1944 – Aug 21, USAAF YB-29 possible engine fire/crash, 25M NE Alamogordo AB, NM–10
Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 3-28-2024 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/
–10 AP. “10 Airmen die in bomber crash…Alamogordo Field.” Hobbs News Sun, NM, 8-23-1944, p.1.
–10 Mireles 2006. Fatal Army AF Aviation Accidents…US…, V3, Aug 1944-Dec 1945, p. 895.
Narrative Information
Mireles: “At 1100, a Boeing YB-29 crashed 25 miles northeast of the Army Air Base at Alamogordo, New Mexico, killing ten crewmembers. The airplane had taken off from Alamogordo AAB on a routine instrument training flight, man and a young boy observed the airplane flying at an altitude of approximately 3,000 feet agl with smoke and flames trailing. The airplane then nosed over, went out of control and then slammed into the ground in an inverted 60-degree dive, exploding violently into flames upon impact. Investigation revealed that the horizontal stabilizers, elevators and various other pieces separated from the airplane prior to impact. Investigators could not determine the cause of the accident. It was later speculated that the B-29 suffered an in-flight fire in one or two engines, causing the flight crew to lose control of the airplane.” (Mireles 2006, p. 895.)
Newspaper
Aug 23, AP: “Alamogordo, Aug. 23 (AP) – Names of 10 crewmen who were killed when their heavy bomber crashed 25 miles north of here Monday night were announced last night by Col. R. C. Wriston, commander at the Alamogordo army air base. The dead were:
Capt. Byron Rostick, Moody, Tex.;
Second Lt. Meyer Hodiss, Syracuse, N.Y.’
Second Lt. J. J. Higgins, Princeton, N.J.;
Second Lt. Jerome Frederick Muller, San Francisco;
Staff Sgt. Thomas Andrew Boyle, Providence, R. I.;
Sgt. John Richocen, Quakertown, Pa.;
Pfc. Camille Phillip Parenpeau, Keene, N.H.;
Pfc. Condalmerle Smith, Little Orleans, Md.;
Pfc. Benjamin Ellis Smith, Reidsville, Ga.’
Pvt. Irwin Handleman, Spring Falley, N.Y.”
(Associated Press. “10 Airmen Die in Bomber Crash Near Alamogordo Field.” Hobbs Daily News Sun, NM,8-23-1944, p. 1.)
Sources
Associated Press. “10 Airmen Die in Bomber Crash Near Alamogordo Field.” Hobbs Daily News Sun, NM,8-23-1944, p. 1. Accessed 3-28-2024 at:
https://newspaperarchive.com/hobbs-daily-news-sun-aug-23-1944-p-1/
Mireles, Anthony J. Fatal Army Air Forces Aviation Accidents in the United States, 1941-1945 (Volume 3: August 1944 – December 1945). Jefferson, NC: McFarland and Co., 2006.