1945 – April 8, USAAF TB-17F flies into mountain at night near Tellico Plains, TN –all 10
Compiled by Wayne Blanchard for: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/ Last edit 12-10-2023.
–10 Daily Herald, Biloxi, MS. “10 Keesler Men Killed in Crash Near Knoxville.”4-10-1945, 1.
–10 Mireles 2006. Fatal Army AF Aviation Accidents…US…, V3, Aug 1944-Dec 1945, 1073.
Narrative Information
Mireles: “At 0030 EWT, a Boeing TB-17F flew into rising terrain 27 miles northeast of Tellico Plains, Tennessee, killing ten fliers. The airplane took off from Keesler Field, Biloxi, Mississippi, on a navigation training flight. The airplane was scheduled to fly a magnetic course of 45 degrees for two and a half hours and then it was to turn around and fly the reciprocal course back to Keesler Field. The airplane failed to return to Keesler Field. The airplane was found to have collided with a 5,500-foot mountain at an elevation of 5,200 feet, exploding violently into flames upon impact. Investigation revealed that the airplane was flying straight and level on a heading of 340 degrees with all four engines producing power at cruise rpm when it flew into the side of the mountain.” (Mireles 2006, pp. 1073-1074.)
Newspapers
April 9, AP: “Tellico Plains, Tenn., April 9 – (AP) – St least seven men were killed when a four-motored plane crashed and burned last night in the Cherokee National Forest about 22 miles southeast of here, B. W. Chumley, U.S. forest service dispatcher, announced this morning. The dispatcher said the wreck was first discovered about midnight when lookout men at Wauchessi Lookout, south of Tellico Plains, and Hemlock Lookout, northeast of here, reported a ‘pin-point’ fire. A crew, headed by Bryce Ledford, district forest ranger, arrived at the blaze about an hour later and reported it was a ‘four-motored plane, apparently of Army origin.’
“The plane crashed at an altitude of about 5,500 feet near a rugged spot known as Whig Knob, the forestry official said.” (Associated Press. “Seven Killed In Plane Crash.” Cincinnati Times-Star, OH. 4-9-1945, p. 1.)
April 10: “Ten men were killed late Sunday night 25 miles south of Knoxville, Tenn., when a B-17 bomber on a routine night combat training flight from Keesler Field crashed into the side of a mountain, the commanding officer of the AAF Training Command station announced last night.
“A forest ranger spotted the plane burning from his lookout in the Smoky Mountains at approximately 11:30 Sunday night [April 8]. He reached the plane early Monday morning. The B-17 hit the side of the mountain at an altitude of 4600 feet, 400 from the mountain’s crest. All on board were believed killed immediately. The accident occurred 22 miles north of the Tellico Plains. The dead are: [We break the following paragraph into individual lines.]
1st Lt. David KI. Croker, 28, navigator instructor, Maplewood, NJ;
2nd Lt. Richard C. Henkel, 26, pilot, Delmar, NY;
2nd Lt. Carl E. Lehnhardt, 26, co-pilot, Santa Ana, Calif.;
2nd Lt. Walter W. Foley Jr., 28, navigator, Jamaica Plain, Mass.;
- Sgt. Edwin W. Bill, 29, aerial engineer, Sag Harbor, NY;
Cpl. Raymond S. Contino, 19, radio operator, Chicago, Ill.;
Cpl. Westley J. Eaton, 21, gunner, Lansing, Mich.;
Cpl. John J. Fortune Jr., 21, gunner, Sequin, Texas;
Cpl. Fred Hoff Jr., 19, gunner, Chicago;
Cpl. John F. Stair, 21, radio operator, Los Angeles, Calif.”
(Daily Herald, Biloxi, MS. “10 Keesler Men Killed in Crash Near Knoxville.”4-10-1945, p. 1.)
Sources
Associated Press. “Seven Killed In Plane Crash.” Cincinnati Times-Star, OH. 4-9-1945, p. 1. Accessed 12-10-2023 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/cincinnati-times-star-apr-09-1945-p-1/
Daily Herald, Biloxi, MS. “10 Keesler Men Killed in Crash Near Knoxville.”4-10-1945, p. 1. Accessed 12-10-2023 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/biloxi-daily-herald-apr-10-1945-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.