1944 — Nov 3, USAAF B-24 and P-39 collide, training ~Kingman Army Air Field, AZ– 15
Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 3-20-2024 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/
–15 AP. “15 Deaths Total in Army Bomber Crash with Fighter Plane.” Tucson Citizen, 11-6-1944, 10.
–15 Mireles 2006. Fatal Army AF Aviation Accidents…US…, V3, Aug 1944-Dec 1945, p. 960.
Narrative Information
Mireles: “At 0752 PWT, a Boeing B-17G and a Bell P-39Q collided in mid-air 20 miles northwest of the Army Air Field at Kingman, Arizona, killing P-39Q pilot 2Lt. Martin H. Campbell and fourteen fliers aboard the B-17G.
“The airplanes took off from Kingman Army Air Field at 0732 on a routine gunnery-camera training mission. The B-17 was flying in the number-two position of a three-ship flight that was to be intercepted and attacked by the P-39Q. The flight climbed to altitude at the authorized air-to-air gunnery area and the P-39 made several successful passes from varying positions around the clock. The P-39 then attacked the lead B-17 from the 4:30 o’clock high position, which would be about the 3 o’clock high position of the subject B-17, which had been “lagging behind.”
“Investigators noted that the accepted method of attack was for the P-39 to fire at the nearest outside B-17 one side at a time as opposed to attacking the lead or the furthest outside aircraft. The B-17s in the flight would change positions after their respected firing runs in order that all gunners will have fired from every position in the formation; co-pilots are also given flying practice from all positions in the formation. The gun cameras of the B-17 gunners rolled as the P-39 bore in on the lead B17 from the 4:30 high position and attempted to dive through behind it. The P-39 pilot evidently did not see the number-two B-17 as he made this attack, apparently seeing the subject B-17 at the last moment and attempting to turn away. The P-39 passed over the center of the number-two B-17 and while in a steep bank to the right its starboard wing collided with the port B-17 wing, severing the starboard P-39 wing and the port B-17 wing 15 feet from the tip. Both airplanes immediately went out of control. “The B-17 flipped over to an inverted position and spun to the ground where it exploded violently into flames. The P-39 apparently broke up in mid-air and slammed to the ground and exploded near where the B-17 hit. One parachute was seen. Investigators stated,
The pilot of the P-39 was thrown out [of the airplane] and his parachute opened by some undetermined means, the rip cord not being pulled. The P-39 pilot was evidently killed in the collision since a portion of his head was found in his aircraft, his right foot and lower leg were found 500 feet from the P-39 and the remainder descended with the parachute and landed approximately one-half mile from the P-39, equidistant from and between the B-17 and P-39 wreckage.
“It was noted that the P-39 pilot was a high-time four-engine pilot who had recently completed a combat tour overseas.” (Mireles 2006, 960.)
Newspaper
Nov 3, AP: “Kingman, Nov. 3 – (AP) – Seven airmen were listed as killed and eight unaccounted for in a flying collision of a four-engine army bomber and a pursuit plane 35 miles north of Kingman Army Airfield today, according to a report by Col. Donald B. Phillips, commanding officer. The dead:
Second Lt. Martin H. Campbell, 23 years ole, pilot and lone occupant of the pursuit ship,
Copper Hill, Tenn.
Pvt. Herman H. Castile, 20, Foreman, Ark.
Pvt. John F. Clinch, 24, Philadelphia, Pa.
Pvt. Claude V. Busta, 19, Velva, N.D.
Pvt. James W. Burner, 19, Buckhannon, W.Va.
Pvt. Theodore L. Cook, 29, New Concord, O.
Pvt. Jackson B. Campbell, 26, Clarion, Pa.
“The privates all were identified as student gunners on the bomber. It was on a routine training mission when the crash occurred. Colonel Phillips said the field had received reports that several parachutists were seen to descend from the plane before it ploughed into a mountainside.” (AP. “Air Crash Kills Seven At Kingman,” Arizona Independent Republic, Phoenix. 11-4-1944, p. 1.)
Nov 4, AP: “Kingman, Nov. 4 – (AP) – Two of eight army airmen, unaccounted for after a bomber-pursuit plane collision which claimed the lives of seven of their Kingman Army Air Field comrades were identified definitely as killed today by Col. Donald B. Phillips, commandant….Identified as additional dead were:
First Lt. Oliver E. Wright, 23 years old, the bomber pilot, whose wife lives in Kingman….
Pfc. Charles Robert Surface, 20, gunnery instructor, whose wife also lives in Kingman…”
(AP. “Army Identifies Crash Victims.” Arizona Independent Republic, Phoenix. 11-6-1944, p. 8.)
Nov 6, AP: “Kingman, Nov. 6. (AP) – Fatalities reached 15 today in the collision of a four-engined Army bomber and a fighter plane north of the Kingman Army airfield last Friday. Nine men were killed outright at the time of the accident and the deaths of six more were announced yesterday by Col. Donald B. Phillips, commander of the airfield here. The big bomber smashed into a mountainside following the collision and some parachutes were reported to have opened, causing hope at the time that some of the crewmen had landed safely. The Associated Press. “15 Deaths Total in Army Bomber Crash with Fighter Plane.” Tucson Citizen, 11-6-1944, p. 10. re were no Arizonians among those killed.” (Associated Press. “15 Deaths Total in Army Bomber Crash with Fighter Plane.” Tucson Citizen, 11-6-1944, p. 10.)
Sources
Associated Press. “15 Deaths Total in Army Bomber Crash with Fighter Plane.” Tucson Citizen, 11-6-1944, p. 10. Accessed 3-20-2024 at:
https://newspaperarchive.com/tucson-daily-citizen-nov-06-1944-p-10/
Associated Press. “Air Crash Kills Seven At Kingman,” Arizona Independent Republic, Phoenix. 11-4-1944, p. 1. Accessed 3-20-2024 at:
https://newspaperarchive.com/arizona-independent-republic-nov-04-1944-p-17/
Associated Press. “Army Identifies Crash Victims.” Arizona Independent Republic, Phoenix. 11-6-1944, p. 8. Accessed 3-20-2024 at:
https://newspaperarchive.com/arizona-independent-republic-nov-05-1944-p-134/
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.