1949 — Nov 16, Two USAF B-29s Collide (9 die in each craft) over Stockton, CA — 18
Compiled by Wayne Blanchard Sep 8, 2023 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/
–18 92nd USAAF-USAF Memorial Association. “History of the 326th Bomb Squadron.”
–18 Aviation Safety Network, Flight Safety Foundation, Database, 1949.
–9 USAF Boeing B-29 Superfortress, 44-69939
–9 USAF Boeing B-29 Superfortress, 44-86364
–18 Baugher. 1944 USAAF Serial Numbers (44-40049 to 44-70254). Oct 28, 2011 revision.
–18 Long Beach Press-Telegram, CA. “Three Quizzed on B-29 Tragedy.” 11-19-1949, p. 14.
–18 National Fire Protection Assoc.. “Large Loss Fires of 1949.” Quarterly, 43/3, Jan 1950, 167.
–18 San Mateo Times, CA. “Cause of B-29 Stockton Crash Still Mystery.” 11-18-1949, p. 5.
Narrative Information
92nd USAAF-USAF Memorial Association: “….on November 16, 1949, a 326th B-29, 44-86364, was in a Mid-Air collision with a 325th B-29, 44-69939 near Stockton California. Nine crewmembers died in each aircraft, one 326th crewman survived and two 325th crewmen survived.” (92nd USAAF-USAF Memorial Association. “History of the 326th Bomb Squadron.”)
Baugher: “Boeing B-29-70-BW Superfortress….69939 in midair collision with B-29 44-86364 at 26,000 feet over Stockton, CA Nov 16, 1949. 18 crew of 21 lost. 69939 crashed 14 mi NW of Stockton.” (Baugher. 1944 USAAF Serial Numbers (44-40049 to 44-70254). Oct 28, 2011 rev.)
Newspapers
Nov 17: “Two B-29 Superfortresses collided in the air and crashed in the island marshes west of Stockton at midnight. Only four of 21 airmen on the two planes were known to have survived. Earlier reports that there were 11 on each plane were corrected by Spokane Air Force Base, where the Superforts were based. There were 11 men on one plane and 10 on the other, the base announced.
“One of the four-engine giants hit on McDonald Island on the east levee about nine miles west of
Stockton. It fell in flames and burned. The other crashed three miles away on the Rindge Tract, also an island.
“Both planes were from the Spokane, Wash. Air Force base, attached to the 92nd Bombing Group. They were among 13 B-29’s from Spokane on practice bombing missions. An Air Force officer at Spokane said they were supposed to be flying individually, not in formation, and could advance no theory on the possible cause of the crash.
“Dense tule fog, with visibility zero, covered the delta land and only seven bodies were reported recovered eight hours after the midair collision. Three charred bodies were taken from the plane which burned and a highway patrolman said four had been recovered from the one on the Rindge Tract.
“At the McDonald Island crash scene attempts to recover more bodies were delayed until the wreckage cooled.
“At the Rindge Tract, San Joaquin County Sheriff Carlos Sousa and the Air Force ordered all except official personnel off the island because some 4000 gallons of high octane [unclear] had sprayed a wide area. Efforts to recover more bodies from this plane were delayed until daylight and the arrival of a foam truck which was to spray the plane and the surrounding ground….
“Three of the known survivors were from the Rindge Tract plane, which was resting on its wings in mud reportedly 16 feet deep. The other survivor was from the plane which burned. The survivors included Lieut. Warren F. Sharrock, pilot of the plane which hit on Rindge Tract. Lieutenant Sharrock was found beside a road on King Island, across the slough from Rindge Tract, by Jack Henry of King Island. The flier was dazed and had a cut on his forehead….” (Oakland Tribune, CA. “17 Missing, 4 Saved as B-29s Collide.” 11-17-1949, p. 1.)
Nov 18, UP: “Stockton, Nov. 18. – (UP) – Air force salvage crews attempted to learn today what caused two B-29 superfort bombers to collide, killing 18 crewmen in one of the most costly tragedies in peacetime aviation history. Each of the big planes cost about $1,000,000, according to officers at Hamilton air base in California. Additionally, the taxpayers had paid about $250,000 to train the crewmen killed in the freak collision.
“A heavy fog clung along the ground when the two ships crashed into each other Wednesday night but the air at their flight level of 26,000 feet apparently was clear. The three survivors still had not given coherent accounts.
“Special crews were ordered to begin sifting the ashes of the planes for the remains of seven crewmen still believed to be in the charred wreckage. Eleven bodies were recovered from the two wrecks when operations stopped last night and seven other crew members were listed as ‘missing and presumed dead.’ The three survivors parachuted to safety.
“The two superforts were on a routine training mission from the Spokane, Wash. Air base when they collided over the swampy marshland of the San Joaquin river delta. One of the planes smashed into the ground on McDonald Island and burned for several hours. The other buried itself in the mud of Rindge tract, two miles to the north across the river.
“An Air Force board of inquiry, headed by Lt. Col. McLyle Zumwalt, was due to fly to the scene from the Spokane air base. The board said no explanation of the mishap could be given pending further questioning of survivors and further investigation.
“From the plane that crashed and burned on McDonald island one survivor, S/Sgt Robert S. Kluge, Spokane, had parachuted. Three bodies, badly charred, were taken out and the remains of six more were believed to be still among the ashes of the wreckage. The plane carried a crew of 10. Recovery of the six bodies thought to be in the plane awaited the arrival of sifting equipment.
“The airplane that crashed on Rindge tract carried a crew of 11. Two crewmen, Pfc. Keith Burns, Boise, Ida., and T/Sgt. Frank D. Schmidt, Spokane, saved themselves by parachuting. Eight bodies were removed from the wreckage and another, that of the turret gunner, had been spotted inside the plane. The huge craft was half-buried in the slime and soft earth of the delta land, making recovery work extremely difficult.
“The air force abandoned hope that any of the six missing in the McDonald island plane had survived the crash. At first it was thought that the pilot, Lt. Warren Sharrock of Jamestown, Calif., had parachuted, but his body was unofficially identified last night by a ‘dog tag’ found on one of the three bodies pulled from the burned plane.” (San Mateo Times, CA. “Cause of B-29 Stockton Crash Still Mystery.” 11-18-1949, p. 5.)
Nov 19: “Stockton, Nov. 19, (UP) Three survivors of a head-on collision between two B-29 Superforts were questioned today in an effort to learn what caused the accident. The crash took the lives of 18 airmen Wednesday night. An Air Force board of inquiry took charge of the investigation.
“Officials announced that they had recovered the 12th body from the wreckage and said the remaining six were so badly burned it may be “days” before they are identified.” (Long Beach Press-Telegram, CA. “Three Quizzed on B-29 Tragedy.” 11-19-1949, p. 14.)
Sources
92nd USAAF-USAF Memorial Association. “History of the 326th Bomb Squadron.” Accessed 12-28-2011 at: http://92ndma.org/326thBSHistory.html
Aviation Safety Network, Flight Safety Foundation, Database, 1949. B-29 Superfortress 44-86364 collision with another B-29, 16 Nov 1949. Accessed 9-8-2023 at:
https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/147651
Aviation Safety Network, Flight Safety Foundation, Database, 1949. B-29 Superfortress 44-69939 collision with another B-29, 16 Nov 1949. Accessed 9-8-2023 at:
https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/138575
Baugher, Joseph F. 1944 USAAF Serial Numbers (44-40049 to 44-70254). Oct 28, 2011 revision. Accessed 12-25-2011 at: http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1944_4.html
Long Beach Press-Telegram, CA. “Three Quizzed on B-29 Tragedy.” 11-19-1949, p. 14. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=47044013
National Fire Protection Association. “Large Loss Fires of 1949.” Quarterly of the National Fire Protection Association, Vol. 43, No. 3, January 1950, pp. 151-170.
Oakland Tribune, CA. “17 Missing, 4 Saved as B-29s Collide.” 11-17-1949, p. 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=33552986
San Mateo Times, CA. “Cause of B-29 Stockton Crash Still Mystery.” 11-18-1949, p. 5. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=39377126
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