1949 — Sep 26, USAF B-29 explosive decompression and crash near Talihina, SE OK –all 13

–13  Cathey. “B-29 bomber crash near Talihina remembered 70 years later.” McAlester News-Capital, 9-28-2019.

–13  National Fire Protection Assoc. “Large Loss Fires of 1949.” Quarterly, 43/3, Jan 1950, 167.

Narrative Information

Cathey, McAlester News Capital, 2019: “Near dusk on Monday evening Sept. 26, 1949, a B-29 bomber stationed at Smokey Hill Air Force Base near Salina, Kansas which was on a round-robin navigational flight with 13 crew members aboard crashed six miles southwest of Talihina, Oklahoma on the Hubert Day Ranch. All 13 crew members aboard were killed. The bomber, piloted by 24-year-old 1st Lieutenant Robert B. Black of Hutchison, Kansas, took off from Smokey Hill Air Force Base early on Monday morning for an eleven-hour training flight. The flight was to climb to 25,000 feet and cruise at 225 mph non-stop to Columbia, Tennessee-Decatur, Illinois-Birmingham, Alabama-Muskogee, Oklahoma-Sherman, Texas-Fort Worth, Texas-Tucumcari, New Mexico- Colorado Springs, Colorado- Denver, Colorado-and back to Salina Kansas.

“Five hours into the flight, the B-29 was over Ft. Smith, Arkansas heading toward Muskogee. At 6:55 p.m. they radioed in that they were over Ft. Smith, Arkansas at 25,000 feet cancelling Muskogee and turning directly toward the next destination, Sherman. It is not known why that change occurred but it did put their flight path over Talihina, Oklahoma. At 7 p.m. they radioed the command plane asking them to relay their position over Ft. Smith to the base at Smoky Hill as their long-distance liaison radio was inoperative. That was the last contact with aircraft #44-86333. A short time later many residents around Talihina and Albion heard a plane in trouble. They looked up to see a large plane circle overhead. The plane entered a flat spin falling from the sky, and plummeted into an oak dotted hill….

“The official Air Force Investigation Report concluded that the plane suffered an ‘explosive decompression which led to anoxia of the crew because they weren’t wearing oxygen masks.’….

“The B-29 crew were members of SAC 15th AF, 301st Bomber Group, 352nd Squadron, Smoky Hill AFB, Salina, Kansas. [We break the following paragraph noting victim names into lines.}

Pilot 1st Lt. Robert B. Black (Kansas);

Co-pilot 1st Lt. Harold S. Spicer (Connecticut);

Navigator 1st Lt. Phillip L. Benefiel (Indiana);

Bombardier 1st Lt. Jack E. McDannell (Illinois);

Radar Operator Capt. Julian B. Massey (Virginia);

Radar Operator 1st Lt. Thomas F. Carlow (Massachusetts);

Engr. M/Sgt William H. Day (Missouri);

S/Engr. Cpl. Theodore P. Sells (Montana);

Radio Operator S/Sgt Charles G. Slifkey (Pennsylvania);

Radio Operator S/Sgt Thomas M. Crean (New York);

Gunner S/Sgt Charles A. Jellings (Illinois);

Gunner Sgt Harold M. Hanna (Kansas);

Gunner S/Sgt Robert O. Troyer(Kansas)

National Fire Protection Association: “Sept. 26 near Talihina, Okla. U.S. Air Force B-29. $750,000 [damages] 13 killed. Thirteen airmen died hen a B-29 on a routine training mission, crashed and burned in a mountain area in Southeastern Oklahoma.” (“Large Loss Fires of 1949.” Quarterly, 43/3, Jan 1950, 167.)

Sources

Cathey. Mike. “B-29 bomber crash near Talihina remembered 70 years later.” McAlester News-Capital, 9-28-2019. Accessed 9-10-2023 at: https://www.mcalesternews.com/news/local_news/cathey-b-29-bomber-crash-near-talihina-remembered-70-years-later/article_b628cb76-8856-5333-ab1c-767303918733.html

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.

Text content