1945 – Apr 16, USAAF Beech AT-11s collide, bombing training, near Big Spring, TX– 10
Compiled by Wayne Blanchard for: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/ Last edit 12-8-2023.
–10 Big Spring Daily Herald, TX. “Ten Killed in First Bad Crash From Local Field.” 4-17-1945, p.1.
–10 Mireles 2006. Fatal Army AF Aviation Accidents…US…, V3, Aug 1944-Dec 1945, p.1078.
Narrative Information
Mireles: “At 2330, two Beech AT-11 airplanes collided in mid-air 20 miles south of Big Spring, Texas, killing ten fliers. The airplanes had taken off from Big Spring Army Air Field on a bombing training mission. The airplanes were flying on the AAF Bombing Range at 4,000 feet agl on a triangular pattern with illuminated targets at the three corners. The lights at Target #2 went out, so the range controller directed the airplanes to fly an oval and head back to Target #3. The two airplanes dropped bombs on Target #3 and were turning away when the collision occurred. The airplanes broke up and burst into flames in the collision. Wreckage and bodies were scattered over an area of one and a half miles.” (Mireles 2006, p. 1078.)
Newspaper
“Four officers and six bombardier students of the Big Spring Bombardier School were killed instantly at 11:45 Monday night in a mid-air collision of two twin-engined training planes over the target area 15 miles southeast of Big Spring near the Grden City highway. The accident, announced today by Col. Ralph C. Rockwood, commanding officer, occurred during routine training flights, and the tragedy broke the outstanding flying safety record of the Big Spring school, where more than 47,350,000 miles of flying had been accomplished without a single cadet fatality. The victims were:
2nd Lt. Rowland H. Meade Jr., 27, pilot…Big Spring.
2nd Lt. Neil C. Hildebrand, 20, pilot…Baltimore, Md.
2nd Lt. George E. Blake, 20, bombardier instructor…survived by his bride of two days…
F-O John Marenac Jr., 20 bombardier instructor…Racine, Wis.
A-C Joseph W. Kerico, 23…Croydon, Pa.
A-C Clyde E. Jackson, 24…Shattuck, Okla. …
A-C Gildo Smaniotto, 27…Chicago, Ill.
A-C Leonard C. Shoberg, 28…Kennewick, Wash.
A-C John W. Thompson Jr., 20…Centralia, Wash.
A-C Chester W. Hilgendorf, 24…Beaver Dam, Wis.
….”
(Big Spring Daily Herald, TX. “Ten Killed in First Bad Crash From Local Field.” 4-17-1945, p.1.)
Sources
Big Spring Daily Herald, TX. “Ten Killed in First Bad Crash From Local Field.” 4-17-1945, p. 1. Accessed 12-8-2023 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/big-spring-daily-herald-apr-17-1945-p-1/
Mireles, Anthony J. Fatal Army Air Forces Aviation Accidents in the United States, 1941-1945 (Volume 3: August 1944 – December 1945). Jefferson, NC: McFarland and Co., 2006.