1945 — Oct 31, US Navy R4D-7 transport crash in heavy fog, Rich Mountain, AR — 14

lornajarrettblanchard October 31, 1945

Last edit Nov 27, 2023 by Wayne Blanchard for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

— 14 Baugher. US Navy…Marine Corps BuNos Third Series (90020 to 99860). 10-15-2010

— 14 Mexia Weekly Herald, TX. “Plane Crash is Blamed on Fog.” 11-2-1945, p. 1.

— 14 Miami Daily News-Record, OK. “Two of 14 Killed…Crash Identified…” 1-1-1945, 6.

Blanchard note on location: Rich Mountain is a peak and a ridge. The peak in is in the Ouachita Mountains in Arkansas and is the second highest point of the U.S. Interior Highlands. Rich Mountain is also described as a “long, generally east-west-trending ridge composed of hard sandstone. It is located just outside of Mena, Arkansas and is intersected by the Arkansas-Oklahoma border.” (Wikipedia. “Rich Mountain (Arkansas – Oklahoma). 3-7-2023.) In that the bodies were taken to a Fort Smith, AR, morgue for identification may be an indication that the plane crashed on the east side of the OK/AR border in Arkansas.]

Narrative Information

Aviation Safety Network, Flight Safety Foundation, Database, 1945, p. 126:

“Date: Wednesday 31 October 1945

“Type: Douglas R4D-7 (DC-3)

“Operator: United States Navy

“Registration: 99834

“MSN: 33192/16444

“First flight: 1945

….

“Total: Fatalities: 14 / Occupants: 14

….

“Location: S of Page, OK [Rich Mt. is east of Page, slightly south, in AR.]

….

“Departure airport: Clinton Naval Air Station, OK…USA

“Destination airport: Jackson-Hawkins Field, MD…USA

“Narrative: Struck a mountain.”

Baugher: “99834 (c/n 16444/33192) ex USAAF 44-47860. Hit mountain near Page, Oklahoma Oct 31, 1945. 14 killed.” (Baugher. US Navy…Corps…Third Series (90020 to 99860). 10-15-2010.)

Newspaper

Nov 1, UP: “Mena, Ark., Nov. 1 (UP) – Rescue crews are cutting away dense undergrowth on Rich Mountain [Arkansas] to enable litter bearers to bring out the bodies of 14 persons killed yesterday in the flaming crash of a twin-engine Navy plane.

“En route to Jackson, Miss., from its home base at Clinton, Okla., the plane drove into the fog-shrouded Ozark mountain peak near Page, Okla., about noon. The wreckage is three miles from the nearest road that will accommodate a motor vehicle.

“The bodies are to be taken to a Fort smith [AR] morgue where attempts will be made to identify them. Two naval officers from Clinton have opened an investigation into cause of the crash.

“Polk County Prosecutor George Steele of Mena, one of the first persons to reach the wreckage, says heavy fog was responsible for the crash. Elmer Lockard of Zoe, Okla., discovered the burned plane after following a column of smoke up the rugged mountainside. The victims will be identified after next of kin have been notified.” (United Press. “Rescue Crews After Bodies of 14 Victims.” Blytheville Courier News, AR, 11-1-1945, p. 1.)

Nov 1, AP: “Page, Okla., Nov. 1 – (AP) – The burned and mangled bodies of 14 persons killed in the crash of a Navy transport plane on Rich Mountain [in AR between Mena AR to east and Page OK to west]^[1] near Page yesterday [page is 12 miles to the west of Rich Mt.] were being removed from the isolated area today, U.S. forestry service officials said. Tentative identification of the victims was made through the plane’s flight log but their names were not disclosed. The entire crew was killed when the transport plunged into the mountain near the Arkansas-Oklahoma border and burst into flames, scattering the bodies over a wide area. A heavy fog was believed to have caused the crash, which occurred about noon yesterday. The plane was reported to be based at the Clinton, Okla., Naval airbase and enroute to Jackson, Miss.

“In Washington, the Navy identified two of the victims as Lieut. (JG) Joseph Casella, Bronx, New York, and Lieut. (JG) John L. Nardi, Brooklyn, N.Y….” (Miami Daily News-Record, Miami, OK. “Two of 14 Killed in Plane’s Crash Identified Today.” 11-1-1945, p. 6.)

Nov 1, UP: “Page, Okla., Nov. 1. (UP) – Heavy fog was believed today to have caused the crash of a Navy transport plane on nearby Rich Mountain, killing 14 persons. Capt. J. W. Brown, public relations officer at Camp Chaffee, Ark., said the plane struck near the top of the mountain and burned….” (Mexia Weekly Herald, TX. “Plane Crash is Blamed on Fog.” 11-2-1945, p. 1.)

Sources

Aviation Safety Network, Flight Safety Foundation, Database, 1945, p. 126. USN Douglas R4F-7 crash into mountain S of Page, OK, 31 October 1945. Accessed 11-27-2023 at:

https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19451031-2

Baugher, Joseph F. US Navy and US Marine Corps BuNos Third Series (90020 to 99860). 10-15-2010 revision. Accessed at: http://www.joebaugher.com/navy_serials/thirdseries10.html

Mexia Weekly Herald, TX. “Plane Crash is Blamed on Fog.” 11-2-1945, p. 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=20995939

Miami Daily News-Record, Miami, OK. “Two of 14 Killed in Plane’s Crash Identified Today.” 11-1-1945, 6. At: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=135675516

United Press. “Rescue Crews After Bodies of 14 Victims.” Blytheville Courier News, AR, 11-1-1945, p. 1. Accessed 11-27-2023 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/blytheville-courier-news-nov-01-1945-p-1/

Wikipedia. “Rich Mountain (Arkansas – Oklahoma). 3-7-2023. Accessed 11-27-2023 at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rich_Mountain_(Arkansas%E2%80%93Oklahoma)

[1] Rich Mountain is in Arkansas near the Oklahoma border, to its west.