1950 — July 23, USAF C46 with 31 TN NG, loses aileron on takeoff, crashes, Myrtle Beach, SC–all 39

Compiled by B. Wayne Blanchard, 8-24-2023, for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

–39 AP. “Air Crash Toll Grows to 39 Dead.” Bluefield Daily Telegraph, WV, 7-25-1950, p. 1.
–>30 TN Air National Guard passengers
— 4 FL Air National Guard crew
— 5 military personal who were “hitching” a ride.
–39 AP. “Planes Carrying Guard Dead Are Forced Down Too.” Decatur Daily, 7-27-1950, p.2.
–31 Nashville area TN Air National Guardsmen
— 4 Florida Air Reserve crewmen
— 4 “…unidentified aerial hitchhikers…”
–39 Aviation Safety Network. Accident Description. United States Air Force, 23 Jul 1950.
–39 Baugher. 1944 USAAF Serial Numbers (44-70255 to 44-83885). 11-6-2011 rev.
–39 Gero. Military Aviation Disasters: Significant Losses Since 1908. 1999, 47.
— 4 Crew
–35 American servicemen
–39 Planecrashinfo.com. “Accident Details…Military-USAF, Myrtle Beach, SC, May 23…”
–34 AP. “30 Tennessee Air National Guardsmen; 4 Crewmen Die in S.C. Plane Crash.” 7-24-1950, p.1.
–30 Tennessee Air National Guardsmen

Narrative Information

Aviation Safety Network, Flight Safety Foundation, Database, 1950:
“Date: Sunday 23 July 1950
“Time: 10:22
“Type: Curtiss C-46D-10-CU Commando
“Operator: United States Air Force – USAF
“Registration: 44-77577
“MSN: 32973
“First Flight: 1944
“Crew: Fatalities: 4 / Occupants: 4
“Passengers: Fatalities: 35 / Occupants: 35
“Total: Fatalities: 39 / Occupants: 39
“Aircraft damage: Damaged beyond repair
“Location: 3 km (1.9 mls) W of Myrtle Beach, SC (USA)
“Phase: Initial climb (ICL)
“Nature: Military
“Departure airport: Myrtle Beach AFB, SC
“Destination airport: Nashville Metropolitan Airport, TN
“Narrative:

“The left aileron detached after takeoff. The aircraft lost control at an altitude of about 1000-2000 feet. Both wings failed and the airplane crashed. Investigation revealed that the centre section of the left aileron had torn loose, causing the entire aileron to separate.” At the time this was the 8th worst U.S. aviation accident. (ASN, USAF, 23 Jul 1950.)

Baugher: “Curtiss C-46D-10-CU Commando….77577 crashed on takeoff Myrtle Beach, SC May 23, 1950. 39 killed.” (Baugher. 1944 USAAF Serial Numbers (44-70255 to 44-83885). 11-6-2011 revision.)

Gero:
“Date: 23 July 1950 (C.10:20)
“Location: Near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, US
“Operator: US Air Force
“Aircraft type: Curtiss-Wright C-46D (44-77577)

“The twin-engine transport crashed during a trooping operation, and all 39 American servicemen aboard, including a crew of four, perished. Following a take-off from Myrtle Beach Airport, on a US domestic flight to Nashville, Tennessee, and after it had turned eastward towards its point of departure, witnesses observed pieces fall from the aircraft. The C-46 then spiraled to the ground from an estimated height of 1,000 to 2,000ft (300-600m). It was determined that after the centre section of its left aileron had torn loose, the entire control surface had separated from the transport, and during the subsequent uncontrolled descent, both its wings failed due to overstressing. No distress message had been sent by the crew prior to the crash, and the weather, consisting of scattered clouds at around 5,000ft (1,500m) and a visibility of 10 miles (15km), was not considered a factor. The cause of the structural failure was not disclosed.” (Gero 1999, p. 47)

Planecrashinfo.com:
“Time 10:20….
“Fatalities: 39 (Passengers: 35 Crew: 4)….
“Summary: Lost the left aileron after taking off, lost control and crashed.”
(Planecrashinfo.com. “1950…Accident Details…Military – US Air Force…Myrtle Beach”)

Newspapers

July 23, Long Beach Independent, CA: “MYRTLE BEACH, S. C., July 23…Air National Guardsmen from Florida and Tennessee died instantly today when their C-46 transport plane crashed, exploded and burned near Myrtle Beach. The plane went down at 10:22 a. m. (EST). Some of 30 Nashville, Tenn., guardsmen were being ferried home by a Miami National Guard plane, carrying a crew of three. The Tennesseans, all ground personnel, had just completed summer training at Myrtle Beach. The aircraft, which plowed into timberland near an old logging trail, was blown into scattered wreckage. The Tennessee guard had utilized the Miami-based planes to transport troops home from the summer maneuvers. The plane had taken off from an air base near Myrtle Beach a few moments before the, crash.” (Long Beach Independent. “33 Killed in Blazing Crash of Troop Carrying Plane,” 24 July 1950.)

July 24, AP: “Mrytle Beach, S.C. – (AP) – An Air Force transport hurtled into swampland near here yesterday and exploded into a blazing funeral pyre for 34 servicemen. The dead included 30 members of the Tennessee Air National Guard en route to Nashville from war games in this area. Four Air Reserve crewmen were on the plane.

“Minutes after the C-46 climbed from the Municipal Airport here it plunged into the pine-spotted muckland. The servicemen were still within sight of the airport until just before the ship crashed.

“Towering, gasoline-fed flames pushed would-be rescuers back. Helpless, they watched the cremation. When the flames died, white-jacketed Army Medical Corpsmen began removing the bodies. Late last night, they had recovered 15. The others were trapped in the buried, charred wreckage.

“Bits of the big transport were flung in a 100-yard circle. The wings were still further away.

“There were conflicting reports about the crash. Some said the plane seemed to explode in mid-air. But a pilot who flew over the Carolina swampland said the ship didn’t explode until it struck….” (Associated Press. “30 Tennessee Air National Guardsmen; 4 Crewmen Die in S.C. Plane Crash.” Kingsport Times, TN, 7-24-1950, p. 1.)

July 24, AP: “Myrtle Beach, S.C., July 24 (AP) – An air force officer said tonight that 39 bodies have been recovered from the crash of a transport plane near here yesterday. Previous reports had given the death toll as 34 – including 30 members of the Tennessee air national guard and four air reserve crewmen from Florida. But Capt. E. S. Wood, public information officer at Shaw air force base at Sumter said 39 bodies have been recovered, and medical officers and searchers were agreed they had recovered the bodies of all on the C-46 plane which exploded in flames shortly after taking off from Myrtle Beach.

“The plane was one of nine from an air force reserve troop carrier wing at Miami which took Nashville, Tenn. air national guardsmen home from two-weeks summer war games here.

“The manifest showed 30 Tennessee guardsmen on the doomed plane. Wood said the five extra bodies were probably those of military hitchhikers. He did not know whether they were Tennessee guardsmen….

“Nashville, Tenn., July 24 (AP) – Tennessee national guard headquarters here began a recheck of its air personnel tonight to determine whether five more Tennesseans were lost aboard a big transport which crashed near Myrtle Beach, S.C. yesterday. A spokesman for the office of the adjutant general said a ‘roll call’ of guardsmen known to have returned from South Carolina maneuvers yesterday was begun after an unconfirmed report was received that 39 men were aboard the crashed plane…He said…that dental records of all personnel will be forwarded to South Carolina immediately to aid in identifying the additional five persons.” (AP. “Air Crash Toll Grows to 39 Dead.” Bluefield Daily Telegraph, WV, 7-25-1950, p. 1.)

Sources

Associated Press. “30 Tennessee Air National Guardsmen; 4 Crewmen Die in S.C. Plane Crash.” Kingsport Times, TN, 7-24-1950, p. 1. Accessed 8-23-2023 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/kingsport-times-jul-24-1950-p-1/

Associated Press. “Air Crash Toll Grows to 39 Dead.” Bluefield Daily Telegraph, WV, 7-25-1950, p. 1. Accessed 8-23-2023 at:
https://newspaperarchive.com/bluefield-daily-telegraph-jul-25-1950-p-2/

Associated Press. “Planes Carrying Guard Dead Are Forced Down Too.” Decatur Daily, 7-27-1950, p.2. Accessed 8-24-2023 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/decatur-daily-jul-27-1950-p-2/

Aviation Safety Network, Flight Safety Foundation, Database, 1950. Accident Description. United States Air Force Curtiss C-46D-10-CU Commando, 23 Jul 1950. Accessed 2-9-2009 at: http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19500723-0

Baugher, Joseph F. 1944 USAAF Serial Numbers (44-70255 to 44-83885). Nov 6, 2011 revision. Accessed 12-29-2011 at: http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1944_5.html

Gero, David. Military Aviation Disasters: Significant Losses Since 1908. UK and Newbury Park, CA: Patrick Stephens Limited, an imprint of Hayes Publishing, 1999.

Long Beach Independent, CA. “33 Killed in Blazing Crash of Troop Carrying Plane,” 7-24-1950. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/freepdfviewer.aspx?img=45685205

Planecrashinfo.com. “1950…Accident Details…Military-USAF, Myrtle Beach, SC, May 23…” Accessed at: http://www.planecrashinfo.com/1950/1950-18.htm