartwheeled several times, dived into the ground and exploded before [B-24E #42-7363] hit the ground…. [13-24E #42-7363] had been properly cleared for an authorized let-down and was just completing this let-down at the time of the accident. [B-24E #42-7316] was completing an unauthorized…let-down and was flying next to the cloud base … both aircraft were at the immediate base of the clouds where they did not have horizontal visibility”.” (Mireles 2006, Vol. 2, p. 596.)
Newspaper
Nov 26, Associated Press: “Liberal, Kas. (AP) — Two four-engine Liberator bombers collided and fell in flames northeast of here Thursday afternoon, killing all eleven members of the two crews, the Liberal army airfield reported today. The dead included:
Capt. Douglas F. Milligan, 27, flight instructor, Arlington Heights. III…
Second LI. Lloyd G. Handy, 22, student co-pilot…wife, Joan, now of Liberal, Kas.
Staff Sgt. Elton Y. Dizmang, 20, student aerial engineer…Duncan, Okla.
Second Lieut. Herbert M. Briley, 21, student pilot, Menard, Tex.
Staff Sgt. Chester G. McCreary, 21. Aerial engineer, Marshall, Mich.
PFC. Charles K. Jacobs, Jr., 22, radio operator, Union City, N.J.
Second Lt. Robert W. Tupper, 20, instructor, Des Moines, Ia.
Second Lt. Ralph E. Pierce, 26, student pilot…Birth Tree, Ma.
Second Lt. Ralph E. Pierce, 26, 21, student co-pilot, Pittsburgh, Pa. [sic.]
Cpl. James W. Kell, 22, aerial engineer…Fort Smith, Ark.
PFC John J. Haggerty, 19, radio operator, Worcester, Mass.”
(Hutchinson News Herald, KS. “Eleven Dead in Collision of Bombers.” 11-26-1943, 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
Hutchinson News-Herald, KS. “Eleven Dead in Collision of Bombers.” 11-26-1943, p. 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=138290708
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.