1944 — Nov 6, USN jet and transport collide, St. Johns River near NAS Jacksonville, FL–18
Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 3-19-2024 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/
–18 ASN. USN R4D-5 transport and USN Corsair jet collide near Jacksonville NAS, 11-6-1944.
–18 Baugher. US Navy…Marine Corps BuNos Third Series (10317 to 21191) 7-17-2011.
–18 Lethbridge Herald, Alberta, Canada. “News Bulletins.” 11-6-1944, p. 1.
–18 Statesville Daily Record, NC. “Planes Crash in Mid-Air at Jacksonville.” 11-7-1944, p. 4.
Narrative Information
Aviation Safety Network, Flight Safety Foundation, Database:
“Date and Time: Monday 6 November 1944, 12:00
“Type: Douglas R4D-5 (DC-3)
“Operator: United States Navy
“Registration: 39063
“MSN: 9941
“First flight: 1943
“Crew and Passengers: Fatalities: 17 / Occupants: 17
“Collision casualties: Fatalities: 1 [US Navy Goodyear FG-1A Corsair jet]
“Aircraft damage: Damaged beyond repair
“Location: near Jacksonville NAS, FL
….
“Narrative: A Douglas R4D-5 Navy transport plane crashed into St Johns River
following a mid-air collision with a US Navy Goodyear FG-1A Corsair (13334). All 18 on both planes killed.”
Baugher: “Goodyear…FG-1 Corsair. 13334 in midair collision with R4D-5 39063 and crashed into St. Johns river near NAS Jacksonville Nov 6, 1944. All 18 on both planes killed.” (Baugher. US Navy…Marine Corps BuNos Third Series (10317 to 21191) 7-17-2011.)
Newspapers
Nov 6: “Jacksonville, Fla., Nov. 6. – (AP) – The Jacksonville Naval air station announced Monday [Nov 6] that 18 persons were believed to have been killed in an air collision shortly after noon near the station.” (Lethbridge Herald, Alberta, Canada. “News Bulletins.” 11-6-1944, p. 1.)
Nov 7: “Jacksonville, Fla., Nov. 7. – (UP) – Navy crash and salvage boats continued their grappling operations in one of the widest stretches of the St. John’s river here today in search of the wreckage of a Navy fighter plane and transport which were reported to have carried 18 persons to their death when they collided in mid-air and plunged into the river at noon yesterday.
“The announcement issued by Navy authorities at the Jacksonville Nava Air Station late yesterday said that 17 persons were aboard the Naval Air Transport Service plane and only the pilot in the fighter. No immediate details…were given pending the notification of next of kin, the Navy said. A full inquiry into the crash was under way.
“A group of men from a South Jacksonville military school, who went out in a boat to the spot where the planes were reported to have gone under, said that they found no evidence of a crash other than an oil slick on the water. A South Jacksonville resident reported that she heard the explosion when the planes collided, but that when she rushed to the river bank, all that could be seen were two clouds of smoke, which she estimated to be half a mile apart, rising from the river. The river is three miles wide at the point where the planes were reported to have crashed.
“It was one of the largest single losses of life ever suffered at the air station and the first major accident at the Navy base since 13 men were killed when a PBY bomber exploded in mid-air and
and crashed here in June, 1943.” (Statesville Daily Record, NC. “Planes Crash in Mid-Air at Jacksonville.” 11-7-1944, p. 4.)
Sources
Aviation Safety Network, Flight Safety Foundation, Database. USN R4D-5 transport and USN Corsair jet collide near Jacksonville NAS, 11-6-1944. Accessed 3-19-2024 at:
https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19441106-3
Baugher, Joseph F. US Navy and US Marine Corps BuNos Third Series (10317 to 21191). July 17, 2011 revision. Accessed at: http://www.joebaugher.com/navy_serials/thirdseries2.html
Lethbridge Herald, Alberta, Canada. “News Bulletins [USN Planes Collide, Jacksonville, FL],” 11-6-1944, 1. At: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=24056935
Statesville Daily Record, NC. “Planes Crash in Mid-Air at Jacksonville.” 11-7-1944, p. 4. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=142843779