1943 – April 21, USAAF B-24D crash after SOS sent ~210M E of Virginia Beach VA–all 10
Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 5-20-2024 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/
–10 Aviation Safety Network, Flight Safety Foundation. ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 100173.
–10 Mireles 2006. Fatal Army AF Aviation Accidents…US…, V. 1 Jan 1941-Jun 1943, p. 345.
Narrative Information
Aviation Safety Network, Flight Safety Foundation. ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 100173:
“Date: Wednesday 21 April 1943
“Time: 20:20
“Type: Consolidated B-24D Liberator
“Owner/Operator: United States Army Air Force (USAAF)
“Registration: 41-23914
“MSN: 709
“Fatalities: Fatalities: 10 / Occupants: 10
“Aircraft damage: Destroyed
“Location: Atlantic Ocean – United States of America
“Phase: En route
“Nature: Military
“Departure airport: Langley Field, VA
“Destination airport: [Not noted, though Mireles notes it was to return to Langley Field.]
“Narrative: Missing in service, In Atlantic Ocean
“Sources: http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/src/db.asp
“Images: [Facsimile of Group 1, War Department USAAF, Langley Field, VA,
“Report of Aircraft Accident,” which lists names and ranks of fatalities.]
“(9) 18th Antisubmarine Squadron.
Speake, Fred M. Jr. …1st Lt.
Barbour, Charles L. …F/O [Flight Officer]
Dingus, Charles H. …1st Lt.
Millikan, James W. …2nd Lt.
Garrett, Willard C. …T/Sgt.
Hearn, Titus E. …S/Sgt.
Danley, Harold G. …S/Sgt.
Underdahl, Sheldon J. …Pvt.
Bragg, Eugene T. …Cpl.
Prestige, Howard F. …Cpl.”
Mireles: “Location unknown. At a time after 2052 EWT, a Consolidated B-24D with a crew of ten was presumed to have crashed into the Atlantic Ocean approximately 210 miles east of Virginia Beach, Virginia. The airplane had failed to return to its base at Langley Field, Hampton, Virginia, from an antisubmarine patrol and was declared missing. Investigators stated,
“A distress (SOS) signal was intercepted at 2452Z [Greenwich Mean Time]. There was no associated message. After sending MO’s interspersed with distress signals until 2452Z, all communication ceased. Two aircraft and a merchant ship in the vicinity were notified immediately and a Navy destroyer was also dispatched to search and render assistance. Eight airplanes of the 18th Anti-Submarine Squadron took-off at approximately 0900Z [0500 EWT], April 22, 1943 to conduct a search in the vicinity of the position last determined by radio direction finders. No personnel or material has been located.” (Mireles 2006. V1, 345.)
Newspaper
Apr 26, AP: “By Associated Press. Langley Field, Va., April 26 – A multi-engine plane carrying ten Army flyers crashed at sea last Wednesday and no member of the crew has been found, the Langley Field Air Base announced Monday. The ship was engaged in a routine flight and an intensive search of the sea area is continuing, officers said. Among the missing were listed:
Flight Officer C. L. Barbour, co-pilot, of Pratt, Kan.
1st Lt. C.] H. Dingus, navigator, French, N.M.
2nd Lt. James W. Millinken, bombardier, Omaha, Neb.
Technical Sgt. W. C. Garrett, engineer, Ozark, Mo.
Staff Sgt. H. T. Danley, radio operator, Oakland, Calif.
Pvt. J. S. Underdahl, assistant radio operator, Minot, N.D.
Cpl. Eugene T. Bragg, specialist, Centerville, Tenn.”
(Associated Press. “10 Army Flyers Lost at Sea.” San Antonio Express, TX. 4-27-1943, p. 1.)
Sources
Associated Press. “10 Army Flyers Lost at Sea.” San Antonio Express, TX. 4-27-1943, p. 1. Accessed 5-12-2024 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/san-antonio-express-apr-27-1943-p-1/
Aviation Safety Network, Flight Safety Foundation. ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 100173. Accessed 5-20-2024 at: https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/100173
Mireles, Anthony J. Fatal Army Air Forces Aviation Accidents in the United States, 1941-1945 (Volume 1: Introduction, January 1941 – June 1943). Jefferson, NC: McFarland and Co., 2006.