1943 – May 22, USAAF B-17G plane crash 5M SE of Rapid City Army Air Base, SD–all 11

Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 5-9-2024 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

–11  Big Spring Daily Herald, TX. “Crash of Bomber Kills Eleven Men.” 5-24-1943, p. 8.

–11  Mireles 2006. Fatal Army AF Aviation Accidents…US…, V. 1 Jan 1941-Jun 1943, p. 380.

Narrative Information

 Mireles: “At 2230 MWT, a Boeing B-17F crashed five miles south­east of the Army Air Base at Rapid City, South Dakota, killing 11 fliers. The airplane had taken off at 2112 MWT from Rapid City AAB on a cross-country nav­igation and bombing mission. The aircraft had arrived at the area of the North Bombing Range but was un­able to contact the bombing range operator. The bomb­ing range tower operator observed the B-17 circling the range and tried to contact the bomber but was unsuc­cessful. The range operator lost sight of the airplane and two or three minutes later observed a large explo­sion near the range. Investigation revealed that the air­plane had smashed into the ground at an 80-degree angle, exploding violently into flames. The rear en­trance door was found intact and undamaged by fire approximately 50 feet from the main wreckage. In­vestigators speculated that the door’s emergency release was pulled an instant before the B-17 slammed into the ground. Investigators could not determine what caused the airplane to dive into the ground at a steep angle. It was later speculated that the pilots might have lost the horizon, causing the airplane to enter steep dive to­ward the ground.”  (Mireles 2006, Vol. 1, p. 380.)

 

Newspaper

 

May 24, Associated Press: “Rapid City, S.D., May 24 (AP) Major Ellis E. Eno, commanding officer of the Rapid City army airbase, today announced that 11 men were dead as the result of a crash of a four-motored bomber on a routine training flight. The ship, from the Rapid City airbase crashed near Newell.” (Big Spring Daily Herald, TX. “Crash of Bomber Kills Eleven Men.” 5-24-1943, p. 8.)

Sources

 

Big Spring Daily Herald, TX. “Crash of Bomber Kills Eleven Men.” 5-24-1943, p. 8. Accessed 10-4-2012 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=86692458

 

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.