1945 — Nov 3, Consolidated Air, Army Transport Cmd., Honolulu-CA, runs out of fuel, ditches–18
Last edit Nov 17, 2023 by Wayne Blanchard for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/
–19 Troy Record, NY. “7 Killed, 12 Missing in Transport Plane Crash in Pacific.” 11-5-1945, 1.
–19 Charleston Daily Mail, WV. “Crash at Sea Fatal to Seven…12…Missing.” 11-5-1945, 1.
–18 AP. “Survivor of Air Crash Which Trook 18 Lives is Sentenced.” Modesto Bee, CA. 1-12-1946, p5.
–18 Aviation Safety Network. USAAF LB-30 Liberator ditches, Pacific, 500M NE Honolulu.
–18 Delphos Daily Herald, OH. “Navy Seeks Missing Plane.” 11-7-1945, p. 1.
–18 Salt Lake Tribune, UT. “Pacific Crash Survivors Reach Hawaii.” 11-6-1945, p. 4.
–18 Schmitt, Robert C. Catastrophic Mortality in Hawaii. 2-2-2009, p. 76.
–18 Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune. “Eight Survivors of Plane Crash…in Hospital.” 11-6-’45.
Narrative Information
Aviation Safety Network, Flight Safety Foundation, Database, 1945, p. 126 (USAAF, 11-3-1945):
“Date: Saturday 3 November 1945
“Time: 07:40
“Type: Consolidated LB-30 Liberator
“Owner/operator: 1504th BU USAAF
“Registration: AL640
….
“Fatalities: Fatalities: 18 / Occupants: 27
….
“Location: 500 mi NE of Honolulu, Oahu, HI – Pacific Ocean
“Phase: En route
“Nature: Military
“”Departure airport: Hickham [Hickam] AAF Hawaii
“Destination airport: Fairfield-Suisun AAF California
“Narrative:
“Consolidated LB-30 Liberator (RAF Serial AL640). Built for the RAF against a British Purchasing Commission order (hence the RAF serial; aircraft on “lend lease” had USAAF Serials THEN RAF serials). Requisitioned before delivery to the RAF and converted to a Consolidated LB-30/C-87 Liberator Express, still retaining the original RAF serial as AL640 (see link #4), assigned to the 1504th AAF Base Unit, Fairfield-Suisun Army Air Base, crashed into the Pacific Ocean and sank 3 November 1945.
“The aircraft was four hours out of Hawaii en route to Fairfield-Suisun Army Air Base, California, when it ran out of fuel and ditched at 07:40 hrs., 500 miles (800 km) North East of Honolulu at approximately 149’50” West/25’25″N. Eighteen of the persons on board were killed and eight survived on life rafts to be rescued by surface vessels. Seven ships, including aircraft carriers, were involved in the search.
“One of the survivors, John R. Patrick, was convicted at a court martial of involuntary manslaughter for failing to “determine positively” whether the plane had been refueled before takeoff.”
Schmitt: “November 3,1945: A converted Liberty bomber LB-30 operated by Consolidated Airways for the Army Air Transport Command ran out of fuel while flying from Hickam to California and ditched 450 miles out. The crash, resulting from failure to check whether the plane had been refueled before take-off, killed 18 of the 26 persons aboard.”[1] (Schmitt, Robert C. Catastrophic Mortality in Hawaii. 2-2-2009, p. 76.)
Newspapers
Nov 3, AP: “Honolulu, (AP) – A Liberator-type army transport plane with 27 persons aboard was forced down 450 miles at sea early Saturday [Nov 3] and a rescue plane reported from the scene an hour and a half later that the plane still was afloat and survivors could be seen clinging to the wreckage. Ten other planes were dispatched to attempt rescue of the six crewmen and 21 passengers — including two women, one a civilian and one a WAC.” (Walla Walla Union-Bulletin, WA. “Late Flashes.” 11-3-1945, p. 1.)
Nov 3, UP: “Honolulu, Nov. 3 (UP) – A Consolidated Airways Transport plane carrying 27 persons, including possibly two women, made a crash landing on the ocean 450 miles northeast of Oahu island today and two hours later survivors were sighted aboard three rafts. Rescue vessels, including at least 10 surface craft, converged on the rafts and Air Transport Command officials expressed hope that all the personnel may be safe.
“A rescue plane sighted the rafts riding the swells while the big ditched plane – an LB-30 (converted Liberator) – was still afloat two hours after the water landing at 7:40 a.m. The plane was forced to land less than five hours after it took off from Hickam field en route to the Fairfield-Suisun, Calif., Army airbase….
“The transport left Hickam at 3:20 a.m. and reported itself ‘in trouble’ at 7:30. Ten minutes later the pilot radioed that he was ditching in the water. The pilot gave his position as 450 miles from Oahu and about 50 miles from a regularly stationed surface ship. Nine other surface vessels in the area converged on the spot for a quick rescue, while a second transport plane continued to hover overhead….” (Port Arthur News, TX. “Survivors of Transport…Crash…Sighted.” 11-4-1945, p1.)
Nov 5, UP: “Honolulu (UP) – Two American escort carriers were returning to Honolulu today with 31 survivors and seven dead from two transpacific commercial planes forced down at sea east of Hawaii over the week-end. All 13 passengers and 10 crewmen were rescued from the second of the two planes to go down – a Pan American Airways clipper which landed safely on the ocean 675 miles east of Honolulu.
“Of eight survivors of the other plane, which carried 27 persons, five were in serious condition. Bodies of seven of the remaining 19 occupants of the land-based Consolidated Airways craft were recovered at the scene of the crash, 450 miles northeast of Oahu island.
“Eleven army planes, two navy seaplanes and four destroyer-escorts were searching the area for the 12 persons still unaccounted for. The plane, a converted B-24 bomber, broke in two after striking the water Saturday….The cause of the crash of the Consolidated Airways plane was not announced immediately.” (“Charleston Daily Mail, WV. “Crash at Sea Fatal to Seven… 12…Missing.” 11-5-1945, p. 1.)
Nov 5: “Honolulu (AP) — Aircraft carriers joined yesterday in a search for 12 persons missing after an Army transport plane made a forced landing in the Pacific east of Hawaii, killing at least seven of the 27 aboard….The Army Transport Command reported eight persons had been picked up from the calm seas by surface craft at the site of the transport plane landing Saturday 430 miles east of Hawaii. One of two women passengers aboard was among those rescued.
“The escort carrier Casablanca was en route to Pearl Harbor with the eight survivors and seven bodies. Planes were aiding surface vessels in the search for the missing. Among the search craft were the destroyer escorts Tills, Roheris, Hemminger, Snyder, Etten and Lanes.
“The eight had taken refuge on a life raft, one of three spotted earlier by search planes, and hope
persisted that the missing 12 still might be found safe on the other two rafts. Seven ships in all were making wide-circling sweeps of the area. The bodies of the seven victims were recovered but identification was not immediately announced. The transport plane carrying 21 passengers and a crew of six to the mainland, came down four hours out of Honolulu.
“The ATC did not announce the passenger list, and presumably all were military personnel except for one of the women, who was a civilian. Whether she was the one rescued was not disclosed….” (Troy Record, NY. “7 Killed, 12 Missing in Transport Plane Crash in Pacific.” 11-5-1945, p. 1.)
Nov 5, UP: “Honolulu, Nov. 5. (UP) — Eight survivors — including one woman — and the bodies of seven others aboard the transpacific transport plane which crashed at sea Saturday arrived here Monday night while a search continued for 11 persons still missing. Survivors of the crash told stories of hitting the water with such impact that nearly all of the 26 passengers and crewmen aboard were injured. They arrived aboard the escort carrier Casablanca, which docked at Pearl Harbor….
“A four-man air transport command board of inquiry hurried aboard the Casablanca and briefed survivors of the Saturday crash not to reveal the cause of the accident. It was the first mid-Pacific air tragedy in many months.
“Miss Mardieze A. Trautman, Ferdinand, Ida., a Hawaiian air depot supply clerk, was among those who escaped with slight injuries. She said she had been hurrying to the bedside of her brother, Leonard, ill at Seattle, Wash., and said she would take off again as soon as possible. ‘I probably will be on the first plane out,’ she said. ‘I climbed onto a wing and was helped into the liferaft. I was a little dizzy after the crash but am okay.’….
“The other survivors said the plane hit the water with a tremendous jolt and nearly everyone aboard was either knocked unconscious or into the water. They floated in the water for five to 10 hours in liferafts or ‘Mae West’ life preservers. The fate of the missing 11 persons is still unknown, they said…
“Authorities…identified one of the dead as Norman C. Fisher, Fairfield, Cal., a civilian contract pilot of the transport. Three of the 11 missing were identified as crew members, Frank T. Pemberton, copilot; Vincent Phillips, navigator, and George B. Nelson, radio operator, all of Fairfield, Cal. Operating base for Cons-airways Hawaii-California run.” (Salt Lake Tribune, UT. “Pacific Crash Survivors Reach Hawaii.” 11-6-1945, p. 4.)
Nov 6: “Honolulu – (AP) – Eight survivors of an army transport command plane’s forced landing at sea were in an army hospital here today under treatment for injuries. One of the survivors said that the body of an unidentified WAC was among seven corpses brought here from the wreckage.
“Search continued for 11 persons still missing. Planes and navy surface vessels scouted the area 460 miles northeast of Oahu, where the Liberator-type transport and its 21 passengers and five crewmen met disaster Saturday en route to the mainland from Honolulu.
“The ATC said one of the dead was Norman C. Fisher, pilot of the plane, of Fairfield [unclear], Calif. The five other crewmen were among the missing.” (Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune, WI. “Eight Survivors of Plane Crash are in Hospital.” 11-6-1945, p. 3.)
Nov 7, UP: “Honolulu, Nov. 7 (UP) – The navy continued a search today for a C-54 transport plane missing with 20 persons aboard between Guam and Manila in what may be the Pacific’s third major air accident in four days. The C-54 was listed “missing” after it was reported 15 hours overdue at its Manila base. When last heard from it was 108 miles from the base.
“Meanwhile, the navy abandoned search for 11 persons missing after the crash of a Consairways
transport plane Saturday 450 miles northeast of Oahu.” (Delphos Daily Herald, OH. “Navy Seeks Missing Plane.” 11-7-1945, p. 1.)
Nov 7: “Honolulu, Nov. 7 – (UP)…. Flight Engineer John R. Patrick, the only crewmen among eight survivors, said he believed many of the 11 died strapped to their chairs. Bodies of seven others killed in the crash were recovered.” (Dunkirk Evening Observer, NY. “Navy Continues to Search Pacific for Air Survivors.” 11-7-1945, p. 11.)
Sources
Associated Press. “Survivor of Air Crash Which Trook 18 Lives is Sentenced.” Modesto Bee, CA. 1-12-1946, p. 5. Accessed 11-10-2023 at:
https://newspaperarchive.com/modesto-bee-and-news-herald-jan-12-1946-p-5/
Aviation Safety Network, Flight Safety Foundation, Database, 1945, p. 126. USAAF Consolidated LB-30 Liberator, out of fuel, ditches, Pacific, 500M NE Honolulu, 3Nov1945. Accessed 11-17-2023 at: https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/101764
Charleston Daily Mail, WV. “Crash at Sea Fatal to Seven…12 Persons Missing.” 11-5-1945, 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=39866325
Delphos Daily Herald, OH. “Navy Seeks Missing Plane.” 11-7-1945, p. 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=130490787
Dunkirk Evening Observer, NY. “Navy Continues to Search Pacific for Air Survivors.” 11-7-1945, 11. At: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=53933063
Port Arthur News, TX. “Survivors of Transport Plane Crash in Pacific Are Sighted.” 11-4-1945, p.1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=43398570
Salt Lake Tribune, UT. “Pacific Crash Survivors Reach Hawaii.” 11-6-1945, p. 4. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=91103144
Schmitt, Robert C. Catastrophic Mortality in Hawaii. 2-2-2009, 86 pages. Accessed 9-20-2012 at: Catastrophic Mortality in Hawaii – eVols – University of Hawaii. Accessed at: http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CB4QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fevols.library.manoa.hawaii.edu%2Fbitstream%2Fhandle%2F10524%2F150%2FJL03074.pdf%3Fsequence%3D2&ei=UPSvVK2bLoO4yQTO74L4DA&usg=AFQjCNHER9A57xAr6d0m9mJcnsc4F2Z8Gg&bvm=bv.83339334,d.aWw
Troy Record, NY. “7 Killed, 12 Missing in Transport Plane Crash in Pacific.” 11-5-1945, 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=39384609
Walla Walla Union-Bulletin, WA. “Late Flashes.” 11-3-1945, p. 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=19272078
Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune, WI. “Eight Survivors of Plane Crash are in Hospital.” 11-6-1945, 3. At: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=10291896
[1] Cites: Honolulu Star Bulletin (HSB), Nov. 3, 1945, p. 1; HSB, Nov 6, 1945, p. 1; Honolulu Advertiser, Jan. 12, 1946, p. 5.