1948 — Aug 24, USAF B-29 engine loss on takeoff, emer. lndg. crash Hickam AFB, HI–   16

Compiled by Wayne Blanchard Sep 22, 2023 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

–16  Aviation Safety Network. USAF B-29 crash, Hickam AFB, Honolulu, Oahu, HI, 8-24-1948.

–16  Long Beach Press-Telegram, CA. “Superfort Hits…Airport Building, 16 Die.” 8-25-1948, 1.

–16  NFPA. “Large Loss Fires of 1948.” Quarterly of the [NFPA], 42/3, Jan 1949, p. 197.

–16  Schmitt, Robert C.  Catastrophic Mortality in Hawaii. 2-2-2009, p. 76.

Narrative Information

Aviation Safety Network, Flight Safety Foundation, Database, 1948:

“Date:                          Tuesday 24 August 1948

“Time:                         19:38 LT [local time]

“Type:                         Boeing B-29 Superfortress

“Owner/operator:        871st BSqn /497th BGp USAF

“Fatalities:                   Fatalities: 16 / Occupants: 20

….

“Location:                   Hickam FB, Honolulu, Oahu, HI

“Phase:                        Approach

“Nature:                      Military

“Departure airport:      Barbers Point NAS, Hawaii

“Destination airport:   Kadena AFB, Okinawa, Japan

“Narrative:

….

“…crashed 24 August 1948: Shortly after takeoff from Barbers Point NAS, bound for Kadena via Kwajalein, the pilot informed ground that an engine failed and elected to return. ATC guided the crew to Hickam Field in Honolulu and eight minutes later, while on approach, the airplane overshot so the pilot-in-command decided to make a go around when control was lost. The airplane crashed in flames and skidded for about 600 yards before coming to rest in flames. Sixteen crew members were killed while four others were injured….”

National Fire Protection Association. “Large Loss Fires of 1948.”

“Aug 24  Honolulu T.H. [Territory of Hawaii]…U.S. Air Force B-29…Aircraft crashed during emergency landing , striking grounded transport plane and a power station.  16 killed.”

Schmitt: “August 24, 1948: A heavily-loaded B-29 Superfortress, shortly after take-off from Barbers Point, attempted an emergency landing at Hickam, overshot the field, and crashed, killing 16 of the 20 on board.”[1] (Schmitt, Robert C. Catastrophic Mortality in Hawaii. 2-2-2009, p. 76.)

Newspaper

April 25, Associated Press: “Hickam Field, Hawaii, Aug. 25. (A.P.) Sixteen airmen died last night in the twisted, burned wreckage of an Okinawa-bound Superfortress that crashed in one of the islands worst peacetime air disasters. Four others were burned seriously. One of the big bomber’s four engines conked out three minutes after it took off from Barber’s Point, on another leg of its far eastern hop from the 88^th Bomber Group’s base at Spokane. The pilot was ordered to land at the Municipal Airport, which adjoins Hickam Field. The Superfort came in at an altitude of 150 feet and missed the airport. The pilot banked the plane in an attempt to circle and bring it back in, but a wing caught a transport plane parked on a Hickam Field taxiway. The Superfort crashed into a concrete power substation and exploded. The crash put out all of the field’s lights momentarily, but emergency lights flashed on as firefighters reached the flaming wreckage.

“Witnesses said the four survivors either jumped or were thrown free from the wreckage. They were rushed to Tripler Army General Hospital, where doctors said their condition was serious.

“The Superfort hit with such force that one engine was thrown 100 feet ahead of the main fuselage, and wreckage was scattered over a 100-yard square area….”  (Long Beach Press-Telegram, CA. “Superfort Hits Hawaii Airport Building, 16 Die.” 8-25-1948, p. 1.)

Sources

Aviation Safety Network, Flight Safety Foundation, Database, 1948. USAF B-29 crash, Hickam AFB, Honolulu, Oahu, HI, 8-24-1948. Accessed 9-22-2023 at:

https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/163430

Long Beach Press-Telegram, CA. “Superfort Hits Hawaii Airport Building, 16 Die.” 8-25-1948, 1. Accessed 10-9-2012: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=36967154

National Fire Protection Association. “Large Loss Fires of 1948.” Quarterly of the National Fire Protection Association, Vol. 42, No. 3, January 1949, pp. 137-183.

Schmitt, Robert C. Catastrophic Mortality in Hawaii. 2-2-2009, 86 pages. Accessed 9-20-2012 at: Catastrophic Mortality in Hawaii – eVols – University of Hawaii. Accessed at: http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CB4QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fevols.library.manoa.hawaii.edu%2Fbitstream%2Fhandle%2F10524%2F150%2FJL03074.pdf%3Fsequence%3D2&ei=UPSvVK2bLoO4yQTO74L4DA&usg=AFQjCNHER9A57xAr6d0m9mJcnsc4F2Z8Gg&bvm=bv.83339334,d.aWw

[1] Cites:  Honolulu Advertiser, Aug. 25, 1948, p. 1.

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