1953 — Aug 5, USAF Peacemaker engine fire/ditched, Atlantic, ~420M NW Prestwick Scotland–19

–19 Aviation Safety Network. USAF Convair Peacemaker crash 620M off Prestwick Scotland.

Narrative Information

Aviation Safety Network, Flight Safety Foundation, Database:
“ Date: 05 Aug 1953
….
“Type: Convair RB-36H-45-CF Peacemaker
“Owner/operator: …5th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing, United states Air Force
“Registration: 52-1369
“MSN: 303
“Fatalities: Fatalities: 19 / Occupants: 23
“Other fatalities: 0
….
“Location: 610 miles NW of Prestwick, Scotland – Atlantic Ocean
“Phase: En route
“Nature: Military
“Departure airport: Travis AFB, CA
“Destination airport: RAF Lakenheath, Suffolk, UK
“Confidence Rating: Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Baugher. USAF Serial Number Search Results: “52-1367…53-1373 (Exact Match)
“Convair RF-36H-45-CF Peacemaker….
“1369 (MSN) 303) w/o in ditching west of Scotland 8/5/53 due to engine fire and failure in flight from Travis AFB to RAF Lakenheath. 19 Killed, 4 survivors.”

Newspaper

Aug 5, AP: “By The Associated Press.
“London – A giant U.S. Air Force RV-36 reconnaissance bomber plunged in flames into the icy North Atlantic today and several hours later a searching aircraft reported spotting wreckage and survivors. The searching plane, a U.S. SB-29, said the survivors were seen bobbing on the high seas 420 miles west of Prestwick, Scotland. It did not report how many survivors it had spotted. Twenty-three men jumped into the Atlantic from the downed plane.

“As soon as the wreckage was spotted the searching plane dropped a boat and radioed other aircraft in the area. A second RB-29 soon appeared and also dropped a boat.

“Other American and British aircraft engaged in the search halted their rectangular flying patterns and began flying in wide circles around the area to determine if any men had drifted away. At least three ships were reported within 150 miles.

“The wreckage was sighted at 12:36 p.m. British summer time or just over eight hours after the big plane plunged into the water. Two seaplanes reached the scene but were unable to land because the waves were too high. They were ordered back to Prestwick, Scotland.

“A drizzle reduced visibility to one mile, and the cloud ceiling was down to 100 feet. However, operations officers said the boats dropped by the SB-29’s were large and well-equipped and any of the survivors who reached them would be safe until rescuers arrive.

“The meager reports received here indicated that the men parachuted from the bomber, world’s largest plane in regular operation, at 2,400 feet. It was thought, however, that some might have stayed aboard and tried to ditch the aircraft in the waves, running as high as 10 feet.

“The 10-engine plane, a reconnaissance version of the atom-bomb-carrying B-36, was en route from Travis air force base in California to England on a training mission. The U.S. Air Force aircraft control center in suburban Ruislip said there were nine officers and 14 airmen aboard. The plane carried four six-nan rafts and 24 one-man dingies.

“First indication of trouble came shortly after 4 a.m. when the plane reported that an engine was on fire. Nineteen minutes later the pilot messaged Ruislip that the blaze was out of control and ‘we are leaving the aircraft.’” (Associated Press. “Giant U.S. Bomber Down in North Atlantic. 23 Aboard…” The Evening Independent, Massillon, OH, 8-5-12953, p. 1.)

“Aug 6, INS: “London – (INS) – Twenty-three U.S. Air Force planes took off from Ireland and Scotland today to resume the search for 16 missing crewmen of a ten-engined RB-36 bomber which crashed in flames in the north Atlantic. Four of the 23 crewmen were picked up alive by British freighters before darkness and bad weather halted the search Wednesday night and the bodies of three other men were recovered. Air Force officials said the freighter Manchester Pioneer had picked up three survivors and the body of one victim while the Manchester Shipper found one survivor and two bodies. Officials said the three survivors aboard the Manchester Pioneer later were transferred to the Canadian Pacific liner Empress of Australia.

“The planes resuming the search area, some 420 miles west of Scotland were to establish contact with three planes which maintained an all-night vigil in the area which also was patrolled by seven ships. But the Admiralty in London announced that the British destroyer Tenacious had been recalled from the search because its mission was regarded as complete.

“The reconnaissance bomber, the largest in regular Air Force operation, was on a routine flight from Travis Air Force Base, Calif. To England when several of its engines caught fire….

“All 23 of the crewmen were presumed to have parachuted into the cold Atlantic. The bomber was equipped with enough parachutes and other life-saving equipment for all those on board. Rain and darkness, however, made it difficult to sight the life rafts in the mountainous waters….” (INS. “Search Continues for Rest of Bomber Crew.” The Tipton Daily Tribune, IN. 8-6-1953, p. 1.)

Aug 6, INS: “London, Aug 6, INS – Hope faded tonight for the 14 missing crewmen of the 10-engine U.S. RF-36 that crashed into the Atlantic Wednesday. Four members of the 23-man crew have been rescued and the bodies of five others have been recovered. One of the four survivors reported from the ship which had pulled him from the water that he rode the huge bomber down and escaped through a turret. He was quoted by the Air Force as saying he ‘saw two men alive after the ditching.’

“The giant air-sea search for the missing continued but surface visibility was poor in the waters west of the British Isles. The survivors, picked up Wednesday by two British merchant ships, were en route to Britain along with bodies of…five fellow crewmen….

“Speer, the first crewman reported save was in ‘good’ condition aboard the Manchester Shipper. He was quoted by the Air Force as reporting:…. ‘I was 10 hours in my single-man dinghy before the air-sea rescue SB-29 located me and dropped a lifeboat.’ ….

“The dead identified by the Air Force included:

Capt. Walter N. Hunter, 31, radar officer, of San Jacinto, Calif.;
Maj. Henry E. Collins, 43 radar officer, Tucson, Ariz.; and
S/Sgt. Robert E. Yoeman, 28, gunner, Buchanan, Mich.

“Names of the two others were not released immediately….

The huge plane was last heard from early Wednesday morning when its commander radioed that several starboard [right side] engines were afire and that he was abandoning ship….” (INS. “Hope For 14 Airmen Missing in Atlantic Bomber Crash Fades.” Morning Avalanche, Lubbock, TX. 8-7-1953, p. 5.)

Aug 8, INS: “Warrington, England, Aug 8 – INS – The first of four survivors of the crash of a 10-engine U.S. bomber reached England today and was rushed to the hospital at the Burtonwood Air Base….S-Sgt. Roy D. Speer of Bennington, Okla., was too weak from head and body injuries to speak to newsmen. An officer who accompanied Speer from the ship canal to the hospital quoted the injured airman as giving this account of the crash:

I awakened and found the engines in the aircraft afire. All the men aboard not required up front were ordered to the rear and told to put on survival suits and parachutes and get liferafts ready to throw out immediately after we made contact with the water.

I must have been thrown clear of the wreckage and somehow managed to climb into a dinghy.

“He was quoted by a member of the Shipper’s crew as saying about 10 crewmen parachuted into the icy Atlantic when the fire in the bomber’s starboard engines went out of control. He and others rode the plane down and he escaped through a turret and clung to a life raft….” (International News Service. “RV-36 Survivor Reaches England.” The Charleston Gazette, WV. 8-9-1953, p. 34.)

Sources

Associated Press. “Giant U.S. Bomber Down in North Atlantic. 23 Aboard. Search Craft Spots Airmen on High Seas.” The Evening Independent, Massillon, OH, 8-5-12953, p. 1. Accessed 7-2-2023 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/evening-independent-aug-05-1953-p-1/

Aviation Safety Network, Flight Safety Foundation, Database. USAF Convair Peacemaker crash 620M NW off Prestwick Scotland, 5-Aug-1953. Accessed 7-1-2023 at:
https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/152763

Baugher, Joseph. USAF Serial Number Search Results. Accessed 7-2-2023 at: http://cgibin.rcn.com/jeremy.k/cgi-bin/gzUsafSearch.pl?target=52-1369&content=

INS (International News Service). “Hope For 14 Airmen Missing in Atlantic Bomber Crash Fades.” Morning Avalanche, Lubbock, TX. 8-7-1953, p. 5. Accessed 7-2-2023 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/morning-avalanche-aug-07-1953-p-5/

INS (International News Service). “RV-36 Survivor Reaches England.” The Charleston Gazette, WV. 8-9-1953, p. 34. Accessed 7-2-2023 at:
https://newspaperarchive.com/charleston-gazette-aug-09-1953-p-34/

INS (International News Service). “Search Continues for Rest of Bomber Crew.” The Tipton Daily Tribune, IN. 8-6-1953, p. 1. Accessed 7-2-2023 at:
https://newspaperarchive.com/tipton-daily-tribune-aug-06-1953-p-1/
INS (International News Service). “Still Searching for 14 Airmen.” New Castle News, PA. 8-8-1953, p. 1. Accessed 7-2-2023 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/new-castle-news-aug-08-1953-p-1/