1944 – Oct 24, USAAF B-29 hits tree after takeoff near Barksdale Field, Shreveport, LA–11
Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 3-24-2024 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/
–11 Lubbock Morn. Avalanche, TX. “Bomber Crew Killed…Louisiana Crash.” 10-25-1944, 13
–11 Mireles 2006. Fatal Army AF Aviation Accidents…US…, V3, Aug 1944-Dec 1945, p. 952.
Narrative Information
Mireles: “At 0406, a Boeing B-29 crashed after it collided with trees just after take-off from Barksdale Field, Shreveport, Louisiana, killing 11 fliers. The airplane was taking off on a navigation mission back to its home station at Harvard Army Air Field, Harvard, Nebraska. The Accident Classification Committee stated,
The subject pilot took off from Harvard, Nebraska, 23 October 1944, at about 0830, en route to Whalerock, to Galveston, Texas, and back to Harvard, Nebraska, on a routine training flight. Due to a faulty engine instrument [the B-29 landed] at Lake Charles, Louisiana, and the subject pilot was instructed over the telephone by some authority at Harvard, Nebraska, to complete his mission and return to Harvard. The pilot took off from Lake Charles at about 1700, 23 October 1944, and apparently finished his mission and was on his way back to Harvard, Nebraska, when he called into Barksdale Field at 0115, 24 October 1944, and asked for landing instructions in order to land and refuel. The purpose for landing at this station, as stated by the pilot, was because he could not transfer fuel from the bomb bay fuel tanks to the main fuel tanks, and therefore needed more gasoline to complete the mission to Harvard. After the subject pilot landed, his aircraft was serviced with 3,700 gallons of 100-octane gasoline, and he immediately proceeded to take off from Barksdale Field at 0405 CWT, 24 October 1944. It was approximately 50 seconds after the actual take-off that the subject aircraft crashed and burned two miles south of Barksdale Field. It is believed … that the subject pilot took off from this field, using his usual take-off procedure, and that he did not pay close attention to his altitude. As a result he hit a tree with his left wing and this threw the subject airplane out of control and it crashed.” (Mireles 2006, 952.)
Newspaper
Oct 24, Associated Press: “Shreveport, Oct. 24 (AP) – A four-engined army bomber from the Harvard, Neb., army air base crashed two miles south of Barksdale field early today, killing 11 men, the entire crew….” (Lubbock Morning Avalanche, TX. “Bomber Crew Killed in Louisiana Crash.” 10-25-1944, p. 13.)
Sources
Lubbock Morning Avalanche, TX. “Bomber Crew Killed in Louisiana Crash.” 10-25-1944, p. 13. Accessed 10-4-2012 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=110715148
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.