1944 – Apr 29, USAAF B-24E, off-course/too-low, flies into terrain, 15M SW Merna, NE–10
Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 4-6-2024 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/
— 10 Baugher, Joseph F. 1941 USAAF Serial Numbers (41-24340 to 41-30847). 9-12-2011 rev.
— 10 Beatrice Daily Sun, NE. “Ten Men Killed When Huge Bomber Crashes.” 4-30-1944, p. 1.
— 10 Mireles 2006. Fatal Army AF Aviation Accidents…US…, V2, July 1943-July 1944, p. 770.
Narrative Information
Baugher: “Douglas-Tulsa B-24E-1-DT Liberator….28413 crashed into side of canyon wall near Merna, Nebraska Apr 29, 1944 while on flight from Chicago to Denver. All 10 onboard killed.” (Baugher, Joseph F. 1941 USAAF Serial Numbers (41-24340 to 41-30847). 9-12-2011 revision.)
Mireles: “At 1500 CWT, a Consolidated RB-24E collided with rising terrain 15 miles southwest of Merna, Nebraska, killing the crew of ten. The airplane took off at 1108 CWT from Great Lakes Naval Air Station, Glenview, Illinois, on a navigation training flight back to its base at Kirtland Army Air Field, Albuquerque, New Mexico. The airplane contacted the ground station at Sioux City, Iowa, at 1345 CWT. No further contact was made with the airplane. The airplane evidently encountered instrument conditions as it flew westward. The pilot attempted to stay under the overcast and collided with rising terrain at an elevation of about 3,000 feet msl. The airplane smashed itself to pieces and burst into flames upon impact with the hilly terrain. Investigation revealed that the pilot had filed a visual flight plan and was cleared to fly at 16,000 feet. Investigators noted that the airplane was more than 30 miles off course at the time of the crash….” (Mireles 2006. Fatal Army AF Aviation Accidents…US…, V2, July 1943-July 1944, p. 770.)
Newspaper
April 29, Associated Press: “Broken Bow, Neb., April 29 (AP) – Ten men were killed when a four-engined army bomber crashed in hills 17 miles southwest of Broken Bow tonight. Mrs. C. C. Johnson, who drove an ambulance to the scene, said upon her return. Mrs. Johnson, wife of a Broken Bow undertaker, said the plane crashed about three miles from a road, and that the area was so muddy that tractors were being used to pull ambulances to the wreckage and back. The plane crashed during a heavy fog and rain, into a high range of hills, and was completely demolished but did not burn.” (Beatrice Daily Sun, NE. “Ten Men Killed When Huge Bomber Crashes.” 4-30-1944, p. 1.)
Sources
Baugher, Joseph F. 1941 USAAF Serial Numbers (41-24340 to 41-30847). Sep 12, 2011 revision. Accessed 12-7-2011 at: http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1941_4.html
Beatrice Daily Sun, NE. “Ten Men Killed When Huge Bomber Crashes.” 4-30-1944, p. 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=139644852
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.