1943 – Sep 5, USAAF C-53D Skytrooper turbulence break-up 10M S of Sedalia, MO            –all 11

Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 4-26-2024 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

 –11  Aviation Safety Network. Accident Description, USAAF C-53 Skytrooper, Sep 5, 1943.

–11  Mireles 2006. Fatal Army AF Aviation Accidents…US…, V2, July 1943-July 1944, p. 505.

Narrative Information

Aviation Safety Network: “United States Army Air Force Douglas C-53D-DO Skytrooper carrying seven passengers and a crew of four crashes 10 miles south of Sedalia, Missouri, of September 5, 1943 at 23:27. No survivors.” (Aviation Safety Network. Accident Description, USAAF C-53 Skytrooper, Sep 5, 1943; citing Mireless 2006, Fatal Army Air Forces Aviation Vol. 2: July 1943-July 1944.)

 

Mireles: “At 2327, a Doug­las C-53D flying in severe wind conditions broke up in mid-air and crashed ten miles south of Sedalia, Mis­souri, killing eleven passengers and crew:–investiga­tors stated,

 

“The wreckage covered an area of a mile and a half. Each engine with propellers was separated by 300 or 400 yards and the cockpit section was found approximately in the middle of this area with the wing and empennage some mile from the position of the en­gines. The only fire was found in the wing mid-section where the gasoline in the tanks had burned, and also an area around one of the victims showing that the body had been on fire, and the grass around the body had caught fire.”

 

“It was speculated that the pilot was flying on instruments at approximately 6,000 feet when he entered thunderstorm conditions with severe winds, causing him to lose control of the airplane. The pilot probably stressed the airframe beyond the design lim­itations while trying to regain control of the C-49 in the turbulent conditions.” (Mireles 2006, V2, July 1943-July 1944, p. 505.)

 

Sources

 

Aviation Safety Network, Flight Safety Foundation, Database, 1943. Accident Description. United States Army Air Force, Douglas C-53 Skytrooper, Sep 5, 1943. Accessed 12-24-2008 at:  http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19430905-2

 

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.