20th Century

1944 – Nov 13, USAAF C-47 takeoff crash 3M NW Casper Army Air Base, Casper, WY–11

Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 3-18-2024 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

–11  Aviation Safety Network. USAAF C-47 initial climb crash, Casper AAF, WY, 11-13-1944.

–11  Baugher, Joseph. 1941 USAAF Serial Numbers (41-6722 to 41-13296). 4-11-2023 rev.

–11  Miami Daily News-Record, OK. “Bulletin.” 11-14-1944, p. 1.

–11  Mireles 2006. Fatal Army AF Aviation Accidents…US…, V3, Aug 1944-Dec 1945, p. 969.

Narrative Information

Aviation Safety Network, Flight Safety Foundation, Database, 1944:

“Date and Time:          Monday 13 November 1944, 23:28

“Type:                         Douglas C-47-DL (DC-3)

“Operator:                   United States Army Air Force – USAAF

“Registration:              41-7834

“MSN:                         4333

“First flight:                1942

….

“Crew:                         Fatalities:   2 / Occupants:   2

“Passengers:                Fatalities:   9 / Occupants:   9

“Total:                         Fatalities: 11 / Occupants: 11

“Aircraft damage:       Damaged beyond repair

“Location:                   5 km (3.1 mls) NW of Casper AAF, WY

“Phase:                        Initial climb (ICL)

“Nature:                      Military

“Departure airport:      Casper AAF, WY

“Destination airport:   Casper-Wardwell Field, WY

“Narrative:                  A Douglas C-47 transport aircraft was destroyed when it struck terrain and

crashed shortly after takeoff from Casper AAF, WY. The airplane had taken

off from runway 25 and was turning right to leave the traffic pattern when

the accident happened.”

 

Baugher: “Douglas C-47-DL….7834 (MSN 4333) to USAAF Apr 28, 1942 – Operated by PAA May 14, 1942 – Panama Aug 21, 1943 – USA Aug 21, 1944 – w/o Nov 13, 1944 in crash 3 mi NW of Casper AAF, Wyoming shortly after takeoff. 11 killed.

 

Mireles: “At 2328 MWT, a Douglas C-47 crashed three miles northwest of the Army Air Base at Casper, Wyoming, killing pilot lLt. Roy L. Barnhill and co-pilot lLt. Eugene L. Kramer and nine passengers. The airplane had taken off from Cheyenne, Wyoming, to Billings, Montana, with Casper, Wyoming, as an alternate. The airplane landed at Casper Army Air Base at 1221 MWT on 11-12-44 and was trapped there by poor weather. The pilot was refused a contact clearance for Great Falls, Montana. At 1800 on 11-13-44, the pilot was cleared on a contact flight to Wardell Municipal Airport at Casper. The starboard engine would not start and the flight was delayed until 2300 when the engine was finally started. The airplane was given another clearance for Wardell Airport. The pilot taxied to Runway 7 and performed his engine run up. The tower advised the pilot that he was on the wrong end of the runway for take-off. The pilot ac­knowledged and taxied down the runway to the cor­rect end and turned around. The airplane was cleared for take-off on Runway 25 and the pilot began his roll. The airplane made a normal take-off and then entered a turn to the right to leave the traffic pattern. Moments later tower personnel noticed a flash in-the distance where the airplane crashed. Investigation revealed that the airplane struck the ground in a vertical bank to the left, the port wingtip contacting the ground first. The airplane then cartwheeled into the ground and ex­ploded into flames.”  (Mireles 2006, p. 969.)

 

Narrative Information

 

Nov 14, Associated Press: “Casper, Wyo., Nov. 14 – (AP) – Four Army officers, two Marines, a, sailor, a WAVE and three soldiers were killed last night in the crash of an Army transport plane, three miles north of Casper Army airfield.  Col, E, M. Hampton, commanding officer of the base, said names of the dead would be withheld pending notification of next of kin. Cause of the crash was not determined.”  (Miami Daily News-Record, OK. “Bulletin.” 11-14-1944, p. 1.)

 

Sources

 

Aviation Safety Network, Flight Safety Foundation, Database, 1944. USAAF C-47 initial climb crash, Casper AAF, WY, 11-13-1944. Accessed 3-18-2024 at:

https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19441113-1

 

Baugher, Joseph. 1941 USAAF Serial Numbers (41-6722 to 41-13296). 4-11-2023 revision. Accessed 3-18-2024 at: https://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1941_2.html

 

Miami Daily News-Record, Miami, OK. “Bulletin.” 11-14-1944, p. 1. Accessed 10-4-2012 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=135671498

 

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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1944 — Nov 11, US Air Transport Command C-54 Crashes 50 miles off Oahu, HI      –all 17

—  17  Aviation Safety Network, Accident Description, USAAF C-54, November 11, 1944

—  17  Nebraska State Journal, “Air Crash Kills 17,” November 15, 1944.

—  17  Oakland Tribune, CA. “17 Die as Army Plane Crashes En Route U.S.” 11-15-1944, p. 7.

—  17  Schmitt, Robert C.  Catastrophic Mortality in Hawaii. 2-2-2009, p. 76.

Narrative Information

 Aviation Safety Network

“Date:              11 Nov 1944

“Type:             Douglas C-54A-15-DC

“Operator:       ….USAAF

“Registration:  42-72252

“C/n / msn:      10357….

“Crew:             Fatalities:  6 / Occupants:  6

“Passengers:    Fatalities: 11/ Occupants: 11….

“Location:       80 km (50 mls) off Oahu Island, HI….

“Narrative:      Crashed while en route from Hawaii to the U.S. mainland.”

 

(Aviation Safety Network.  Accident Description. United States Army Air Force Douglas C-54A-15-DC, Nov 11, 1944.)

 

Schmitt: “November 14, 1944: All 17 persons on an Air Transport Command C-54 flight to the Mainland died when the plane plunged into the ocean 50 miles from Oahu.”[1]  (Schmitt, Robert C.  Catastrophic Mortality in Hawaii. 2-2-2009, p. 76.)

 

Newspapers

 

Nov 15: “Honolulu (AP).  Seventeen persons were killed in the crash of a four-engined C-54 army transport plane only 50 miles off Oahu enroute from Hawaii to the U.S. mainland…”  (Nebraska State Journal, “Air Crash Kills 17,” November 15, 1944)

 

Nov 15: “Honolulu, Nov. 15. – (AP) – Seventeen persons were killed in the crash of a four-engined C54 Army transport plane only 50 miles off Oahu en route from Hawaii to the United States mainland, the Army announced today. Date of the crash was not given. They included two Army officers, seven Army enlisted men, two Navy enlisted men and the crew of three officers and three men. It was the first reported loss of a C54 by the Pacific wing of the Army Transport Command. The cause was not known. Some of the Army mail aboard has been recovered.” 

(Oakland Tribune, CA. “17 Die as Army Plane Crashes En Route U.S.” 11-15-1944, p. 7.)

 

Sources

 

Aviation Safety Network, Flight Safety Foundation, Database, 1944. Accident Description. United States Army Air Force Douglas C-54A-15-DC, Nov 11, 1944 off Oahu HI.  Accessed 12-24-2008 at: http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19441111-0

 

Nebraska State Journal (Lincoln). “Air Crash Kills 17,” November 15, 1944. Accessed at:  http://www.newspaperarchive.com/freepdfviewer.aspx?img=23946030

 

Oakland Tribune, CA. “17 Die as Army Plane Crashes En Route U.S.” 11-15-1944, p. 7. Accessed 10-8-2012 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=33495919

 

Schmitt, Robert C. Catastrophic Mortality in Hawaii. 2-2-2009, 86 pages. Accessed 9-20-2012 at: Catastrophic Mortality in Hawaii – eVols – University of Hawaii. Accessed 3-18-2024 at: https://evols.library.manoa.hawaii.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/adb83189-0281-4c84-adc0-c86f3d50a20b/content

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[1] Cites:  Honolulu Advertiser, Nov. 15, 1944, p. 1.

1944 — Nov 11, USAAF C-47 crash, Strawberry Peak, low visibility, ~Glendale, CA  –12-13

Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 3-18-2024 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

—  13  Mireles 2006. Fatal Army AF Aviation Accidents…US…, V3, Aug 1944-Dec 1945, p. 967.

—  12  Baugher. 1943 USAAF Serial Numbers (43-5109 to 43-52437). 11-7-2011 rev.

—  12  Neosho Daily Democrat, MO.  “Twelfth Victim of Plane Crash Dies.” 11-16-1944, p. 4.

—  11  Oakland Tribune, CA.  “Bay Man Dies in Plane Crash.” 11-14-1944, p. 7.

Narrative Information

Baugher: “Douglas C-47B-1-DL….16143 (c/n 20609) crashed in Wildcat Gulch, California in heavy clouds Nov 11, 1944 during flight from Hamilton Field, San Rafael to Mines Field, Los Angeles.  12 killed, one survived.” (Baugher. 1943 USAAF Serial Numbers (43-5109 to 43-52437). 11-7-2011 revision.)

 

Mireles: “At 2017, a Douglas C-47B flying in instrument conditions crashed into Strawberry Peak 14 miles north of Glendale, Cal­ifornia, killing 13 crew and passengers. The airplane had taken off from Hamilton Field, San Rafael, Cali­fornia, on a transport flight to Mines Field, Los An­geles, California, via Bakersfield, California. The air­plane took off from Bakersfield and soon afterward encountered bad weather. The airplane inadvertently entered an area where weather conditions consisted of low ceilings, hard rain, turbulence, and severe icing at altitudes exceeding 8,500 feet msl. The pilot lost radio contact soon after leaving Bakersfield. The pilot used dead reckoning for the remainder of the trip and then, believing that he had cleared the mountainous area, at­tempted to let down for his landing in Los Angeles. The airplane was under control when it collided with trees in a straight-and-level attitude. The C-47 smashed its way through trees for about 30 yards and then ca­reened over the top of the ridge and bounded across a deep canyon about 200 yards wide before smashing into the side of the mountain just below the peak, exploding into flames upon impact. All personnel on board were killed instantly.

 

“Investigation revealed that the pilot was given inadequate weather and wind in­formation at Bakersfield prior to take-off. The erro­neous wind information caused the airplane to be off course and over mountainous terrain when the pilots began to let down through instrument conditions.”  (Mireles 2006, 967.)

 

Newspapers

 

Nov 14: “Pasadena, Nov. 14 – (UP) – Helpless because of their own injuries, two survivors of a C-47 Army cargo plane crash huddled under a bent wing tip for protection against a driving snowstorm for more than 24 hours while one of their companions screamed in agony until he died, the two said today.  The victim’s name was not released.  Ten other servicemen were killed when the plane hit the slope of Strawberry Peak in Angelus National Forest during a storm Saturday night.

 

“The two survivors, resting in an Army regional hospital today after their rescue by Army crews, were:  PM3/C Buford Chism, who was the less seriously injured, and Cpl. Kenneth Bedford. “The plane split in half when it hit the mountain.” Chism said. “One of the halves bounced and struck the mountain a second lime.  It shattered into pieces.”  Chism said that when he regained consciousness he heard Bedford yelling and by calling to each other they got together.

 

“Sixteen soldiers, working in shifts of four, struggled down the two-mile slope in driving rain and snow to bring Chism and Bedford on stretchers to waiting Army ambulances in National Forest. 

 

“The dead:

 

Capt. Ray C. Kelley, St. Joseph, Mo., the pilot…

Second Lieut. Carl Hankie, co-pilot, also of St. Joseph.

Maj. John C. Anderson III. Wife, Shirley Anderson, Tampa, Fla.

Maj. Thomas W. Mackey. Sister: Mrs. Krystine Murphy, Florida Ave., Richmond, Calif.

Second Lieut. Gertrude L. Maschoff, Mother: Mrs. Hulda Maschoff, Kirkwood. Mo.

First Lieut. Hugh B. Cramer. Wife, Babette Cramer, San Jose. Calif.

First Lieut. Dan B. Field Jr. Wife, Virginia Field, San Antonio, Tex.

Lieut. Alva Eickberger, Father: Henry Eickberger, Deer Park, Spokane, Wash.

Staff Sgt. Francis E. Ward. Wife: Caroline. Chattanooga, Tenn.

Master Sgt. Harold Peterson.  Mother. Mrs. H. Peterson. Brooklyn, New York.

Cpl. Manuel Garcia. Mother: Mrs. Juanita Santamaria, Los Angeles.”

 

(Oakland Tribune, CA.  “Bay Man Dies in Plane Crash.” 11-14-1944, p. 7.)

 

Nov 16: “Pasadena, California (UP) — Negro Corporal Kenneth C. Bedford of Robertson, Missouri, has died of injuries received when an Army C147 transport plane crashed on 6,500-foot Strawberry Peak during a blinding rainstorm late Saturday.

 

“He was the 12th victim of the crash and his death left Buford Chism the sole survivor among the 13 men who were aboard the plane when it left St. Joseph, Missouri, on route to Los Angeles.

 

“Bedford was given first aid and blood plasma on the mountainside before rescuers carried him down a slippery two-mile trail to an ambulance that took him to a hospital. He died last night.”  (Neosho Daily Democrat, MO.  “Twelfth Victim of Plane Crash Dies.” 11-16-1944, p. 4.)

 

Sources

 

Baugher, Joseph F.  1943 USAAF Serial Numbers (43-5109 to 43-52437). Nov 7, 2011 revision. Accessed 12-18-2011 at:  http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1943_2.html

 

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.

 

Neosho Daily Democrat, MO.  “Twelfth Victim of Plane Crash Dies.” 11-16-1944, p. 4. Accessed at:  http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=142811415

 

Oakland Tribune, CA. “Bay Man Dies in Plane Crash.” 11-14-1944, p. 7. Accessed at:  http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=33495891

1944 — Nov 10, USAAF B-29 Plane Crash, 25 miles SE of Clovis Army Air Field, NM–   15

—  15  Mireles 2006. Fatal Army AF Aviation Accidents…US…, V3, Aug 1944-Dec 1945, p. 967.

—  15  The Bee, Danville, VA.  “15 Army Men Are Killed in Bomber Crash.” 11-13-1944, p. 5.

Narrative Information

Baugher: “Boeing B-29A-1-BN Superfortress. 93832 Delivered to USAAF 15Apr44. Assigned to Combat Crew Training Squadron, 234th Airy Air Force Base Unit, Clovis AAF, NM. Crashed 10Nov44 25 miles NE of Clovis, NM.” (Baugher, Joseph F. 1942 USAAF Serial Numbers (42-91974 to 42-110188). Oct 28, 2011 revision.)

 

Mireles: “At 2130, a Boeing B-29 crashed 25 miles southeast of the Army Air Field at Clovis, New Mexico, killing 15 fliers. The airplane took off from Clovis Army Air Field at 2005 MWT on a local night transition flight. The airplane returned and made one successful landing and took off again at 2113. The airplane was heading east to west at the time of the crash. The airplane smashed into the ground on the starboard wing at a steep angle and then cartwheeled into the ground and exploded. Investiga­tion revealed that the airplane was on fire prior to it striking the ground. Pilot-rated passenger…bailed out at extremely low altitude and fell to his death. His body was found about one mile from the main wreckage.”  (Mireles 2006, 967.)

 

Newspaper

 

Nov 13, AP: “Clovis, N.M., Nov. 13. – (AP) — A son of Representative H. Street Baldwin, (D., Mo.) was one of 15 Army men killed in the crash of a four-engined bomber about 25 miles southwest of Clovis Friday night [Nov 10].

 

“John Street Baldwin, 26, an instructor at the Clovis base, was the congressman’s second son to die during the war. Lt. Harry Wallace Baldwin, Army Air Forces, was killed in action last April in the Mediterranean area.

 

“Also killed in the plane crash were Cpl. Wilbur E. Miller…Cumberland, Md., and Capt. Thomas R. Opie, youngest son of Mrs. Hierome L. Opie, and the late Brig. Gen. Opie, of Oakenwold, Staunton, Va….”  (The Bee, Danville, VA. “15 Army Men Are Killed in Bomber Crash.” 11-13-1944, p. 5.)

Sources

 

Baugher, Joseph F. 1942 USAAF Serial Numbers (42-91974 to 42-110188). Oct 28, 2011 revision. Accessed 12-17-2011 at:  http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1942_5.html

 

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.

 

The Bee, Danville, VA. “15 Army Men Are Killed in Bomber Crash.” 11-13-1944, p. 5. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=108939048

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1944 — Nov 10, explosion, USS Mount Hood, Seeadler Harbor, Manus Isl., Papua New Guinea–372-378

— 378  Moran. Explosive Accident Summary: [WW] II. DoD Explosives Safety Board, 1992, 118

— 373  National Fire Protection Assoc. Spreadsheet on Large Loss of Life Fires (as of Feb 2003).

— 372  Naval Historical Center. “USS Mount Hood (AE-11), 1944-1944,” 9-30-1999.[1]

USS Mount Hood (AE-11)

–295  Chart of losses by craft, “Selected documents relating to the loss of USS Mount Hood.”[2]

–295  Commander Naval Base, Manus, Admiralty Islands. Memo, CINC, US Fleet, 12-14-1944

 

USS Mindanao (ARG-3)

—  23  NHC, US Dept. Navy. “USS Mount Hood (AE-11 – Explosion, 11 November 1944.”

 

—  3  Alhena (AKA-9).   Chart of losses by craft, “Selected documents…USS Mount Hood.”

—  4  Argonne (AG-31). Chart of losses by craft, “Selected documents…USS Mount Hood.”

—  5  Cebu (ARG-6).      Chart of losses by craft, “Selected documents…USS Mount Hood.”

—  1  Kyne (DD-744).     Chart of losses by craft, “Selected documents…USS Mount Hood.”

—  2  Oberrender (De-344).  Chart of losses by craft, “Selected documents…USS Mount Hood.”

—  1  Piedmont (AD-17). Chart of losses by craft, “Selected documents…USS Mount Hood.”

—  1  Young (DD-580).    Chart of losses by craft, “Selected documents…USS Mount Hood.”

—  4  LCM attached to USS Sierra.  Chart of losses by craft, “Selected documents…Hood.”

–19  LCM’s (7, Boat Pool 15). Chart of losses by craft, “Selected documents…Mount Hood.”

—  3  LSM attached to USS Briareus.  Chart of losses by craft, “Selected documents…Hood.”

—  1  YMS-49.            Chart of losses by craft, “Selected documents…USS Mount Hood.”

—  2  YMS-238.          Chart of losses by craft, “Selected documents…USS Mount Hood.”

—  2  YMS-293.          Chart of losses by craft, “Selected documents…USS Mount Hood.”

—  1  YMS-340.          Chart of losses by craft, “Selected documents…USS Mount Hood.”

—  1  YO-77.               Chart of losses by craft, “Selected documents…USS Mount Hood.”

—  1  Section Base, Navy 3205.  Chart of losses by craft, “Selected documents…Hood.”

 

Narrative Information

 

Moran. Explosive Accident Summary: World War II. DoD Explosives Safety Board: “…the USS Mount Hood…AE detonated in Seeadler Harbor, Manus Island in the Admiralties, just north of New Guinea on 10 November 1944 while crews were off-loading and on-loading ammunition from several barges at once.[3]  This detonation killed 378 servicemen and injured 400.  Twenty one smaller crafts within 500 feet of the blast, vanished [as did the Mount Hood].  Ten ships where severely damaged within one half mile, and 26 other ships experienced fragment damage up to 6,600 feet.  People ashore were knocked down at 2.5 miles.[4]”  (Moran, Edward P. Jr. Explosive Accident Summary: World War II. DoD Explosives Safety Board, Aug 1992, p. 118.)

 

Naval Historical Center: “USS Mount Hood, a 13910-ton ammunition ship, was built at Wilmington, North Carolina, and converted for Naval service at Norfolk, Virginia. Commissioned in July 1944, she transited the Panama Canal in August and was assigned to the South Pacific area to provide ammunition to the fighting forces. On the morning of 10 November 1944, while she was moored at the Manus Naval Base, Admiralty Islands, Mount Hood‘s cargo of explosives detonated in a massive blast. The ship was utterly destroyed by the accident, which killed all those on board her. Damage and casualties were also inflicted on ships anchored as far as 2000 yards away. Personnel casualties on Mount Hood and on other vessels totaled 45 known dead, 327 missing and 371 injured.”  (Naval Historical Center.  “USS Mount Hood (AE-11), 1944-1944.” Washington, DC:  United States Department of the Navy, 9-30-1999.)

 

Naval Historical Center: “…USS Mindanao had 180 crewmen killed and injured by this explosion.”  (Naval Historical Center.  “USS Mount Hood (AE-11 – Explosion, 11 November 1944.” Washington, DC:  United States Department of the Navy, 9-30-1999.)

 

Wallace, Lt. Lester A. “Officer Tells of Loss of USS Mount Hood.” : “On a bright and sunshiny morning early in November, 1944, a young Naval Reserve Lieutenant and 13 enlisted men climbed over the side of the USS Mount Hood, an ammunition ship anchored in the harbor of an island base in the Pacific, and boarded a boat to go ashore. They had been ashore only a few minutes when a sailor shouted, “Look!” and pointed to the Mount Hood. They turned and saw an enormous flash of flame where the ship had been. Two explosions followed and the Lieutenant, Lester A. Wallace, 29, 1314 North Troy Street, Arlington, Virginia, and his group of enlisted men were knocked to the ground.

 

“They were stunned by the concussion, though 4,500 yards from the ship, but struggled to their feet and boarded their boat again to return to the Mount Hood. All they found was debris scattered over a wide area. They, and four other enlisted men on a similar errand, were the only survivors of the crew of 296 men and 22 officers.

 

“Lieutenant Wallace, a Naval Reserve officer and a native of Atlanta, Georgia, recently was ordered back to this country. The only surviving officer of the Mount Hood, he told a few details of the explosion.

 

“”I was the communications officer aboard the Mount Hood,” he recalled. “I had to pick up some communications manuals and other publications at the base. Some enlisted men had dental appointments on the base, mail clerks had to pick up mail, so we all went in one boat.

 

“”We went ashore about 0830 (8:30 A.M.) and were walking up the beach when a sailor, with a startled look in his eye, screamed: ‘LOOK!’, and pointed to seaward. There was a flash, followed by two quick explosions. We were knocked down, but scrambled to our feet and got back in the boat.

 

“”We headed toward the Mount Hood. There was nothing but debris all around, so we returned and reported to the Commanding Officer of the base what we had seen, and helped him as much as we could in trying to find out what happened. I guess no one ever will know what really happened. She just blew. We had never had an explosion of any kind on the Mount Hood before that.”” (Wallace, Lt. Lester A. “Officer Tells of Loss of USS Mount Hood.” Press and Radio Release, 2-13-1945. Transcribed and formatted for HTML by Patrick Clancey, HyperWar Foundation.)

Sources

 

Commander Naval Base, Manus, Admiralty Islands. Memo to Commander in Chief, United States Fleet. Subject: “War Diary, Correction of.” 12-14-1944. In “Selected documents relating to the loss of USS Mount Hood.” Transcribed and formatted for HTML by Patrick Clancey, HyperWar Foundation. Accessed 4-22-2013 at: http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/ships/logs/AE/ae11-Loss.html

 

Clancy, Patrick. “Selected documents relating to the loss of USS Mount Hood.” Transcribed and formatted for HTML by Patrick Clancey, HyperWar Foundation. Accessed 4-22-2013 at: http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/ships/logs/AE/ae11-Loss.html

 

Moran, Edward P. Jr. Explosive Accident Summary: World War II. DoD Explosives Safety Board, Aug 1992. Accessed 4-19-2013: http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA507027

 

National Fire Protection Association. Spreadsheet on Large Loss of Life Fires (as of Feb 2003). (Email attachment to B. W. Blanchard from Jacob Ratliff, NFPA Archivist/Taxonomy Librarian, 7-8-2013.)

 

Naval Historical Center. “USS Mount Hood (AE-11), 1944-1944.” Washington, DC: United States Department of the Navy, 9-30-1999. Accessed 4-22-2013 at: http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-m/ae11.htm

 

Wallace, Lt. “Officer Tells of Loss of USS Mount Hood.” Press and Radio Release, 2-13-1945. Transcribed and formatted for HTML by Patrick Clancey, HyperWar Foundation. Accessed 4-22-2013 at: http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/ships/logs/AE/ae11-Loss.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[1] Forty-five known dead and 327 missing. [The know dead must have been on other ships in that no human remains existed for the Mount Hood or for several of the nearby small craft.

[2] Commander, Naval Base Manus, Admiralty Islands. Memo to Commander in Chief United States Fleet dated 12-14-1944. Chart of losses by craft in, “Selected documents relating to the loss of USS Mount Hood.” Transcribed and formatted for HTML by Patrick Clancey, HyperWar Foundation. Accessed 4-22-2013.

[3] Cites:  Nelson, Howard R. Jr. Explosive Accidents Involving Naval Munitions.  NWS Yorktown, VA, 23691-5000, July 1984.

[4] Cites:  Herman, Robert C. The Explosion of the USS Mount Hood, Seeadler Harbor, Manus Island, 10 November 1944 (AD 812958). Washington, DC: Armed Services Explosives Safety Board, 6-6-1951.

1944 – Nov 8, Train Derailment, Southern Pacific Challenger, near Colfax, CA          —     9

Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 3-18-2024 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

—  10  United Press. “12 Killed, 75 Hurt in Wreck.” Hayward Review, CA. 11-8-1944, p. 1.[1]

—  10  U.P. “Challenger Jumps Tracks Near Colfax,” San Mateo Times, CA.  Nov 8, 1944, p. 1.

— >9  Oakland Tribune, CA.  “U.S. Troops Guard S.P. Wreckage From Looters.” 11-9-1944, 19.

—    9  U.P. “S.P. Train Rams Freight Near Colfax.” The Hayward Review, 11-11-1944, p. 1.

—    9  Wikipedia.  “List of Rail Accidents (Pre-1950).” (No source citation.)

Narrative Information

Wikipedia: “November 8, 1944 Nine persons were known to have been killed and at least 125 injured at dawn when the first section of the westbound Southern Pacific Challenger jumped the tracks and hurtled into a ditch three miles (5 km) west of Colfax.” (Wikipedia. “List of Rail Accidents (Pre-1950).”)

Newspapers

 

Nov 8, United Press: “Colfax, Calif., Nov. 8. – (U.P.) – A section of the transcontinental Southern Pacific Challenger passenger train, carrying a capacity load of service men and civilians to San Francisco, jumped the tracks and crashed into a ditch in the Sierra Nevada today, killing at least 12 persons and injuring more than 75…. The Southern Pacific company later announced that 10 persons were killed in the wreck.

 

“Ambulances dispatched by the DeWitt general hospital and the coroner’s office returned to Colfax with load after load of injured…. The injured, including soldiers, sailors and civilians, were rushed to Dewitt hospital for treatment by army doctors.  Some were in serious condition. Unofficial on-the-scene reports indicated the toll of injured may run considerably higher.  A sailor estimated 100 were hurt.

 

“The crash occurred three miles west of Colfax, a mountain town near the summit of the Sierra Nevada range.  Dick Wayland, United Press correspondent in Colfax, reported six coaches, a diner and three baggage cars telescoped behind the engine, which plowed into a dirt embankment.  Eight other cars remained upright…

 

“The Auburn chapter of the Red Cross, including 15 nurses aides and staff assistants, assisted in

caring for the wounded.

 

“Col. D. N. Smith, chief medical officer at Dewitt hospital, sent a total of 11 ambulances to the wreck.  Wayland said an army doctor and two nurses who were passengers on the train established an emergency first aid station at a farm house near the wreck. 

 

“The dead included the engineer…and seven persons trapped in one of the wrecked cars, he said.

 

“The engine plowed into a dirt embankment, but did not turn over, Wayland said. The engineer’s

body was pinned between the engine and the bank…

 

“Railroad employes were using acetylene torches trying to reach a sailor trapped in one of the cars and believed to be alive.

 

“Six coaches, a diner and three baggage cars telescoped behind the engine. Eight other cars remained upright on the tracks.

 

“The railroad is a two-truck line where the wreck occurred. The westbound track was blocked by

the wreck but the other was clear.  Apparently the tracks were not damaged….

 

“Approximately 800 persons were on the train, Wayland estimated…”  (San Mateo Times (CA).  “Challenger Jumps Tracks Near Colfax,” Nov 8, 1944, p. 1.)

 

Nov 8, United Press: “Colfax, Cal., (UP) – A section of the transcontinental Southern Pacific Challenger passenger train, carrying a capacity load of service men and civilians to San Francisco, jumped the tracks and crashed into a ditch in the Sierra Nevada today, killing at least 12 persons and injuring more than 75.

 

“The first death toll report of 12 was released by the Red Cross in San Francisco on the basis of information from its Auburn chapter.  The Southern Pacific company later announced that 10 persons were killed in the wreck.

 

“Ambulances dispatched by the Dewitt General army hospital and the coroner’s office returned to Colfax with load after load of injured and searchers, after counting 12 dead, continued the hunt for bodies, the Red Cross disaster service reported.

 

“The injured, including soldiers, sailors and civilians, were rushed to Dewitt hospital for treatment by army doctors.  Some were in serious condition.  Unofficial on-the-scene reports indicated the toll of injured may run considerably higher. A sailor estimated 100 were hurt.

 

“The crash occurred three miles west of Colfax, a mountain town near the summit of the Sierra Nevada range.

 

“Dick Wayland, United Press correspondent in Colfax, reported six coaches, a diner and three baggage cars telescoped behind the engine, which plowed into a dirt embankment.  Eight other cars remained upright….

 

“Col. D. N. Smith, chief medical officer at Dewitt hospital, sent a total of 11 ambulances to the wreck.  Wayland said an army doctor and two nurses who were passengers on the train established an emergency first aid station at a farm house near the wreck….”  (Hayward Review, CA.  “12 Killed, 75 Hurt in Wreck.” 11-8-1944, p. 1.)

 

Nov 9: “Soldiers armed with rifles today patrolled the area three miles west of Colfax, in Placer County, while emergency crews cleaned up the wreckage of the Southern Pacific ‘Challenger,’ crack overland train that was derailed yesterday, killing at least nine persons and injuring at least 94 others.  Only one of the dead, a woman about 23 years of age, remained unidentified at the morgue in Colfax today as F.B.I., railroad and Interstate Commerce Commission officials probed the cause of the wreck….

 

“Preliminary examination of the wrecked locomotive, cars and roadbed produced no evidence of sabotage, F.B.I. agents on the scene announced, and the railroad was looking into the possibility that recent heavy rains had weakened the right of way around the rails….

 

“The Army came in to guard the wreckage and piles of torn baggage after there were reports of widespread looting.  Some persons lost as much as $1000 and all their personal effects in the few minutes after nine cars and the locomotive of the crack train slid off the rails and overturned.

“Survivors of the 800 passengers on the train credited service personnel with helping injured men and women from the wreckage and setting up the first medical station to care for them. Army and Navy doctors and nurses who were riding on the train turned in and gave first aid to the injured. They set up a dressing station in the diner and later broke into a cabin nearby and used it as another place to collect the injured until ambulances came from nearby De Witt General Hospital…

 

“The most seriously injured, both civilians and service personnel, were taken to De Witt. Others were transferred to hospitals at Auburn and Sacramento, and a few were brought into Oakland last night on the second section of the Challenger.


“The train was en route from Chicago to Oakland when it left the rails on Robber’s Curve at 5:15 a.m. in pitch darkness. 

 

“Engineer Graham was pinned in his smashed cab and apparently was killed instantly. The other dead were passengers riding in the front cars of the first section of the train.

 

“All survivors agreed that the train seemed to slip off the rails and only a heavy oak tree kept the last cars from toppling off the track.


“Some of the passengers were trapped in their coaches and it was at least 15 minutes before soldiers and sailors could get them out through jagged holes torn in the roofs. Witnesses said there was bedlam around the wreckage for nearly half an hour.


“Someone awakened Ernie Lombardi, who lives in a cabin a short distance from the scene, and sent him to Colfax for help. He had just reported the accident when Carl Bohle of Sacramento, conductor on the train, walked into town and gave a complete report.


“All medical facilities in the area were mobilized immediately. The Red Cross Disaster Relief Committee of Auburn turned out and women and school children started rolling bandages and surgical dressings at once.  They had their first packages of supplies at the DeWitt Hospital by the time the first ambulances came in with the injured. School was dismissed for the children for the day so they could keep on working.


“Col. William H. Smith, commanding officer at the hospital, took charge of the military personnel at the scene and later brought out detachments of soldiers to guard the wreckage. Residents of the Colfax-Auburn area who flocked to the scene to watch the wrecking crews at work were kept at a distance from the train.” (Oakland Tribune, CA. “U.S. Troops Guard S.P. Wreckage From Looters.” 11-9-1944, p. 19C.)

 

Nov 10: “Colfax, Cal., (UP) – A four-way investigation into the wreck of the Southern Pacific Challenger was in progress today as the Federal Bureau of Investigation announced there was no evidence of sabotage…

 

“Coroner Francis E. West believed that one of the telescoped conches might contain the bodies of more victims. Railroad workers were expected to open up the car, fifth from the engine, by noon after giant cranes had cleared away wreckage of four others. The fifth car was the only one in which portions were inaccessible to searchers because of the telescoping railroad officials said.

 

“A hearing will be held by the interstate commerce commission to determine why the engine and

eight coaches left the track on a curve three miles from here early Wednesday. Company officials and Placer county authorities are aiding in the inquiry.

 

“Some survivors said the train appeared to be traveling “unduly fast,” but others, including the fireman, declared its speed was normal….

 

Col. W. L. Smith, commanding officer of DeWitt General hospital, near Auburn, said that of the scores of seriously injured, most of them suffering severe shock, only two have been released from the hospital…”  (Hayward Review, CA. “FBI Check Accident SP Train.” 11-10-1944, p. 1.)

 

Nov 11: “Colfax, Calif., (U.P.) – A west-bound Southern Pacific engine rammed into the rear of a freight train 15 miles west of here last night, derailing a caboose and delaying traffic for several hours, railroad officials disclosed. The accident, in which no one was injured, also delayed cleanup operations at the point where the Challenger passenger train was wrecked Monday, since equipment had to be transferred to the new wreck site.

 

“However, Coroner Francis F. West said that it had definitely been established that no bodies remained in derailed Challenger cars, confirming the death toll of the wreck at nine. Ome woman killed remains unidentified.

 

“West also said that all civilians injured in the Challenger wreck who can be moved will be transferred from the Dewitt general military hospital at Auburn to other institutions. A total of 83 persons were treated at the hospital for injury in the wreck and 26 already have been transferred or discharged.” (United Press. “S.P. Train Rams Freight Near Colfax.” The Hayward Review, 11-11-1944, p. 1.)

Sources

 

Hayward Review, CA. “12 Killed, 75 Hurt in Wreck [Colfax, CA].” 11-8-1944, p. 1.  Accessed at:  http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=37384160

 

Oakland Tribune, CA. “U.S. Troops Guard S.P. Wreckage From Looters.” 11-9-1944, p. 19C. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=33945782

 

San Mateo Times, CA. “Challenger Jumps Tracks Near Colfax,” November 8, 1944, p. 1.  Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=37340629

 

United Press. “S.P. Train Rams Freight Near Colfax.” The Hayward Review, 11-11-1944, p. 1. Accessed 3-18-2024 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/hayward-review-nov-11-1944-p-1/

 

Wikipedia. “List of Rail Accidents (Pre-1950).” Accessed at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_pre-1950_rail_accidents

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[1] Despite the title, the text of the article notes a later correction bringing estimated fatalities down to ten.

1944 — Nov 7, USN PB4Y-1 crash, liferaft went out window/fouled tail off Ft. Monroe, VA–12

Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 3-18-2024 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

— 13  Salisbury Times, MD. “Paratrooper’s Wounds Fatal…Airman Missing.” 11-9-1944, p. 1.

— 12  Aviation Safety Network. US Navy PB4Y-1 Liberator, near Ft. Monroe, VA, 11-7-1944.

— 12  Baugher. US Navy…Marine Corps BuNos Third Series (30147 to 39998). 10-11-2009 rev.

— 12  Dunkirk Evening Observer, NY. “Patrols Search for 12 Missing in Crash.” 11-8-1944, 1.

Narrative Information

Aviation Archaeology Investigation & Research: “38966 PB4Y-1….Wrecked…VA, Fort Monroe, 1 mi. west of.  Rubber raft came out of side window and fouled on tail, crashed into water, 1 mi. W. of Ft. Monroe, Va., Loss date 7 Nov 44.”  (“PB4Y USN Aircraft Airframe History List.”)

 

Aviation Safety Network, Flight Safety Foundation:

“Date:                          Tuesday 7 November 1944

“Type:                         Consolidated PB4Y-1 Liberator

“Owner/operator:        US Navy

“Registration:              38966

….

“Narrative: Life raft fouled stabilizer and elevators and dove in near Ft Monrow, VA. 12 killed.”

 

Baugher: “Consolidated PB4Y-1 Liberator….38966 (ex USAAF 44-41555) life raft fouled stabilizer and elevators and dove in near Ft Monroe, VA 11/7/1944.  12 killed.”  (Baugher. US Navy…Marine Corps BuNos Third Series (30147 to 39998). 10-11-2009 revision.)

 

Newspapers

 

Nov 8: “Norfolk, Va., Nov. 8 – (UP) — Coast guard patrols searched the waters off Old Point Comfort today, for 12 men reported missing after a navy plane crashed in the Atlantic late last night.  The body of the thirteenth passenger – that of Henry Lynn, aviation radioman third class – was recovered.  Lynn’s wife, Mrs. Elizabeth K. Lynn, lives at Tonawanda.” (Dunkirk Evening Observer, NY. “Patrols Search for 12 Missing in Crash.” 11-8-1944, p. 1.)

 

Nov 9: “Twenty-five-year-old W. Alfred Parker, ARM 1-c, husband of Mrs. Katherine Adkins Parker, and son of Mrs. Willis Parker, Pittsville [MD], is reported missing after the crash of a Navy Liberator bomber at Hampton Roads, Va., his family has been informed.  A pre-Pearl Harbor veteran, Parker had recently returned to the U. S. after two years of service in South America.  He has been in the Navy for five years.

 

“His family learned that he was one of 13 men aboard the bomber lost when it crashed soon after a takeoff from the naval air station at Norfolk.  Today his body had not been recovered from the submerged craft three days after it fell….”  (Salisbury Times, MD.  “Paratrooper’s Wounds Fatal…Airman Missing.” 11-9-1944, p. 1.)

 

Sources

 

Aviation Archaeology Investigation & Research. “PB4Y USN Aircraft Airframe History List.” Accessed 11-29-2011 at: http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/src/USN/PB4Y.htm

 

Aviation Safety Network, Flight Safety Foundation. ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 81641. US Navy PB4Y-1 Liberator, near Ft. Monroe, VA, 11-7-1944. Accessed 3-18-2024 at: https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/81641

 

Baugher, Joseph F. US Navy and US Marine Corps BuNos Third Series (30147 to 39998). 8-6-2012 revision. Accessed at: http://www.joebaugher.com/navy_serials/thirdseries4.html

 

Dunkirk Evening Observer, NY.  “Patrols Search for 12 Missing in Crash.” 11-8-1944, 1.  Accessed at:  http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=36050225

 

Salisbury Times, MD. “Paratrooper’s Wounds Fatal…Airman Missing.” 11-9-1944, p. 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=680022

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1944 – Nov 4, TWA # 8 enters thunderstorm, breaks-up, crashes near Hanford, CA  –all 24

Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 3-20-2024 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

 —  24  Aviation Safety Network. Accident description, TWA Flight 8, November 4, 1944.

—  24  CAB, AIR TWA Hanford California November 4, 1944, January 15, 1946.

—  24  Nebraska State Journal, “24 Killed in Plane Crash,” November 5, 1944, p. 1.

—  24  Notable California Aviation Disasters.  “The 1940s.” 

Narrative Information

Aviation Safety Network: “Flight 8 took off at 16:00, one hour behind schedule, and proceeded according to plan to a cruising altitude of 10,000 feet for Burbank on an instrument clearance. It reported over Fresno on schedule cruising at 10,000 feet and estimated Bakersfield at 17:35. Near Hanford, the plane was seen to enter a rapidly forming thunderstorm in cumulus-nimbus clouds. The DC-3 entered an inverted flying attitude, probably due to severe turbulence. The plane than broke up and crashed.”  (ASN, TWA Flight 8, November 4, 1944)

 

Civil Aeronautics Board. Accident Investigation Report (File No. 3640-44):

 

“TWA’s Flight 8 of November 4, 1944, failed structurally in the air near Hanford, California, while on regular transcontinental schedule from San Francisco to New York. All 21 passengers and the three crew members were killed….

 

“A number of persons near Hanford saw the plane enter a rapidly forming thunderstorm and some heard it in the cloud. Shortly thereafter, parts of the plane were seen falling from the base of the overcast which was at about 1500 feet. An ignited flare, broken free from its chute and appearing as a ball of fire, was the first object seen. This was followed by several major and many lesser portions the aircraft. The main portion, consisting of the center section, the pilots compartment, right outer wing panel, the engines and the landing gear, struck the ground in an attitude slightly past vertical and burned on impact….


“Probable Cause: On the basis of all the evidence available the Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the failure of the airplane’s structure as a result of severe turbulence. An important contributing cause was the fact that the airplane was undoubtedly in an abnormal attitude of flight, i.e., inverted, at the instant of structural failure. The cause of the airplane becoming inverted has not been determined.” (Civil Aeronautics Board, Accident Investigation Report, TWA Hanford CA, Nov. 4, 1944, Jan. 15, 1946, CAB File No. 3640-44) Twenty of the 21 passengers were military.  (CAB, TWA Hanford CA Nov, Jan 15, 1946)

 

Notable California Aviation Disasters:

 

“Date / Time: Saturday, November 4, 1944 / Time: 5:15 p.m.

“Operator / Flight No.: Transcontinental & Western Air (TWA) / Flight 8

“Location: Near Hanford, Calif.

 

“Details and Probable Cause:  TWA Flight 8, utilizing a twin-engine Douglas DC-3 (NC28310), took off from San Francisco at 4:00 p.m. on the first leg of its flight to New York, carrying a crew of three and 21 passengers, 20 of whom were military personnel.

 

“The first stop on the flight’s itinerary was Burbank, and as the airliner flew south it subsequently reported over Fresno that it was cruising at 10,000 feet and was estimating the Bakersfield checkpoint at 5:35 p.m.   At 5:12 p.m. the TWA crew acknowledged receiving a company message by radio — the final contact anyone had with the aircraft.

 

“Minutes later, near the San Joaquin Valley town of Hanford, a number of people on the ground were startled to see a flare, appearing as a ball of fire, fall out of the stormy overcast that was hovering over the valley at around 1,500 feet.   The flare was followed by several major pieces and a number of lesser parts of a commercial airliner, which moments earlier had been observed flying into a rapidly forming thunderstorm.

 

“The debris crashed to earth over a square-mile area; it was all that remained of TWA Flight 8.   All 24 persons on board perished in the crash.

 

“Investigators probing the wreckage eventually determined that the DC-3 had penetrated a violent thunderstorm at the moment of the storm cell’s maximum severity and — while flying in an inverted position — had lost its left wing, followed by portions of its tail section.   Upon the failure of the wing the aircraft broke up, plunged to earth and burned upon impact.

 

“The eerie ball of fire witnessed by those on the ground was one of the plane’s emergency flares that had fallen free from the aircraft during its break-up, became detached from its parachute and, ignited, dropped out of the clouds along with the various portions of the aircraft.

 

“The plane was outfitted with a flight analyzer, a barographic device that automatically records altitude and radio contacts against flight time, and from this data investigators were able to determine that the aircraft was “undoubtedly” in an “unusual position of flight” at the moment of structural failure; that “in all probability” the DC-3 was inverted (upside-down) at the time of the break-up.

 

“Investigators attributed this atypical position of flight to that of either turbulence or a temporary loss of control, with the failure of the wing immediately occurring as a result.

 

“Fatalities: 24 — all 21 passengers and three crew members.”  (Notable California Aviation Disasters.  “The 1940s.”)

Newspaper


Nov 5: “Hundreds of Hanford’s citizens joined sheriff’s officers in the work of locating the mangled bodies, scattered thru a large field when the transport, which one witness said apparently disintegrated in the air, plummeted to earth and burst into flames….

 

“The crash occurred during a heavy rainstorm and occasional flashes of lightning shot across the sky during the night.  T.W.A. officials…announced that the transport, Flight 8, was enroute to Burbank from San Francisco….J.S. Bartels, regional operations manager at Burbank, reported that the plane was a Douglas DC-3 twin-engined transport, carrying 21 passengers and a crew of three.”  (Nebraska State Journal, “24 Killed in Plane Crash,” November 5, 1944, p. 1)

 

“Hanford, Calif. (UP). The bodies of 24 persons who died in the flaming wreck of a Trans-continental Western Air Lines transport near Hanford Saturday night were removed to this city’s two small mortuaries as weary, rain-soaked workers completed their grim task in a dark field illuminated only by flashlights and automobile headlights.” (NB State Journal, 5 Nov 1944, p. 1)

 

Sources

 

Aviation Safety Network, Flight Safety Foundation, Database. Transcontinental & Western Air, Flight 8 enters thunderstorm and crashes near Hanford CA, 11-4-1944. Accessed 3-20-2024 at: https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19441104-0

 

Civil Aeronautics Board. Accident Investigation Report. Transcontinental and Western Air –  Hanford, California, November 4, 1944 (File No. 3640-44).  CAB, 15 Jan 1946, 17 pp. Accessed 3-20-2024 at: dot_33245_DS1.pdf

 

Nebraska State Journal, Lincoln. “24 Killed in Plane Crash,” November 5, 1944, p. 1.  Accessed at:  http://www.newspaperarchive.com/freepdfviewer.aspx?img=23945418

 

Notable California Aviation Disasters. “The 1940s.” Sep 25, 2009 update. Accessed 10/17/2009 at:  http://www.jaydeebee1.com/crash40s.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1944 — Nov 3, USAAF B-24 and P-39 collide, training ~Kingman Army Air Field, AZ–    15

Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 3-20-2024 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

–15  AP. “15 Deaths Total in Army Bomber Crash with Fighter Plane.” Tucson Citizen, 11-6-1944, 10.

–15  Mireles 2006. Fatal Army AF Aviation Accidents…US…, V3, Aug 1944-Dec 1945, p. 960.

Narrative Information

Mireles: “At 0752 PWT, a Boeing B-17G and a Bell P-39Q collided in mid-air 20 miles northwest of the Army Air Field at Kingman, Arizona, killing P-39Q pilot 2Lt. Martin H. Campbell and fourteen fliers aboard the B-17G.

 

“The airplanes took off from Kingman Army Air Field at 0732 on a routine gunnery-camera training mission. The B-17 was flying in the number-two position of a three-ship flight that was to be intercepted and attacked by the P-39Q. The flight climbed to altitude at the authorized air-to-air gun­nery area and the P-39 made several successful passes from varying positions around the clock. The P-39 then attacked the lead B-17 from the 4:30 o’clock high posi­tion, which would be about the 3 o’clock high position of the subject B-17, which had been “lagging behind.”

 

“Investigators noted that the accepted method of attack was for the P-39 to fire at the nearest outside B-17 one side at a time as opposed to attacking the lead or the furthest outside aircraft. The B-17s in the flight would change positions after their respected firing runs in order that all gunners will have fired from every position in the formation; co-pilots are also given flying practice from all positions in the formation. The gun cameras of the B-17 gunners rolled as the P-39 bore in on the lead B­17 from the 4:30 high position and attempted to dive through behind it. The P-39 pilot evidently did not see the number-two B-17 as he made this attack, apparently seeing the subject B-17 at the last moment and attempt­ing to turn away. The P-39 passed over the center of the number-two B-17 and while in a steep bank to the right its starboard wing collided with the port B-17 wing, severing the starboard P-39 wing and the port B-17 wing 15 feet from the tip. Both airplanes immediately went out of control. “The B-17 flipped over to an inverted posi­tion and spun to the ground where it exploded violently into flames. The P-39 apparently broke up in mid-air and slammed to the ground and exploded near where the B-17 hit. One parachute was seen. Investigators stated,

 

The pilot of the P-39 was thrown out [of the airplane] and his parachute opened by some undetermined means, the rip cord not being pulled. The P-39 pilot was evi­dently killed in the collision since a portion of his head was found in his aircraft, his right foot and lower leg were found 500 feet from the P-39 and the remainder de­scended with the parachute and landed approximately one-half mile from the P-39, equidistant from and be­tween the B-17 and P-39 wreckage.

 

“It was noted that the P-39 pilot was a high-time four-engine pilot who had recently completed a combat tour overseas.”  (Mireles 2006, 960.)

 

Newspaper

 

Nov 3, AP: “Kingman, Nov. 3 – (AP) – Seven airmen were listed as killed and eight unaccounted for in a flying collision of a four-engine army bomber and a pursuit plane 35 miles north of Kingman Army Airfield today, according to a report by Col. Donald B. Phillips, commanding officer. The dead:

 

Second Lt. Martin H. Campbell, 23 years ole, pilot and lone occupant of the pursuit ship,

Copper Hill, Tenn.

Pvt. Herman H. Castile, 20, Foreman, Ark.

Pvt. John F. Clinch, 24, Philadelphia, Pa.

Pvt. Claude V. Busta, 19, Velva, N.D.

Pvt. James W. Burner, 19, Buckhannon, W.Va.

Pvt. Theodore L. Cook, 29, New Concord, O.

Pvt. Jackson B. Campbell, 26, Clarion, Pa.

 

“The privates all were identified as student gunners on the bomber. It was on a routine training mission when the crash occurred. Colonel Phillips said the field had received reports that several parachutists were seen to descend from the plane before it ploughed into a mountainside.” (AP. “Air Crash Kills Seven At Kingman,” Arizona Independent Republic, Phoenix. 11-4-1944, p. 1.)

 

Nov 4, AP: “Kingman, Nov. 4 – (AP) – Two of eight army airmen, unaccounted for after a bomber-pursuit plane collision which claimed the lives of seven of their Kingman Army Air Field comrades were identified definitely as killed today by Col. Donald B. Phillips, commandant….Identified as additional dead were:

 

First Lt. Oliver E. Wright, 23 years old, the bomber pilot, whose wife lives in Kingman….

 

Pfc. Charles Robert Surface, 20, gunnery instructor, whose wife also lives in Kingman…”

 

(AP. “Army Identifies Crash Victims.” Arizona Independent Republic, Phoenix. 11-6-1944, p. 8.)

 

Nov 6, AP: “Kingman, Nov. 6. (AP) – Fatalities reached 15 today in the collision of a four-engined Army bomber and a fighter plane north of the Kingman Army airfield last Friday. Nine men were killed outright at the time of the accident and the deaths of six more were announced yesterday by Col. Donald B. Phillips, commander of the airfield here. The big bomber smashed into a mountainside following the collision and some parachutes were reported to have opened, causing hope at the time that some of the crewmen had landed safely. The Associated Press. “15 Deaths Total in Army Bomber Crash with Fighter Plane.” Tucson Citizen, 11-6-1944, p. 10. re were no Arizonians among those killed.” (Associated Press. “15 Deaths Total in Army Bomber Crash with Fighter Plane.” Tucson Citizen, 11-6-1944, p. 10.)

 

Sources

 

Associated Press. “15 Deaths Total in Army Bomber Crash with Fighter Plane.” Tucson Citizen, 11-6-1944, p. 10. Accessed 3-20-2024 at:

https://newspaperarchive.com/tucson-daily-citizen-nov-06-1944-p-10/

 

Associated Press. “Air Crash Kills Seven At Kingman,” Arizona Independent Republic, Phoenix. 11-4-1944, p. 1. Accessed 3-20-2024 at:

https://newspaperarchive.com/arizona-independent-republic-nov-04-1944-p-17/

 

Associated Press. “Army Identifies Crash Victims.” Arizona Independent Republic, Phoenix. 11-6-1944, p. 8. Accessed 3-20-2024 at:

https://newspaperarchive.com/arizona-independent-republic-nov-05-1944-p-134/

 

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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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