1944 – July 2, USAAF B-29 break-up in thunderstorm, crashes 5M NE Harmon, OK–all 11

Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 3-25-2024 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

–11  Aviation Safety Network. USAAF B-29 crash 5M NE Harmon OK, 7-2-1944.

–11  Mireles 2006. Fatal Army AF Aviation Accidents…US…, V2, July 1943-July 1944, p. 843.

Narrative Information

Aviation Safety Network, Flight Safety Foundation, Database, 1944:

“Date:                          Sunday 2 July 1944

“Type:                         Boeing B-29 Superfortress

“Owner/operator:        234th BU USAAF

“Registration:              42-6210

“MSN:                         3344

“Fatalities:                   Fatalities: 11 / Occupants: 11

“Aircraft damage:       Destroyed

“Location:                   5 miles north-east of Harmon, Oklahoma, USA

“Phase:                        En route

“Nature:                      Military

“Departure airport:      Clovis AAF, New Mexico

“Destination airport:   Clovis AAF, NM

“Narrative:

 

“….Written off (damaged beyond repair) when crashed 2 July 1944, due to structural failure 5 miles north east of Harmon, Oklahoma. All eleven crew on board were killed. The crew members killed were:

Captain Ernest C Garrett
Captain John J Kney, Jr
2nd Lt. Carl F Bevsek
2nd Lt. Keith F Holtsford
2nd Lt. Hilary L Imhoff
2nd Lt. Samuel B Meyer, Jr
Sgt. Benjamin F Spivey, Jr
Cpl. Martin Kurbanovic
Cpl. Raymond E Lauderdale, Jr
Cpl. Elwood H Wartzenluft
PFC Lee C Short”

 

Mireles: “At 2225, a Boe­ing B-29 flying in severe thunderstorms broke up and crashed five miles NNE of Harmon, Oklahoma, killing 11 crewmembers. The airplane had taken off from Clo­vis Army Air Field, New Mexico, on a night cross-coun­try navigation flight to Peoria, Illinois, and return. In­vestigators speculated that the airplane encountered a line of powerful thunderstorms that included heavy rain, high winds and severe turbulence. The pilots lost control of the airplane and it broke up in mid-air as they attempted to recover. Wreckage was scattered over a wide area. Pieces of the starboard elevator and hori­zontal stabilizers were found almost three miles NNW of the main wreckage.”  (Mireles 2006, Vol. 2, July 1943-July 1944, p. 843.)

 

 

Sources

 

Aviation Safety Network, Flight Safety Foundation, Database, 1944. USAAF B-29 crash 5M NE Harmon OK, 7-2-1944. Accessed 3-25-2024 at: https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/98417

 

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.