1950 — Mar 23, USAF B-50 in-flight engine fire/explosion/wing loss/crash ~23M NNW Hyder, AZ- 12

Compiled by Wayne Blanchard, 8-28-2023, for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

–12  Aviation Safety Network. USAF B-50 in-flight engine fire/explosion/crash. 23-Mar-1950.

–12  National Fire Protection Association. “Large Loss Fires of 1950.” 44/3, Jan 1951, p. 249.

–12  Tucson Daily Citizen, AZ. “Two Escape As 12 Perish in Tucson Bomber.” 3-24-1950, p. 1.

Narrative Information

Aviation Safety Network, Flight Safety Foundation, Database, 1950:

“Date:                          23-MAR-1950

“Type:                         Boeing B-50A-10-BO Superfortress

“Owner/operator:        65th BSqn /43d BGp USAF (65th BSqn /43d BGp United States Air Force)

“Registration:              46-020

“MSN:                         15740

“Fatalities:                   Fatalities: 12 / Occupants: 14

“Other fatalities:          0          ….

“Location:                   22miles NNW of Sentinel,[1] Arizona – USA

“Phase:                        En route

“Nature:                       Military

“Departure airport:      Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona

“Destination airport:    Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona            ….

“Narrative:

“The B-50A exploded in mid-air after the outboard engine on the port side caught fire during a training mission at 17,500 feet and crashed in a desert after the left wing broke off. Two men survived with minor injuries: Co-pilot William T. Gentry bailed out through a cockpit hatch and the bombardier Capt. John H. Lee, who was in the gunners’ compartment amidships, apparently was blown clear from the fuselage by the explosion and managed to open his parachute after a long fall.

“The following crew members died in the crash:[2]

Aircraft commander Lt. Col. Harold E. Mignola, of Oakland, CA
Pilot 1st Lt. Robert H. Stephenson, of Chickasha, OK
Capt. Fred B. Smith, of Denker, LA
Capt. Paul M. McPherson, of Houston, TX
1st Lt. Newell G. Sheperd, of Levan, UT
T/Sgt. Lewis E. Womble, of Franklin, VA
T/Sgt. Cecil B. Horton, of Springfield, IL
S/Sgt. Raymond B. Darby, of Malvern, AR
Sgt. William Stovall, of South San Francisco, CA
Cpl. James L. Jones, of Chico, CA
Cpl. Melvin E. Gelino, of Morganville, KS
Pfc. Monford E. Doughty, of Willow Springs, MO.”

National Fire Protection Association: “Mar. 23, near Gila Bend, Ariz. U.S. Air Force, B-50, $850,000, 12 killed. Explosion in flight. Only two of fourteen crewman parachuted to safety.”

Newspaper

March 23, UP: “Hyder, Ariz., March 23 (U.P.) – An Air Force B-50 Superfortress ‘exploded like a bomb in the sky’ today and crashed to the desert 25 miles northwest of here killing at least nine crewmembers. Two others parachuted to safety. However, Maj. Donald C. Foster, public information officer at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Tucson, said 14 men boarded the plane this morning prior to take off on a routine training flight….

“Mrs. Fred L. Backketter, station manager of the small railroad section point here…said the large craft exploded in the sky and burst into flames as it plunged to the earth. When she reached the crash scene, she said, wreckage was strewn over a two-mile area in a rocky, cactus-studded region. ‘The plane was a horrible mess,’ the woman said. ‘It looked like a crumpled piece of tin.’…Mrs. Backketter said she drove to within a few miles of the crash in the Hyder school bus. She said O.I. Nichols, the bus driver, walked the remaining eight miles through sand and mesquite thickets.

“One of the survivors told the Hyder woman one of the craft’s four engines caught fire seconds before the explosion.

“The crash scene was eight miles from the nearest road. A small unidentified plane landed on an abandoned airstrip near Hyder and picked up two of the survivors. One had a broken leg, it was reported, while the other was badly cut and bruised….” (UP. “B-50 Bomber Crashes at Hyder; Believe 9 Dead.” The Yuma Daily Sun, AZ, 3-23-1950, p. 1.)

Sources

Aviation Safety Network, Flight Safety Foundation, Database, 1950. USAF B-50 in-flight engine fire/explosion/wing loss/crash, 22M NNW of Sentinel, AZ, 23-Mar-1950. Accessed 8-28-2023 at: https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/98664

National Fire Protection Association. “Large Loss Fires of 1950.” Vol. 44, No. 3, Jan 1951.

Tucson Daily Citizen, “Dead In B-50 Crash Listed.” 3-24-1950, p. 1. Accessed 8-28-2023 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/tucson-daily-citizen-mar-24-1950-p-1/

Tucson Daily Citizen, AZ. “Two Escape As 12 Perish in Tucson Bomber.” 3-24-1950, p. 1. Accessed 8-28-2023 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/tucson-daily-citizen-mar-24-1950-p-1/

United Press. “B-50 Bomber Crashes at Hyder; Believe 9 Dead.” The Yuma Daily Sun, AZ, 3-23-1950, p. 1. Accessed 8-28-2023 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/yuma-sun-mar-23-1950-p-1/

[1] Sentinel is several miles to the south of Hyder, and the crash was NNW of Hyder, making it the closer point.

[2] These fatalities are also listed in the Tucson Daily Citizen, “Dead In B-50 Crash Listed.” 3-24-1950, p. 1.

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