Accidents and incidents involving the Consolidated B-24 Liberator

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This is a partial list of accidents and incidents involving the Consolidated-designed B-24 Liberator. Combat losses are not included except for a very few cases denoted by singular circumstances. C-87 Liberator Express and PB4Y Privateers are also included.

Video Accidents and incidents involving the Consolidated B-24 Liberator

Production

The B-24 was built by a consortium of companies. Consolidated airframes built at San Diego, California, were appended -CO. Consolidated production at Fort Worth, Texas was appended -CF. Douglas Aircraft in Tulsa, Oklahoma built airframes appended -DT. North American plant B in the city of Grand Prairie, Texas produced aircraft appended -NT. But the champion was Ford Motor Company, which turned out fully half of the 18,000 Liberators constructed, at the purpose-built Willow Run plant at Ypsalanti, Michigan. These were appended -FO.

Maps Accidents and incidents involving the Consolidated B-24 Liberator

1940s

2 June 1941 

First British Consolidated LB-30 Liberator II, AL503, on its acceptance flight for delivery from the Consolidated Aircraft Company plant at San Diego, California, crashes into San Diego Bay when flight controls freeze, killing all five civilian crew, CAC Chief Test Pilot William Wheatley, co-pilot Alan Austen, flight engineer Bruce Kilpatrick Craig, and two chief mechanics, Lewis McCannon and William Reiser. Craig, who had been commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Reserve in 1935 following Infantry ROTC training at the Georgia Institute of Technology where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in aeronautical engineering, had applied for a commission in the Army Air Corps before his death. This was granted posthumously, with the rank of 2nd Lieutenant, and on 25 August 1941, the airfield in his hometown of Selma, Alabama was renamed Craig Field, later Craig Air Force Base. Investigation into the cause of the accident causes a two-month delay in deliveries, so the RAF does not begin receiving Liberator IIs until August 1941.

22 April 1942 

B-24D-CO, 41-1133, c/n 73, piloted by Robert Redding, of the Combat Crew Training School, crashes into Trail Peak, near the Philmont Scout Ranch, 20 miles SW of Cimarron, New Mexico, while returning to Kirtland Field, Albuquerque, killing all nine people on board. Joe Baugher cites crash date as 22 May 1942.

4 June 1942 

"SAN RAFAEL, Calif., June 5, (AP) - Fourteen army flyers died in the crash of a heavy bomber near here last night, the army said today. Flames consumed the wreckage when the plane hit a hilltop as the pilot circled for an emergency landing. The plane developed trouble soon after a takeoff and radioed nearby Hamilton field to clear a runway. The pilot circled toward the field. The big ship lost altitude and then dived into a hillside on the Herzog ranch, three miles northwest of Hamilton field. As it crashed great flames swept through the wreckage. Not a man escaped." Consolidated LB-30 Liberator II, AL601, was destroyed.

7 June 1942 

Major General Clarence Leonard Tinker, (21 November 1887 - 7 June 1942), of 1/8 Osage Indian heritage, leads an attack against Imperial Japanese Navy units during the Battle of Midway, but is shot down. His Consolidated LB-30 Liberator II, AL589, of the 31st Bombardment Squadron, 5th Bombardment Group, 7th Air Force, is seen to go down, taking him, and eight other crew, to their deaths. Tinker was the first American general to die in World War II; his body was never recovered. He received the Soldier's Medal in 1931 and, posthumously, the Distinguished Service Medal. Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, is named in his honor on 14 October 1942. Along with Major General Tinker (of Oklahoma), the following named Airmen were also lost: 2Lt. Walter E. Gurley of North Carolina, Major Coleman Hinton of Florida, 1Lt. Gilmer H. Holton, Jr., of North Carolina, Master Sergeant Franz Moeller of Alabama, Sergeant Thomas E. Ross of New York, Major Raymond Paul Salzarulo of Indiana, Staff Sergeant George D. Scheid of Utah, Sergeant Aaron D. Shank of Maryland, Technical Sergeant James H. Turk, Jr., of Texas, and Sergeant William J. Wagner of New York.

1 July 1942

Consolidated LB-30 Liberator II, AL527, of the 38th Bomb Squadron, 30th Bomb Group, flown by 1st Lt. Robert K. Murphy departs March Field, California, strikes the top of a low knoll two miles W of the field, and is destroyed in two explosions that initial reports describe as bombs going off. Officials said that this was a training flight, however, and that no bombs were loaded. Nine crew die.

11 October 1942 

B-24D-1-CO , 41-23647, c/n 442, the eighth block 1 airframe, of the 469th Bomb Squadron, 333d Bomb Group, based at Topeka Army Airfield, Kansas, piloted by Ralph M. Dienst, suffers engine failure and crashes into a hillside three miles W of the base, killing eight and critically injuring one. "The plane was on a routine flight, army officers reported. Lt. H. R. Rubin of the Topeka base said the dead included: Lieut. Ralph M. Dienst, 26, Pasadena, California; Second Lieut. James H. Edwards, 24, Berkeley, California, and Second Lieut. James L. Holmes, 24, Fort Bragg, California."

6 January 1943 

At 1735 CWT, three miles W of White City, Kansas, a B-24D-13-CO, 41-23961, c/n 756, of the 469th Bomb Squadron, 333d Bomb Group, out of Topeka Army Air Base, Kansas, piloted by Robert Clyne, suffers a catastrophic structural failure due to ice. All are killed instantly except for Lt Maleckas, who makes it out with a parachute.

6 January 1943 

B-24D-20-CO, 41-24202, c/n 997, of the 504th Bomb Squadron, 346th Bomb Group, out of Salina Army Airfield, Kansas, suffers fire in flight, crashes 15 miles SW of Madill, Oklahoma, destroyed by fire. Pilot was R. G. Bishop.

12 February 1943

Eight of nine crew are killed aboard B-24D-35-CO, 42-40144, c/n 1221, of the 528th Bomb Squadron, 380th Bomb Group, Biggs Field, Texas, piloted by Charles C. Wylie, when it suffers engine failure that results in a stall/spin condition, coming down eight miles NW of Roswell, New Mexico, according to a crash report, and five miles N of Roswell according to the Associated Press. One crewman successfully parachuted to safety.

17 February 1943 

B-24D-53-CO, 42-40355, c/n 1432, crashes at Tucson Municipal Airport #2, Tucson, Arizona, this date. Six Consolidated Aircraft employees riding as passengers are killed and several others injured, of the 34 on board. The damaged airframe is subsequently modified into the first C-87 Liberator Express.

3 May 1943 

During an inspection tour, Lt. Gen. Frank Maxwell Andrews (1884-1943) is killed in crash of B-24D-1-CO, 41-23728, "Hot Stuff", of the 330th Bomb Squadron, 93d Bomb Group, 8th Air Force, out of RAF Bovingdon, England, on Mt. Fagradalsfjall on the Reykjanes peninsula after an aborted attempt to land at the RAF Kaldadarnes, Iceland. Andrews and thirteen others died in the crash; only the tail gunner, S/Sgt. George A. Eisel, survived. Others KWF included pilot Capt. Robert H. Shannon, of the 330th BS, 93rd BG; six members of Andrews' staff, including Maj. Ted Trotman, B/Gen. Charlie Barth, Col. Marlow Krum, and the general's aide, Maj. Fred A. Chapman; and Capt. J. H. Gott, navigator. Andrews was the highest-ranking Allied officer to die in the line of duty to that point in the war. At the time of his death, he was Commanding General, United States Forces, European Theatre of Operations. Camp Springs Army Air Field, Maryland, is renamed Andrews Field (later Andrews Air Force Base), for him on 7 February 1945. It appears that "Hot Stuff" was actually the first heavy bomber to complete 25 missions successfully, despite the publicity given the "Memphis Belle" and "Hell's Angels" of the 303d Bomb Group, when the B-24 bombed Naples on 7 February 1943. The bomber was, in fact, on the first leg of a trip back to the United States for a War Bond Tour when she was lost.

20 May 1943 

B-24E-5-FO, 42-7053, c/n 77, of the 1014th Pilot Transition Training Squadron, Tarrant Army Airfield, Texas, departing there at 0650 hrs. CWT, piloted by David S. Alter, hits the side of a 20 million cubic foot gasometer of the People's Gas Light and Coke Company at 3625 73rd Street and Central Park Avenue, the largest of its type in the world, ~2 miles SE of Municipal Airport, Chicago, Illinois, between 1140 and 1145 hrs. CWT, killing all 12 crew. Joe Baugher cites date as 5 May 1943, but this is incorrect. Approaching the airport from the southwest in light rain, light fog and light smoke, with a 500 foot ceiling and ~.75 miles visibility, the bomber circled the field to the north and east before striking the ~500 foot tall tank at the ~125 foot level whilst on a southern heading, initially with the port wingtip, according to witness Lawrence Kinsella, an employee of People's Gas Light and Coke Company. Much of forward fuselage fell inside the tank structure which exploded, throwing steel plate over 100 yards with heat felt over a mile away. Nine employees were on the grounds but none were injured. Four United Airlines flights rejected landings at the airport between 0957 and 1027 hrs. and continued onto Milwaukee due to conditions. Capt. Monstad of the 9th Tow Target Squadron, Chicago Municipal Airport, made arrangements for a Board of Inquiry. The dead were identified as Capt. James R. Gilcrease, of Houston, commanding officer of the 1014th PTTS and a flight instructor, in charge of the flight; 2d Lt. David S. Alter, an instructor from Pittsburgh; 1st Lt. Harry B. Messick, Jr., navigator, of Indianapolis; 2d Lt. Frederick L. Dutt, student officer, of Wadsworth, Ohio; 2d Lt. John C. Wallace, student officer, of Luling, Texas; Pvt. Nick Lonchar, aerial engineer, of Weirton, West Virginia; Sgt. Arthur A. Huber, aerial engineer, of Queens, New York; S/Sgt. Norman W. Yutzy, aerial engineer, of Canton, Ohio; and Tech/Sgt. Ben F. Zumwalt, aerial engineer, of Ingram, Texas. The identified passenger was Capt. A. W. Lent, from Hamilton Field, California. The names of the other two passengers were to be announced after notification of the next-of-kin. The USAAF Report of Aircraft Accident listed the other two victims as 2d Lt. A. L. Gentry and Capt. John M. Wallace. The storage tank was erected in 1928 at a cost of $2 million, according to a Chicago Daily Tribune account. It was not rebuilt.

4 July 1943 

RAF Consolidated LB-30 Liberator II, AL523, crashes on takeoff from RAF North Front, Gibraltar, killing the exiled Polish Prime Minister General W?adys?aw Sikorski, together with his daughter, his Chief of Staff, Tadeusz Klimecki, and seven others. The flight departed at 2307 hrs., coming down in the sea after only 16 seconds of flight. Only the pilot, Eduard Prchal (1911-1984), survives. "This crash is shrouded in mystery and intrigue. Throughout World War II Sikorski tried to organize the Polish Army and constantly negotiated with Churchill and Roosevelt to circumvent any appeasement deals between the Allies, Russia, and Germany which would come at Poland's expense. By this time, the Free Poles had found out about the Katyn Massacre, and thus terminated relations with the Soviet Union on 26 April 1943. As Sikorski was the most prestigious leader of the Polish exiles, his death was a severe setback to the Polish cause, and was certainly highly convenient for Stalin. It was in some ways also convenient for the western Allies, who were finding the Polish issue a stumbling-block in their efforts to preserve good relations with Stalin. This has given rise to persistent suggestions that Sikorski's death was not accidental. This has never been proved."

8 August 1943 

"WENDOVER, Utah, Aug. 9 (AP) - Crashing in the night on western Utah's dreary salt desert, a four-engined Army bomber killed one flier and caused the wreck of a freight train leaving 26 boxcars stacked up like splintered toys on the Western Pacific railroad's main line today." Consolidated RB-24E Liberator, 42-7159, c/n 183, built as a B-24E-15-FO, and redesignated in the Restricted category, of the 605th Bomb Squadron, 399th Bomb Group, Wendover Field, piloted by Herbert Williams, Jr., experienced engine failure and "smashed down on highway U. S. 40-50, slithered at terrific speed across the salt crust before hitting the rails and winding up 100 feet on the opposite side. The westbound freight, powered by a double Diesel locomotive, roared along 10 to 15 minutes later and plowed into scattered wreckage and a spread rail. The engine stuck the rails, three freight cars were derailed but stayed intact, then 26 more crashed together in a dizzy pyramid of destruction. Second Lt. Richard L. Blue of Rantoul, Ill., the plane's co-pilot, died today at the hospital at Wendover field, where the plane was based. Ten other fliers were dragged injured from the wreckage and some were critical. One rail official estimated damage to train and freight at $200,000." The train engineer, Otto Kelly, of Salt Lake City, said that the crew was unaware of the bomber's crash until after the derailment, which occurred as the last set of trucks of the motive power passed over wreckage on the right-of-way. Some 200 feet of railroad was torn up in the accident, which occurred seven miles E of Wendover. "The fliers crawled from the battered bomber and were aided by the trainmen." The bomber did not burn. The locomotives powering the freight were an EMD FTA-FTB semi-permanently coupled pair.

2 September 1943

"SIOUX CITY, Iowa, Sept. 3. (AP) - All 10 crew members of an army bomber from the Sioux City air base were killed when their plane crashed five miles from the base last night while on a routine training flight. The dead included Second Lieutenant Earl G. Adkinson, Portland, Ore., and Sergeant Robert Hunter, Eufaula, Okla." Consolidated B-24E-25-FO Liberator, 42-7237, c/n 261, of the 703d Bomb Squadron, 445th Bomb Group, flown by Lt. "Atkinson", according to the crash report, crashed one mile E of the base.

4 September 1943 

All eight crew of B-24E-25-CF, 41-29071, of the 701st Bomb Squadron, 445th Bomb Group, Sioux City Army Air Base, Iowa, piloted by Jack D. Hodges, are killed when the bomber crashes in a corn field four miles SW of Moville, Iowa.

20 October 1943 

A Consolidated Liberator III from No. 10 Squadron RCAF, on a routine flight from Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador to Mont-Joli, Québec flew into a mountain near Saint-Donat, Lanaudière, Quebec due to inclement weather and a mapping error. All those on board perished in the incident and it took more than two years to find the location of the wreckage.

25 October 1943 

Four Consolidated B-24H Liberators of the 724th Bomb Squadron (Heavy), 451st Bomb Group (Heavy), from Fairmont Army Air Field, Nebraska, were flying in a diamond formation. At ~1600 hrs. CWT, one bomber broke formation and the pilot of a second, as trained, moved toward the vacated position. When the first bomber returned to its position, the two planes collided. At an altitude of 20,000 feet, this was the highest fatal World War II training accident in Nebraska. One bomber crashed in the adjoining farm fields of Frank Hromadka Sr. and Anna Matejka, 2 miles N and ½ mile E of Milligan, Nebraska. The other crashed in the farmyard of Mike and Fred Stech, 3 miles N and 2 miles E of Milligan. Killed were 2d Lt. James H. Williams, 2d Lt. William E. Herzog, 2d Lt. Kenneth S. Ordway, 2d Lt. Charles L. Brown, 2d Lt. Clyde H. Frye, Sgt. James H. Bobbitt, Sgt. William D. Watkins, Sgt. William G. Williams, Sgt. Wilbur H. Chamberlin, Sgt. Edward O. Boucher, Sgt. Ursulo Galindo Jr., Sgt. William C. Wilson, Sgt. Albert R. Mogavero, Sgt. Arthur O. Doria, Sgt. Eugene A. Hubbell, F/O Achille P. Augelli, and Pfc. Andrew G. Bivona. All eight crew died aboard B-24H-1-FO, 42-7657, piloted by 2d Lt. Brown, while the sole survivor of ten on B-24H-1-FO, 42-7673, flown by 2d Lt. Williams, was copilot 2d Lt. Melvin Klein, who was thrown free of the wreckage and managed to deploy his parachute. A Nebraska historical marker was erected about the accident in 2010 by the Milligan Memorial Committee for the World War II Fatal Air Crashes near Milligan, Nebraska.

8 January 1944 

Five men are killed and two missing in the crash of B-24J-40-CO, 42-73365, (the first block 40-CO airframe) of the 776th Bomb Squadron, 464th Bomb Group, Pocatello Army Air Field, Idaho, piloted by Lt. Richard A. Hedges, when it crashes on the grounds of the Idaho National Laboratory, 40 miles NW of the air base, during a night training mission. Lt. Col. Marshall Bonner, commandant of the base, identified the dead as: Lt. Hedges, of Circleville, Ohio; 2d Lt. Robert W. Madsen, North St. Paul, Minnesota; 2d Lt. Richard R. Pitener, Chicago; Sgt. Charles W. Eddy, San Luis Obispo, California; and Sgt. George H. Peace Jr., Canton, Connecticut. Lt. Col. Bonner said on 11 January that the bodies of the two missing crew had been found and identified. They were 2d Lt. Lonnie L. Keepers, Aransas Pass, Texas, and Sgt. Louis H. Rinke, of Lawton, West Virginia.

12 January 1944 

B-24D-165-CO, 42-72887, c/n 2447, of Biggs Field, Texas, piloted by 2d Lt. Donald E. Hermo, makes a crash landing 30 miles N of Biggs following mechanical failure. (An Associated Press wire report gives the location as "about 35 miles north of El Paso.") Seven crew are killed and one critically injured. One announced victim is the pilot, 2d Lt. Hermo, of Parma, Idaho.

22 January 1944 

Two RB-24Es of B-24 replacement training units 355th Bomb Squadron, 302d Bomb Group, Langley Field, Virginia, collide on a local flight. B-24E-25-CF (as built), 41-29075, c/n 67, flown by Howard R. Cosgrove, crashes and burns, killing all seven on board, while B-24E-25-FO (as built), 42-7420, c/n 444, piloted by Carlos N. Clayton, makes a crash landing in a swamp, none of the eight crew suffering serious injury despite the aircraft being virtually demolished.

25 January 1944 

B-24E-25-DT, 41-28544, of the 34th Combat Crew Training Squadron, Blythe Army Airfield, California, piloted by Donald J. Harris, crashes four miles N of Quartzsite, Arizona, killing all seven aboard, Col. Dave Wade, commandant of Blythe AAF, announces on 26 January.

9 April 1944 

B-24D-135-CO, 42-41128, c/n 2203, of the 420th AAF Base Unit, March Field, California, piloted by Frank A. Gurley, crashes in weather-related accident 3 miles SW of Marine Corps Auxiliary Air Station Mojave, Mojave, California, while on a routine training mission to simulate a long range bombing mission. All ten crew members are KWF. Site rediscovered in 2005.

11 April 1944 

B-24H-25-FO,'' 42-95064, reportedly left Trinidad's Waller Field at 0609 hrs., this date, en route to Belem, Brazil. Around 0905 hrs., about an hour from Belem, pilot, 2nd Lt. Edward J. Bares, reportedly requested weather information. A ground station in Brazil responded with a report, but heard nothing further from the plane. Nothing further was ever to be heard from 42-95064. Subsequently recovered by Army Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii (CILHI), and remains of all crew members interred in Arlington National Cemetery under a group headstone, on 20 February 1988, with full military honors. An FAB (Brazilian air force) team prepared the site, and assisted the CILHI researchers during a three-week recovery effort in a dense jungle area some 50 miles northeast of the Amazon River city of Macapa´, located about 250 miles northwest of the plane's destination, Belem. Searchers found two sets of ''dog tags'' and numerous bone fragments at the site, said Johnie Webb, a CILHI civilian deputy commander.

8 June 1944

C-87-CF Liberator Express, 41-24006, c/n 801, crashes during attempted belly landing at Station 4, Jorhat, India, this date. Pilot was Lawrence C. Ackerson.

15 July 1944

B-24J-5-FO Liberator, 42-50871, of the 272d Base Unit, Topeka AAF, Kansas, piloted by Levine S. Nelson, crashes one mile NW of Ashville, New York, killing all five crew. "Syracuse, N. Y., July 15 (AP) - Lt. Harry A. Dunn, public relations officer of the Syracuse army air base, announced tonight the names of the five flyers killed in the crash of an army bomber near Blockville, N. Y., early today. The dead include 2nd Lt. Vernon E. Stiltz, Milwaukee, Wis.; 2nd Lt. John Jurzazak, Chicago, and Sgt. Art L. Brown, Sterling, Ill." The Aviation Archaeological Investigation and Research website indicates that the bomber was involved in a mid-air collision, but provides no further details, and no other aircraft appear in accident report listings at this location this date.

23 August 1944 

Freckleton Air Disaster - A United States Army Air Forces B-24H-20-CF, 42-50291, "Classy Chassis II", crashes into a school at Freckleton, Lancashire, England at 1047 hrs. while on approach to Warton Aerodrome. Twenty adults, 38 children and the three-man crew are killed. In addition to a memorial in the village churchyard, a marker was placed at the site of the accident in 2007.

15 September 1944 

A U.S. Army Air Force TB-24J Liberator, 42-50890, (built as a B-24J-5-FO, and converted), of the 3007th AAF Base Unit, Kirtland Field, piloted by Warren E. Crowther, en route from Bakersfield, California, to Kirtland Field, New Mexico, and off-course, crashed into a boulder field near the top of Humphreys Peak, 10 miles N of Flagstaff, Arizona, at approx. 0330 hrs. All eight crew members were killed. The location is nearly inaccessible and has been left mostly as-is.

18 October 1944 

A United States Army Air Forces B-24H-20-CF, 42-50347 broke up in mid air over the town of Birkenhead, England. The aircraft was on a flight from New York to Liverpool and the accident killed all 24 airmen on board the aircraft.

22 November 1944 

PB4Y-2 Privateer, BuNo 59544, on pre-delivery test flight by company crew out of Lindbergh Field, San Diego, California, takes off at 1223 hrs., loses port outer wing on climb-out, crashes one quarter mile further on in ravine in undeveloped area of Loma Portal near the Navy Training Center, less than two miles (3 km) from point of lift-off. All crew killed, including pilot Marvin R. Weller, co-pilot Conrad C. Cappe, flight engineers Frank D. Sands and Clifford P. Bengston, radio operator Robert B. Skala, and Consolidated Vultee field operations employee Ray Estes. Wing panel comes down on home at 3121 Kingsley Street in Loma Portal. Cause is found to be 98 missing bolts, wing only attached with four spar bolts. Four employees who either were responsible for installation, or who had been inspectors who signed off on the undone work, are fired two days later. San Diego coroner's jury finds Consolidated Vultee guilty of "gross negligence" by vote of 11-1 on 5 January 1945, Bureau of Aeronautics reduces contract by one at a cost to firm of $155,000. Consolidated Vultee pays out $130,484 to families of six dead crew.

24 October 1944

Crew of U.S. Navy Consolidated PB4Y-2 Privateer, BuNo 59394, of VPB-106, out of NAAS Camp Kearney, California, on a long-range training mission, becomes lost in bad weather, runs out of fuel, and ditches in the Gulf of California, eleven crew, two female Marines, and the squadron canine mascot all evacuating the bomber as it rapidly sinks. "SAN DIEGO, Oct. 30 (AP) - How two women marines and 11 crew members of a Navy Liberator bomber which crashed at sea existed for four days in Robinson Crusoe style on a deserted island near the eastern coast of Baja California before being rescued by Mexican fishermen was disclosed today by the Navy. The bomber sank almost immediately after making a crash landing late Tuesday night, but the crew was able to salvage a small six-man life raft. So crowded was the raft that some of the men were forced to swim to give more room for the two women - Pfc. Helen L. Breckel, 21, Cincinnati, and Pfc. Edna H. Shaughnessy, 28, Manchester, N. H. The party existed on clams and raw fish while on the island, 330 miles southeast of here. A fishing boat sighted them Saturday and took them to Bahia de Los Angeles and a Coast Guard plane returned them here yesterday."

30 November 1944 

Two B-24s, flying out of Davis-Monthan Army Air Base, collide at 0740 hrs. over the desert NE of Tucson, Arizona. The planes were on a training mission and all eighteen airmen died. The location of this crash was over a major natural drainage canal known as the Pantano Wash, at a point half-way between present day East Broadway and East Speedway. Aircraft involved were both B-24J-35-CO Liberators, 42-73344 and 42-73357, of the 233d Combat Crew Training Squadron. Harold D. Ballard piloted 344, while 357 was flown by Theodore V. Glock.

30 January 1945 

B-24L-1-FO, 44-49180, crashes west of Helendale, California. The crew consisted of 1st Lt. James G. Wright, pilot, 2nd Lt. Norbert J. Vehr, copilot, 2nd Lt. Carl F. Hansen radar instructor, 2nd Lt. John R. Palin radar student, 2nd Lt. Herbert A. Perry, radar student, and T/Sgt. Harvey L. Cook, flight engineer. Perry, Vehr and Cook died during the crash, while the remaining crew members successfully bailed out. Wreckage recovered to Victorville Army Airfield, California, in February 1945 with reclamation complete on 9 February.

26 February 1945 

Brigadier General James Roy Andersen (1904-1945), is lost with the C-87A-CO Liberator Express, 41-24174, he was travelling on between Kwajalein and Johnston Island while en route to Hawaii. General Andersen graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1926, served at various Army installations, and obtained his wings at Kelly Field, Texas, in 1936. During 1943-1944 he served on the War Department General Staff. In January 1945, General Andersen was assigned to HQ AAF, Pacific Ocean Area. Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, is subsequently named in his honor. Pilot of the aircraft was F. E. Savage.

27 March 1945 

RAF Consolidated LB-30 Liberator II, AL504, first Mk. II accepted by the British, converted to VIP transport for the Prime Minister, named "Commando". It had received a single PB4Y-style fin and rudder modification. Lost over the Atlantic Ocean between the Azores and Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The Prime Minister was not on board. Lost with the crew was Air Marshal Sir Peter Roy Maxwell Drummond, the RAF's Air Member for Training.

13 April 1945 

On 5 April, a B-24H-15-DT, 41-28779, of the 564th Bomb Squadron, 389th Bomb Group (Heavy), captured by the Luftwaffe on 20 June 1944 (MACR 6533), and operated as KO+XA by KG 200, departs Wackersleben to avoid the Soviet advance with 29 KG 200 personnel aboard for a flight to Bavaria via Braunschweig. About 25 minutes into the flight, a German flak battery fires on the Liberator, damaging the fuselage, wings and number 4 (starboard outer) engine and cutting the rudder cables. Pilot Oberfeldwebel Rauchfuss manages to maintain control, however. Two passengers, injured by the gunfire, require immediate medical attention (one later dies), and the pilot lands in a meadow near Quedlinburg, but a powerline forces him to apply power to clear it and the bomber breaks its nosewheel strut when it overruns into a freshly ploughed field. The strut is removed and sent to the Junkers Component Factory at Eilsleben for repair. The oil leak on the engine and the rudder cables are also repaired. Returned on 12 April, the strut is reinstalled and an attempt is made to take off on 13 April, after all excess equipment is removed to lighten the plane, but the clearing proves too short, the B-24 bogs down in sodden soil, and the nose strut again breaks. Reluctantly, the crew destroys the airframe by punching holes in the fuel tanks and setting it alight with a flare pistol.

21 April 1945 

B-24J-1-FO, 42-95592, "Black Cat", of the 784th Bomb Squadron, 466th Bomb Group, based at RAF Attlebridge (USAAF Station 120), returning from a mission to bomb a rail bridge at Salzburg, Austria, aborted due to bad weather over the target, receives a flak burst in the port wing near Regensburg, becoming the last heavy bomber of the 8th Air Force lost over Germany during World War II. It was the only loss of this mission. Only the bombardier and the tail gunner escape from the aircraft to become prisoners of war, all ten other crew KIA. (MACR 14182)

30 April 1945 

Just before midnight this date, first production PB4Y-2 Privateer, BuNo 59359, is being prepared on the ramp at Lindbergh Field, San Diego, California, for a flight to NAS Twin Cities, Minneapolis, Minnesota, a mechanic attempts to remove the port battery solenoid, located 14 inches below the cockpit floor, but does so without disconnecting the battery. Ratchet wrench accidentally punctures hydraulic line three inches above the battery and fluid ignites, setting entire aircraft alight, mechanic suffering severe burns. Only number four (starboard outer) engine deemed salvageable. Cause was unqualified mechanic attempting task that only a qualified electrician should undertake.

13 June 1945 

A USAAF B-24H-25-FO, 42-95095, of the 66th Bomb Squadron, 44th Bomb Group, returning home to the USA from Prestwick Airfield crashes at Shieldaig, in the remote Fairy Lochs in Wester Ross, Scotland, killing its entire crew of nine from 66th Bombardment Squadron; also on board were six crewmen from Air Transport Command. Pilot was Jack B. Ketcham. A memorial has been erected at the site.

13 July 1945 

B-24H-20-FO, 42-94956, c/n 1721, of the 2135th Base Unit, Tyndall Field, Florida, piloted by Paul R. Snyder, crashes due to bad weather 12 miles NW of Southport, Florida, with fatal results for the crew. Amongst the dead are gunner Cpl. Eddie L. Keefe, 19, of Orangeburg, South Carolina, "the only son of O. L. Keefe and Alice Youmans Keefe, of this city." He is also survived by his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. W. F. Youmans, of Luray, South Carolina. Keefe "graduated from Orangeburg high school in 1943 and attended one term at Clemson college. [sic] He entered service 22 May 1944. He was a member of Tabernacle Baptist church. [sic] The message of Corporal Keefe's death was received by his parents Saturday morning."

3 November 1945

Consolidated LB-30/Consolidated C-87 Liberator Express, AL-640, assigned to the 1504th AAF Base Unit, Fairfield-Suisun Army Air Base, piloted by Norman C. Fisher, runs out of fuel 500 miles NE of Honolulu while en route to Fairfield-Suisun Army Air Base, California, and ditches in the Pacific at 0740 hrs. more than four hours after it departed Hawaii, at approximately 149-50W/25-25N. It went down about 50 miles from regular patrol routes. Eighteen lives are lost with eight survivors. Surface vessels rescued those saved from life rafts. Twenty-one passengers and six crew were aboard, including two women, one a civilian and one a WAC. One of the women was rescued. Bodies of seven were recovered. Seven ships, including aircraft carriers, were involved in the search. On 11 January 1946, headquarters of the commanding general of the Pacific division in Honolulu announces the conviction of John R. Patrick, 27, of Tulare, California, on a charge of involuntary manslaughter after being accused of failing to "determine positively" whether the plane had been refueled before takeoff. Public relations officers said that the general court-martial that tried Patrick also convicted him of destruction of government property through "wrongful neglect". Patrick, a civilian, was one of the eight survivors. His defense, according to the public relations office, was that he did take precautions. He was sentenced to six months confinement and fined $2,000.

10 May 1945 

On a mission out of NAS Pensacola, Florida, PB4Y-2 Privateer, BuNo 59437 of VB-4 suffers midair collision with PB4Y-2 BuNo 59721, also of VB-4, while in formation over Munson, Florida, during joint training with an F6F Hellcat. As the fighter dove at the patrol bombers, they manoeuvered into a turn and the plane flying wing collided with the leader, knocking out one of the leader's engines. The lead plane went into an immediate spin and crashed. The second PB4Y flew straight and level for a short time before it too spun in and crashed. The wreckage came down ~eight miles N of Munson. The F6F notified nearby Whiting Field of the accident and landed safely itself. Fourteen were killed on 59721 and 13 on 59437. One body in an unopened parachute also found.

9 November 1949 

A US Navy PB4Y-2 Privateer on a training flight crash landed south of Mikkalo, Oregon, after all four engines "froze up" in flight. One fatality.

src: ww2today.com

1950s

21 March 1952 

Ten Navy airmen are killed when a PB4Y-2 Privateer, bound for NAS Alameda, California, dives into Corpus Christi Bay less than a mile from Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, Texas. All aboard the plane are killed. KWF are: four officers, Lt. William Ervin Dozier, Ltjg Bertram Magna Roeder, Delangton Ernest Ruttledge, and Rodney Gwynn Williams; two Naval Air Cadets, Richard Wilfred Augrain, and Robert Benedict Nye; and four enlisted crew, Aviation Machinists Mate Airman Richard Charles Chase, Aviation Machinists Mate Third Class John Leonard Daffenberg, Airman Donald Jarrell Givens, and Airman Apprentice Robert Herman Steinbaugh.

16 December 1953 

A U.S. Navy PB4Y-2S Privateer, BuNo 59716, of VW-3, COMFAIRGUAM, NAS Agana, Guam, makes a low-level (200-300 feet) penetration into the eye of Super Typhoon Doris, but while radioing a report at 2245 hours Zulu, the transmission is interrupted and attempts to reach the operator fail. A nine-day search turns up no trace of the aircraft or its nine crew: Pilot J. W. Newhall, 39; Co-pilot S. B. Marsden, 29; Lt. Cmdr. D. Zimmerman Jr., 35; Ltjg. F. Troescher Jr., 26; AL1 F. R. Barnett, 26; AD1 J. N. Clark, 32; AD3 E. L. Myer, 20; AL2 N. J. Stephens, 23; and AO3 A. J. Stott, 23.

5 February 1958 

"NEW DELHI, India, Feb. 6 (AP) - Ten Indian air and naval personnel were killed in a military plane crash near Coimbatore in Madras State yesterday, the Defense Ministry said tonight. The plane was engaged in a naval-air exercise over high hill country." B-24J Liberator, HE-842, of No. 16 Squadron, came down at Sulur. Pilot was Flight Lieutenant D. Kochar, co-pilot was Flying Officer Jadhav.

src: upload.wikimedia.org

2000s

18 July 2002 

Consolidated P4Y-2 Privateer, BuNo 66260, civil registered as N7620C, flying as air Tanker 123 for Hawkins & Powers Aviation of Greybull, Wyoming and operated under contract to the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), suffers wing spar failure during a slurry drop at Estes Park, Colorado, killing two crew. Contracts for vintage tanker aircraft are cancelled soon thereafter.

src: ww2today.com

References

Source of the article : Wikipedia