1943 – Oct 14, USAAF B-24D emer. lndg. attempt crash, Neighbours Blvd. Blythe, CA–all 10
Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 4-24-2024 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/
–10 Mireles 2006. Fatal Army AF Aviation Accidents…US…, V2, July 1943-July 1944, p. 549.
Narrative Information
Mireles: “At 2020, a Consolidated B-24D attempting an emergency forced landing crashed at Neighbours,[1] California, killing the crew of ten. Investigators stated,
‘B-24D #42-41150 took off from Blythe, California, at 19:54 on a routine navigation training flight. At 2000, the airplane checked into the radio net and at 20:07 checked out of the radio net with the statement that they would land. From 20:07 until the time the crash was called in, there was no radio contact with the airplane. A Squadron Commander saw the airplane two miles north of the point of final impact, at which time it approximately 400 feet in a normal gliding attitude. Power was off. At 20:20, a civilian observed the airplane to be flying at extremely low altitude with power off and the landing lights on. Immediately after the observation the airplane struck the ground just short of the road,[2] bouncing across the road and over an embankment beyond, where it skidded for approximately 250 yards, during which time it was in the process of breaking up. On examination, the airplane was found to have 20 degrees of flaps down. [The landing] gear was found to be locked in the up position’.” (Mireles 2006, Vol. 2, July 1943-July 1944, p. 549.)
[Blanchard note: There was a USAAF B-24E crash on a mountain while approaching Blythe Army Air Base on October 15, but this crash does not appear to be a confusion with that crash. The types of B-24s, their registration numbers, the times of day, and the locations (on a mountain and just short of a road) are all different. These appear to be two different Blythe AAB-related crashes.]
Sources
Aviation Safety Network, Flight Safety Foundation, Database, 1944. USAAF Consolidated B-24D Liberator forced landing crash, 10-14-1943, Neighbows, CA. Accessed 4-24-2024 at: https://www.aviation-safety.net/wikibase/100250
Mireles, Anthony J. Fatal Army Air Forces Aviation Accidents in the United States, 1941-1945 (Volume 2: July 1943 – July 1944). Jefferson, NC: McFarland and Co., 2006.
Wikipedia. “Neighbours Boulevard,” 2-16-2019 edit. Accessed 4-24-2024 at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neighbours_Boulevard
[1] Aviation Safety Network notes a USAAF B-24D crash on 10-14-1943 in “Neighbows” CA.
[2] There is, according to Wikipedia, a Neighbours Boulevard in Blythe, California.