List of accidents and incidents involving military aircraft (1940–44)

This is a list of notable accidents and incidents involving military aircraft grouped by the year in which the accident or incident occurred. Not all of the aircraft were in operation at the time. For more exhaustive lists, see the Aircraft Crash Record Office or the Air Safety Network or the Dutch Scramble Website Brush and Dustpan Database. Combat losses are not included except for a very few cases denoted by singular circumstances.

This transport-related list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Aircraft terminology

Information on aircraft gives the type, and if available, the serial number of the operator in italics, the constructors number, also known as the manufacturer's serial number (c/n), exterior codes in apostrophes, nicknames (if any) in quotation marks, flight callsign in italics, and operating units.

1940

5 January 

The early models of the Henschel Hs 129 suffer from heavy stick forces, amongst other problems, and on this date the Hs 129 V2 is destroyed when it fails to pull out of a dive.^[1]

6 January

Bell XP-39B Airacobra, 38–326, modified from prototype XP-39, on test flight out of Buffalo, New York, suffers failure of main gear legs to retract fully, stopping 18 inches (460 mm) short of flush stowage. Pilot, Wright Field P-39 project officer George Price, saves prototype with deft belly-landing, damage mostly limited to the propeller.^[2]

10 January

The Mechelen Incident, also known as the Mechelen affair, was an event during the Phoney War in the first stages of World War II. A German Messerschmitt Bf 108 Taifun, D-NFAW, piloted by Major Erich Hoenmanns, 52, base commander of Loddenheide airfield, near Münster with an officer, Major Helmuth Reinberger, on-board carrying the plans for Fall Gelb (Case Yellow), a German attack on the Low Countries, becomes lost and crash-lands in neutral Belgium near Vucht, in the modern-day municipality of Maasmechelen. This prompts an immediate crisis in the Low Countries and amidst the French and British authorities, whom the Belgians notify of their discovery; however the crisis abates relatively quickly once the dates mentioned in the plans pass without incident. It has been argued that the incident led to a major change in the German attack plan, but this hypothesis has also been disputed.

3 February

US Army Air Corps Chief of Staff Gen. Henry H. Arnold's personal staff transport, Northrop A-17AS, 36–350, c/n 290, 3-seat command transport, written off in accident this date.^[3]

3 February

RAF pilot Peter Townsend, flying a Hawker Hurricane of 43 Squadron, downs Heinkel He 111, Werke Nummer 3232, 1H+FM, of KG 26, on a shipping strike, piloted by Hermann Wilms, which crashlands near Bannial Flat farm, Whitby, the first German aircraft downed on English soil since a Gotha bomber at Harrietsham, Kent, on 18 May 1918. (Previous German aircraft had been downed during World War II, but in Scotland.) Luftwaffe observer Peter Leushake on the He 111 killed by gunnery, gunner and flight engineer Johann Meyer, gunner Unteroffizier Karl Missy both wounded.^[4]

10 February

First British Consolidated Catalina, P9630 , ex-NX21732, the sole Consolidated Model 28-5, sinks in a landing accident at Dumbarton after a flight from Rhu. Although salvaged, it never flies again.^[5]

15 February 

Hawker Hector army co-operation biplane, the end of the Hawker Hart line, K9731, 'ZR-N', of No. 613 Squadron RAF, suffers engine problem on take-off from RAF Odiham, buries nose in an earthen berm .^[6]

20 February

First fatal accident involving a Saro Lerwick flying boat occurs when Flt. Sgt. Corby attempts landing of L7253 of No. 209 Squadron RAF (209 Sqn) off Lismore Island near Oban in poor visibility. Aircraft stalls, bounces on water several times, starboard wingtip float breaks off, airframe capsizes. Water pours into hull through open windows, pilot Corby drowns but body recovered, three crew missing, two survive. Salvaged, becomes instructional airframe, later sinks in gale at RAF Wig Bay on Loch Ryan.^[7]

11 March

Second prototype Mitsubishi Navy Experimental 12-Shi Carrier Fighter, built at the Nagoya aircraft works of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, equipped with a Mitsubishi Zuisei 13 engine, disintegrates at about 1030 hrs. during a dive test, flying out of Oppama Airfield (Yokosuka, Kanagawa), Japan. Pilot Masumi Okuyama of the flight test division of the Aeronautical Establishment is seen to deploy his chute, but then, inexplicably, releases harness and is killed by fall from height of 300 m (980 ft). Crash is determined to have been caused by tail flutter due to missing mass balance weight on elevator. The new design enters service named after the end of the year Kigen 2600 as the Mitsubishi Navy Type 0 Carrier Fighter Model 11. This was the first fatality in the type.^[8][9]

3 April 

Pilot Lt. James W. Phelps. Jr. is killed while engaged in wargames near Cleveland, Ohio,^[10] when his Seversky P-35, 36-399, of the 94th Pursuit Squadron, 1st Pursuit Group, from Selfridge Field, Michigan, comes down hard.^[11]

5 April

Prototype SNCASE SE.100-01 crashes at Marignane, France, returning from test flight. Approaching field, gear down, flaps up, it is seen to execute a flat turn at 1,000 ft (300 m), sink abruptly and crash. Unprotected fuel tanks in fuselage belly rupture, pilot Rouland and his mechanic perish in fire. Starboard propeller pitch mechanism inadvertently went into reverse on power increase causing loss of control.^[12][13]

7 April

Blackburn B-20, V8914, experimental flying-boat with retractable lower-hull, lost after suffering severe aileron flutter – 3 crew killed, 2 rescued by HMS Transylvania. The aircraft's wreck still exists, but remains undisturbed as it is designated a War grave. In 1998, one of the engines was raised as it had been caught in a fishing boat's nets and dragged away from the wreck, into shallower water. It is currently an exhibit in the Dumfries and Galloway Aviation Museum.^[14]

11 April

Grumman XF4F-2 Wildcat prototype, BuNo 0383, c/n 356, suffers engine failure during test flight out of NAS Anacostia, Washington, D.C., force lands causing considerable damage. Aircraft grounded for several weeks for repairs.^[15]

16 April

The sole prototype Kimura HK-1 tailless glider, purchased by the Japanese Army, crashes this date after only 13 flights.

24 April

Heinkel He 177A V3, wrk. nr. 0000003, D-AGIG, is destroyed in a crash this date.^[16] Cause is traced to faulty trimming of the aircraft.^[17]

27 April

Prototype Yakovlev I-26, first of what became the Yak-1 fighter, crashes, killing pilot Yu. I. Piontkovskiy.^[18] The investigation of the crash found that the pilot performed two consecutive barrel rolls at low altitude which was in violation of test flight plan. It was believed that during the first roll, the main landing gear became unlocked, causing it to crash through the wing during the second roll. It has been theorized that Piontkovskiy's deviation from the flight plan was caused by frustration that his aircraft was being used for engine testing while I-26-2, built with the lessons of I-26-1 in mind, was already performing aerobatics.

9 May

First prototype Hawker Tornado, P5219, suffers a failure in the monocoque structure just forward of the cockpit while in flight. Test pilot Philip G. Lucas manages to land damaged fighter safely, is awarded the George Medal. Airframe repaired, flying again a month later.^[19]

26 May 

As the British Expeditionary Force retreats to the French coast in the face of German advances, a flight of obsolescent Hawker Hector army co-operation biplanes of No. 613 Squadron RAF is dispatched from RAF Hawkinge at 0950 hrs., each armed with 2 X 120 lb. general purpose (GP) bombs, to support the Calais garrison trapped in the town's Citadel. Over the channel, Plt. Off. Bernard Brown, flying Hector K8111, with gunner LAC R. V. Brown, test-fires his front gun but after a few rounds the muzzle explodes, holing his fuel tank. He jettisons his bombs and attempts to return to Hawkinge, but runs out of fuel and force-lands on Herne Bay golf course.^[20]

1 June

First Douglas R3D-1 for the U.S. Navy, BuNo 1901, c/n 606, crashes at Mines Field, Los Angeles, California before delivery. The Navy later acquires the privately owned DC-5 prototype, c/n 411, from William E. Boeing as a replacement.^[21]

7 June

Edgar James "Cobber" Kain, the RAF's top ace (17 confirmed kills during the Battle of France), due to return to England after a combat tour in France this date, is seen off from the airfield at Échemines by squadron mates who bid him farewell as he takes off in his Hurricane to fly to Le Mans to collect his kit. Unexpectedly, Kain begins a "beat-up" of the airfield, performing a series of low level aerobatics in Hawker Hurricane Mk. I, L1826. Commencing a series of "flick" rolls, on his third roll, the ace misjudges his altitude and hits the ground heavily in a level attitude. Kain dies when he is pitched out of the cockpit, striking the ground 27 m in front of the exploding Hurricane. Kain is buried in Choloy Military Cemetery.^[22]

10 June 

An ex-U.S. Navy Curtiss SBC-4 Helldiver being flown from the Curtiss plant at Buffalo to an intermediate stop at Albany, New York, crashes in bad weather near Mariaville Lake late this date, killing pilot Allan B. Lullman, of St. Louis.^[23] The airframe, one of 50 slated for delivery to France, was en route to Canada for overseas shipment out of Halifax aboard the French aircraft carrier Béarn. The fall of France before delivery diverts Béarn to Forte du France, Martinique, Lesser Antilles, where she rides out the first part of the war. The 112 aircraft she carries^[24] are put ashore where they go to ruin.

17 June 

Two twin-engine Douglas B-18A Bolo bombers, 37-576, piloted by 1st Lt. P. Burlingame, and 37-583, flown by 2d Lt. R. M. Bylander,^[25] of the 9th Bomb Group, were flying out of Mitchel Field, New York, on a training exercise. While maneuvering at 2,500 feet, one plane passed too close under the other and the two collided. Fuel, metal, glass and other debris rained down onto newly built homes in Bellerose, New York, killing all 11 crew on board. One woman, inside a home set afire, succumbed to burn injuries the next day.^[26]

21 June

Seventh (of 13 ordered) Bell YFM-1 Airacuda, 38–492, crash lands in farmer's field at East Aurora, New York, before acceptance by U.S. Army Air Corps when aircraft will not recover from spin, rudder locks, pilot cuts power prior to bail-out. After Bell test pilot Brian Sparks departs airframe, suffering severe injuries (two broken legs) when he strikes vertical fin and horizontal stabilizer, fellow Bell pilot John Strickler regains rudder control, dead-sticks the pusher twin into field ~15 SE of Buffalo. Sparks parachutes down, Strickler uninjured, airframe written-off.^[27]

27 June

The second prototype Heinkel He 177A V2, wrk. nr. 0000002, CB+RQ,^[17] suffers in flight break up from control flutter.^[16] Test pilot Rickert and three crew fail to bail out and are killed.^[28] The tail surfaces of the third, fourth and fifth prototypes nearing completion are then enlarged.

29 June

209 Sqn loses a second Saro Lerwick flying boat, L7261, when Flg. Off. Pain returns to Oban from escort mission due to severe weather. While taxying cross wind to the moorings, the starboard float breaks loose, flying boat capsizes, sinking within 30 minutes at RAF Oban in Ardantrive Bay. Airframe is beached four days later and salvage operations begin, but L7261 never flies again.^[29]

30 June

French Glenn Martin 167, aircraft No.4, from Casablanca to Gibraltar, is shot down by Spanish anti-aircraft fire. Four Frenchmen, Captain Vendeuvre, Lt. Weill, Lt Berger and Lt. Plessix killed.

9 July

During shakedown cruise of the aircraft carrier USS Wasp off Cuba, one of her Vought SB2U-2 Vindicator scout bombers, BuNo 1358,^[30] crashes two miles (3 km) from the ship. Wasp goes to flank speed to close, as does the plane-guarding destroyer USS Morris. The latter's boats recover items from the plane's baggage compartment, but the plane sinks with its two crew.

11 July

On its fifth test flight, the prototype Vought XF4U-1 Corsair, BuNo 1443, runs low on fuel, Vought test pilot Boone Guyton attempts landing on rain-slicked fairway of the Norwich, Connecticut golf course, crashes into woods, flips over, slides into tree stump, comes to rest in ravine with wing and empennage torn off, propeller damage, but pilot unhurt. Vought rebuilds wreck to airborne condition in two months.^[31]

Night of 22/23 July

First-ever combat victory using airborne radar takes place when Fg. Off. Glynn Ashfield, Plt. Off. Geoffrey Morris and Sgt. Reginald Leyland in a Bristol Blenheim, intercept and down a Luftwaffe Dornier Do 17Z in the English Channel off Brighton.^[32]

6 August

Bell XP-39B Airacobra, 38–326, suffers second landing accident when pilot Capt. Ernest K. Warburton,^[33] chief of the Wright Field test unit, on his third landing attempt, pulls back power as he approaches Wright Field, Ohio, at ~106 mph (171 km/h), stalls, and hits ground harder than intended. "The wing structure yielded where the main gear attached, damaging the wing and integral fuel tanks. Damage proved more substantial than first thought. As it turned out, this was the last flight of the XP-39B. Paper work was submitted to survey the airframe 11 days later and final approval was received 27 December 1940. (Air Corps record card for XP-39B, serial number 38-326.) The prototype Airacobra was scrapped."^[34]

8 August

A Heinkel He 111H-4 of 1 Gruppe of Kampfgeschwader 4 (1/KG4), based at Soesterberg, the Netherlands, on a mission to lay mines off Belfast, crashes when the crew becomes lost and collides with the summit of Cairnsmore of Fleet in the Galloway Hills of Scotland, whereupon the ordnance on board explodes, killing the crew. KWF are Leutnant A. Zeiss, 25, Unteroffizier G. T. Von Turckheim, 31, Unteroffizier W. Hajesch, 21, and Unteroffizier W. Mechsner, 23. All crew are buried at Cannock Chase German war cemetery, Staffordshire, England. One of the Junkers Jumo 211 engines is displayed at the Dumfries and Galloway Aviation Museum.^[35]

13 August

Three members of the Australian cabinet, the Chief of the Australian Army's General Staff and six other passengers and aircrew were killed when Lockheed Hudson II, A16-97, which they were travelling in crashed in hilly country about 8 miles from Canberra.^[36]

26 August

Luftwaffe Dornier Do 17Z-2, Werke Nummer 1160, 5K+AR, of 7 Staffel, III Gruppe, Kampfgeschwader 3, is hit by Boulton-Paul Defiants of No. 264 (Madras Presidency) Squadron RAF, that leave both engines dead and the crew wounded^[37] while over Kent during a raid to attack airfields in Essex in the Battle of Britain. Attempts a wheels-up low-tide landing on the Goodwin Sands in the English Channel, according to records obtained by the BBC, sinking to a depth of 50 feet, coming to rest inverted in the Sands off the coast of Deal, Kent. Two of the crew members die on impact, while two others, including the pilot, Feldwebel (Flt. Sgt.) Willi Effmert, are taken prisoner and survive the war. Hidden and preserved by shifting sands, the discovery of the rare bomber is announced 3 September 2010. The airframe was initially found in 2008 when a fishing boat snagged nets on it.^[38][39] In March 2011 sonar images are taken by high-tech sonar equipment, undertaken by a Port of London Authority (PLA) vessel.^[40][41] High-resolution images appear to show that the Do 17, known as the "Flying Pencil", suffered only minor damage, to its forward cockpit and observation windows, and propellers, on impact. "The bomb bay doors were open, suggesting the crew jettisoned their cargo," said Port of London Authority spokesman Martin Garside. As the only known survivor of the type, and in a remarkable state of preservation, the Royal Air Force Museum has launched an appeal to raise funds for the lifting operation of the Dornier 17.^[42][43] In May 2013, the RAF Museum is on site, assembling a special lift to raise the airframe from the seabed, which attempt will probably take place in June. The wings will then be demated from the fuselage and the components moved for chemical stabilization and preservation, a lengthy process expected to cost about a half million pounds.^[44] The Ministry of Defence is responsible for the investigation of all military aircraft crash sites in the United Kingdom (including those situated in UK territorial waters) and has only issued a licence for recovery of the Dornier because it is NOT a war grave. The aircraft's crew of four are all accounted for and no human remains are present in the aircraft.

28 August

On 28 August 1940 Mr. E.G.R. Russell-Stracey, a Hawker test pilot, is killed when his Hurricane Mk II, Z2340, suffered engine failure on taking off for its first flight. At this time Hawker Hurricanes were being made by Vickers Armstrong at their factory in Weybridge, built on the site of the Brooklands race track, now a museum.

29 August

A Grumman F3F-2, BuNo 0976, c/n 374, '2-MF-16', ditches off the coast of San Diego while attempting a landing on USS Saratoga, when pilot, Marine 1st Lieutenant Robert E. Galer, a future general and Medal of Honor recipient, has fuel pump issues.^[45] The fighter is rediscovered by a navy submersible in June 1988, and recovered on 5 April 1991. It was restored at the San Diego Aerospace Museum.^[46]

Grumman F3F-2, BuNo 0976, restored and displayed at the National Museum of Naval Aviation, NAS Pensacola, Florida, after 50 years in the Pacific Ocean off the California coast.

30 August

A Curtiss YP-37, 38–476, of the 22d Pursuit Squadron (Interceptor), 36th Pursuit Group, Langley Field, Virginia, piloted by Homer M. Truitt, is moderately damaged in a ground loop on landing at Langley Field.^[47]

5 September

Flugkapitän Fritz Wendel, Messerschmitt's chief test pilot, performing series of diving trials on Messerschmitt Me 210 V2, Werknummer 0002, WL-ABEO, loses starboard tailplane in final dive, bails out, twin-engined fighter crashing in the Siebentischwald, Augsburg, Germany. This was the first of many losses of the type.^[48]

13 September

Fairey Battle, L5343 of No. 98 Squadron RAF (98 Sqn), the first RAF aircraft to deploy to Iceland on 27 August 1940, comes to an unexpected end on a test flight from Kaldadarnes, Iceland to Akureyri, Iceland when engine quits over remote area, wheels down emergency landing results in gear collapse, but pilot Fg. Off. "Willie" Wilcox and passenger Lt. Col. H. Davies of the Royal Engineers okay. Airframe is finally retrieved in 1972, restored, and is now displayed at the RAF Museum at Hendon, UK.^[49]

19 September

Roald Dahl's Gloster Gladiator Mk.I, K7911,^[50] low on fuel, crashes in the Libyan Desert (a.k.a. Western Desert) at sundown. "The landing gear hit a boulder and collapsed instantly into a pile of twisted metal and rubber, burying the nose of the plane into the ground. He was thrown violently forward against the front of the canopy. His nose was driven back into his face, his skull was fractured, and he was knocked unconscious."^[51][52] A No. 80 Squadron RAF (80 Sqn) report the following day states that "P/O Dahl posted to this squadron from T.U.R.P. for flying duties w.e.f. [with effect from] 20th September. This pilot was ferrying an aircraft from No. 102 Maintenance Unit (102 MU) to this unit, but unfortunately not being used to flying aircraft over the Desert he made a forced landing 2 miles west of Mersa Matruh. He made an unsuccessful forced landing but the aircraft burst into flames. The pilot was badly burned and he was conveyed to an Army Field Ambulance Station."^[53] Haunted by the experience, he pens a slightly fictionalized account, "Shot Down Over Libya", (Hawker Hurricane instead of a Gladiator; enemy fighter attack rather than low fuel), which is published in the 1 August 1942 issue of The Saturday Evening Post, credited only to "an RAF pilot at present in this country for medical reasons."^[53] This marks the beginning of his writing career.^[51][52]

20 September

Svenska Flygvapnet (Swedish Air Force) Seversky B6, 7203, '16', of Flotilla 6 (F6), written off during landing at Karlsborg at 10:25 by neophyte pilot who attempts a go-around without applying power and stalls. Pilot G. B. H. Lindstrom killed, flight cadet A. G. Nystrom in the rear seat is severely injured. Aircraft stricken 22 October 1940.^[54]

Two Avro Ansons after emergency landing in Brocklesby, New South Wales, 29 September 1940.

29 September

Avro Ansons, L9162 and N4876, of No. 2 Service Flying Training School RAAF (2 OTU RAAF) collide in mid-air becoming locked together. A successful emergency landing was made at Brocklesby, New South Wales. L9162 became a ground instructional airframe, while N4876 was repaired and returned to service.^[55]

30 September

Two Messerschmitt Bf 109Es of II./JG 2 collide on take-off from Octeville, France, killing both pilots.^[56]

Mid-October

A hangar fire aboard HMS Illustrious, which damages or destroys several Fairey Swordfish, forces postponement of an attack on the Regia Marina at Taranto, originally planned to take place on 21 October, Trafalgar Day, until the night of 11–12 November, now known as the Battle of Taranto.^[57]

18 October

First Bell YP-39 Airacobra, 40-027, crashes near Buffalo, New York on eighth flight when only one main landing gear extends. Bell test pilot Bob Stanley bails out at 7,000 feet (2,100 m) rather than try a wheels-up landing, suffering only minor injuries when he lands in a tree. Examination of the wreckage shows that universal joints attached to the torque tubes driving the main gear struts had failed, as had limit switches placed in the retraction mechanism to shut off the electrical motors.^[58][59][60]

10 November 

Three die in the crash of North American O-47A, 37–320, of the 1st Observation Squadron, based at Marshall Field, Fort Riley, Kansas,^[33] when it strikes a hillside 10 miles S of Centerville, Alabama, in a rainstorm and burns. Piloted by Lt. Richard R. Wilson, assigned at Fort Riley, the other victims are Lt. Benjamin F. Avery, of Aurora, New York, and Pvt. G. A. Catlin, assigned at Maxwell Field, Alabama. The flight left Candler Field at Atlanta at 1545 hrs. bound for Maxwell Field at Montgomery. "N. B. Poe, who lives two miles from the crash scene, pulled the three bodies from the burning wreckage and called air corps officials at Maxwell field [sic], Ala."^[61]

16 November

Dornier Do 26 V5 was lost on 16 November 1940, killing its crew, after being launched at night from the catapult ship Friesenland^[62] in Brest, France.

19 November

First Republic YP-43 Lancer, 39–704, caught fire in air over Farmingdale, Long Island, New York, pilot bailed out.

20 November

Prototype North American NA-73X Mustang, NX19998,^[63] c/n 73-3097,^[64] first flown 26 October 1940 by test pilot Vance Breese, crashes this date,^[65] on its fifth flight.^[66] According to P-51 designer Edgar Schmued, the NA-73 was lost because test pilot Paul Balfour refused, before a high-speed test run, to go through the takeoff and flight test procedure with Schmued while the aircraft was on the ground, claiming "one airplane was like another." After making two high speed passes over Mines Field, he forgot to put the fuel valve on "reserve" and during third pass ran out of fuel. Emergency landing in a freshly plowed field caused wheels to dig in, aircraft flipped over, airframe was not rebuilt, the second aircraft being used for subsequent testing.^[67]

21 November

Saro Lerwick, L7251, of 209 Sqn, is caught in a gale while moored on Loch Ryan, entrance hatches and front turret apparently not properly secured allow water to pour in, flying boat sinks.^[68]

6 December

Saro Lerwick, L7255, of 209 Sqn, moored at RAF Stranraer, is caught in a gale, one wingtip float breaks off, flying boat capsizes, sinks.^[69]

13 December 

Two Northrop Nomad Mk. Is, of No. 3 Training Command RCAF, ex-USAAC Northrop A-17As, 93 of which were originally purchased by France but taken up by Great Britain after the Germans overran the continent in November 1940, with 32 transferred to Canada, collide in a blizzard whilst on a search and rescue mission for a third missing Nomad. One airframe, 3521, along with the remains of her crew, is discovered in Lake Muskoka, near Bracebridge, Ontario, by divers of the Ontario Provincial Police in July 2010. "A subsequent dive by the Royal Canadian Navy's Fleet Diving Unit (Atlantic) in October, 2012 saw the recovery of the two crewmen, RCAF pilot LAC Ted Bates and RAF pilot Flt.Lt. Pete Campbell, their personal effects, and three .303 machine guns."^[70][71] On 30 October 2014, recovery of the remarkably intact airframe, although in five major pieces, was begun by the National Air Force Museum of Canada, at Trenton, Ontario, where it is anticipated that the rare aircraft will undergo a full restoration. The aircrew received "a proper military funeral, which their families held in Guelph, Ontario," on 13 September 2013.^[70][72] The crew of the other Nomad involved in this accident, 3512, were Sergeant L. Francis and William J. P. Gosling. "Nomad 3512 and its pilot and co-pilot were located shortly after the crash."^[73] They were looking for Nomad 3503, flown solo by L.A.C. Clayton Peder Hopton, who is buried at Cabri, Saskatchewan. The wreckage of 3503 found in a swamp five miles SE of Camp Borden, Ontario, on 14 December.

16 December

The Grumman XF4F-3 Wildcat prototype, BuNo 0383, c/n 356, modified from XF4F-2, is lost at Norfolk, Virginia^[74] under circumstances that suggested that the pilot may have been confused by poor lay-out of fuel valves and flap controls and inadvertently turned the fuel valve to "off" immediately after takeoff rather than selecting flaps "up". This was the first fatality in the type.^[15]

18 December

Boeing Y1B-17 Flying Fortress, 36–157, c/n 1981, formerly of the 2d Bomb Group, Langley Field, Virginia, transferred to the 93d Bomb Squadron, 19th Bomb Group, March Field, California, in October 1940, crashed E of San Jacinto, California, 3.5 miles NNW of Idyllwild, while en route to March Field.^[75] Pilot was John H. Turner.^[33] "Six officers and men of the army's 93rd bombardment pursuit squadron [sic], March field [sic], were killed yesterday when their 22-ton B-17 four-motored bomber crashed and burned at the 6,700-foot snow line of Marion mountain in the San Jacinto range. Four bodies were hurled from the giant flying fortress as it plunged into the boulder-strewn, heavily-wooded mountain slope, three miles northeast of Idyllwild, in the San Bernardino national forest. The victims: First Lieut. Harold J. Turner, pilot, Riverside, formerly of Corning, Iowa. First Lieut. Donald T. Ward, co-pilot, Riverside, formerly of West Los Angeles. First Lieut. Vernon McCauley, navigator, Riverside. Staff Sergt. Thomas F. Sweet, engineer, Riverside. Corp. Frank J. Jirak, assistant engineer, Salem, Ore. Pvt. James C. Sessions, radioman, Bisbee, Ariz. At 10:45 a.m. yesterday the plane appeared to encounter mechanical trouble. Ground witnesses at the Idyllwild inn and at Pine Cove, nearby, reported that it circled several times, its engines seemingly missing. Clouds closed in on the bomber at 8,000 feet, and in a few minutes, it roared earthward at full throttle. A rescue party arrived 20 minutes later from Pine Cove to find the plane a mass of red-hot, fused metal. Two bodies were in the smashed fuselage. The 105-foot [sic] wing had sheared through a big pine tree. Residents of the two resort towns said they had heard a loud explosion, indicating that the gasoline tanks ignited with the impact. The noise was heard as far as six miles. The crash occurred approximately 400 yards from the Banning-Idyllwild highway, near the home of Harris Marchant, writer. It was the first accident to one of the new Boeing four-motored bombers since the army air corps adopted them as standard equipment, although the original model smashed up at Dayton, Ohio, in 1935. Members of an army board of inquiry said at least two, and possibly three or all of the four motors were cut out at the time of the crash, although there was no apparent indication that any of the occupants had attempted to bail out. They expressed the theory that pilot Turner was attempting to shift gasoline tanks when he ran into a cloud bank that concealed the side of the mountain. Fliers in the squadron described the wrecked bomber as a ship which had caused difficulty in stalled motors twice in flights when it was stationed at Langley Field, Virginia. Lieutenant Turner was an army air corps reseve veteran of six years experience and was on a practice flight with the B-17. March field [sic] operates 36 of these bombers. With a full load, they can climb to 30,000 feet. Lieutenant Turner is survived by his widow, Kathryn, Riverside, and his father, J. H. Turner, Corning, Iowa. He was the nephew of former Iowa Gov. Dan W. Turner. Co-Pilot Ward leaves a widow in Riverside and a father, E. A. Ward, West Los Angeles. Navigator McCauley leaves his widow, Mrs. Virginia McCauley, Riverside. Sweet's widow, Mrs. Anna M. Sweet, lives in Riverside. Jirak's father, Frank J. Jirak, lives in Salem, Ore., and Session's mother lives in Bisbee, Ariz."^[76]

19 December 

North American Harvard II, RCAF 2722, c/n 65-2455, on a delivery flight to Moose Jaw, Canada,^[77] flown by North American Aviation ferry pilot Clyde L. "Bud" Hussey, 30, goes missing near Kingston, California, on the Mojave Desert, out of a flight of four aircraft, between Palmdale, California, and Las Vegas, Nevada. After departing Palmdale at 0730 hrs., the flight encounters clouds and fog east of Baker, and after clearing Mountain Pass, the other pilots notice that Hussey is no longer in the formation. When he fails to arrive at Las Vegas, he is posted as missing.^[78] An extensive search for the yellow-painted aircraft turns up nothing until 16 January 1942, when cowboy Pat Frank, rounding up cattle for the Williams Ranch, discovers the wreckage in the Ivanpah Valley. Apparently, the pilot had followed the wrong road and flew into rising ground of "the cloud-obscured east flank of the rugged Ivanpah Mountains."^[79][80]

31 December

A Vickers Wellington IA bomber, N2980, R for Robert, of No. 20 OTU, out of RAF Lossiemouth, suffers starboard engine failure at 8,000 feet in a snow storm while on a training flight over Great Glen, Scotland. Pilot, Squadron Leader Marlwood-Elton orders crew of six trainee navigators and the tail gunner to bail-out, all escaping safely save the gunner whose chute fails to open. Marlwood-Elton and P/O Slatter (also reported as Slater) then notice a body of water and they successfully ditch in the northern basin of Loch Ness near the A82 road, both escaping before the airframe sinks. Discovered by side-scan sonar in 1976, the rare Wellington is raised on 21 September 1985, and restored at Weybridge where she was built. Now on display at the Brooklands Museum, it is one of only two known intact Wellingtons.^[81]

1941

1941

Sole Kellett XR-2, 37–378, modified from a Kellett YG-1C autogiro, is destroyed at Bolling Field^[82] in ground test by rotor-ground resonance problem – never flew. Funding transferred to Kellett XR-3.

5 January

Renowned aviator Amy Johnson takes off from an overnight stopover at RAF Squire's Gate near Blackpool in Airspeed Oxford V3540 on an Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) delivery flight from RAF Prestwick, Scotland to RAF Kidlington, in Oxfordshire. In bad weather Johnson becomes lost and was next seen more than three hours later over the Thames Estuary. Johnson parachuted into the water, where the barrage balloon tender Hazlemere, spotting her descent, hurries to pick her up. By the time the vessel reaches Johnson she is exhausted and unable to grab the line thrown to her. An officer from the tender, Lt.Cmdr. Walter Fletcher, dives into the sea to help, but numbed by the cold Johnson sinks beneath the surface. Johnson's body is never recovered. Fletcher succumbs to the cold and also dies. Johnson had made headlines in 1930 when she had become the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia.^[83]

7 January

Saro Lerwick flying boat, L7262, of 209 Sqn is lost when pilot Flt. Lt. Spotswood is unable to take off near Stranraer, Scotland. After a long take off run, the hull strikes a floating obstacle and rapidly takes on water, sinks. Two crew are trapped and drown.^[69]

16 January 

Douglas B-18A Bolo, 37-523,^[84] of the 73d Bombardment Squadron (Medium),^[85] 17th Bombardment Group (Medium), departs McChord Field, Washington, at 1020 hrs., on a training flight to the Muroc bombing range in the Mojave Desert of California, with seven on board. When it fails to make a scheduled stop at McClellan Field, Sacramento, California, concern was raised that it was down, somewhere north of the California state line.^[86] "The most definite report came tonight [17 January] from B. M. Oyster, employment and personnel manager of the Weyerhaeuser Timber Co., who came personally to McChord field to relate the story. Oyster said a timber crew foreman reported that a big plane appeared directly over the heads of a startled logging crew, in the Toutle river area, out of a cloud bank and barely skimmed the tops of 200-foot high trees." Before they could recover from their surprise or definitely identify the plane, it disappeared into another cloud bank. "Oyster informed officers that the Toutle river forks near the point, and continued flight up either bank would have meant disaster at the level at which the plane was last seen, flying southward. One fork leads towards Mt. St. Helens, a 9,000 foot peak, and the other ends in a deep ravine."^[87] Hindered by bad weather and poor visibility, the air search is suspended after two weeks, until spring. Finally, on 3 February, two civilians notify the Army that they have discovered the wrecked bomber just below the summit of Deschutes Peak (elevation 4,322 feet), in the Snoqualmie National Forest, ~eight miles NW of Morton, Washington. "Harry Studhalter, 28, and Tom Harper, 39, woodsmen, said they sighted the wreckage on the 'little Rockies lookout' near Huckleberry mountain, in the foothills of Mt. Rainier, through binoculars."^[88] The wreck site is reached and bodies recovered on 4 February. A flight chronometer indicates that the crash occurred at 1051 hrs. Killed are 1st Lt. Robert M. Krummes, 27, Boise, Idaho, pilot; 2d Lt. Charles Thomas Nielson, 22, Eau Claire, Wisconsin, co-pilot; 2d Lt. John E. Geis, 27, Seattle, Washington, navigator; Sgt. Paul L. Maas, 25, Quincy, Illinois, bombardier; Sgt. Leo H. Neitling, 28, Scio, Oregon, radio operator; T/Sgt. Hearn A. Davis, 30, Tacoma, Washington, flight engineer; and 1st Lt. Lewis E. Mackay, 27 Lincoln, Nebraska, passenger.^[89][90]

29 January

Brewster F2A-2 Buffalo, BuNo 1407, accepted 4 October 1940, to BatFor, San Diego, 14 October 1940; to VF-2, assigned to the USS Lexington, 15 October 1940, '2-F-2'; is lost prior to embarkation when a squadron pilot engaged in dive-bombing practice out of Pearl Harbor, H.I., loses both ailerons during 6G pull-out from what was claimed to be a 400 mph (643 km/h) 45-degree angle dive. With little control remaining, pilot successfully bails out.^[91] SOC 31 January 1941 with 132 hours on airframe.^[92]

Post-January

Prototype Tupolev ANT-58, also known as Samolet 103 (aircraft 103), first of what became the Tupolev Tu-2, crashes after uncontrollable fire in problematic starboard Mikulin AM-37 engine. Pilot Mikhail A. Nyutikov and observer A. Akopyan bail out, but Akopyan's parachute lines entangle in tail structure and he is killed.^[93]

4 February

Armstrong Whitworth Albemarle prototype, P1360, written off in crash landing on test flight out of RAF Boscombe Down when six-foot square panel is lost from port wing surface. John Hayhurst bails out successfully, but flight test engineer Norman Sharp's parachute entangles with tail structure and he releases his chute just before touchdown on a flat ridge on top of a quarry SE of Crewkerne, Somerset, landing at ~150 mph (240 km/h; 130 kn) in snow and bushes, surviving with serious injuries. Pilot Brian Huxtable survives crash landing.^[94]

5 February

Focke Achgelis Fa 223 V1 crashes when right rotor pylon breaks off in flight. Test pilot Carl Bode (25 February 1911 – 16 November 2002) successfully parachutes from the stricken helicopter (quite possibly the first helicopter parachute attempt ever), but passenger Dr. Ing. Heinz Baer is killed in the crash.^[95]

6 February

Boeing B-17B Flying Fortress, 38–216, c/n 2009,^[96] crashes near Lovelock, Nevada while en route to Wright Field, Ohio, killing all eight on board. Pilot Capt. Richard S. Freeman had shared the 1939 MacKay Trophy for the Boeing B-15 flight from Langley Field, Virginia via Panama and Lima, Peru at the request of the American Red Cross, for delivering urgently needed vaccines and other medical supplies in areas of Chile devastated by an earthquake. General Order Number 10, dated 3 March 1943, announces that the advanced flying school being constructed near Seymour, Indiana is to be named Freeman Field in honor of the Hoosier native.^[97] Ref The World War II Heritage of Ladd Field, CEMML, Colorado State University- Chapter 4.0 Cold Weather Test – page 22; "One of the B-17s was lost in a February crash that took the lives of the eight men on board. They had been en route to Wright Field via Sacramento, carrying records and reports of the station. The loss of this crew weighed heavily on the small contingent at Ladd who were weathering the first winter of operations. Roads on Ladd Field were later named for the some of these crew members: Freeman, Ketcham, Whidden, Trainer, Gilreath, Davies, and Applegate." Lost aboard 38–216 was Captain Richard S. Freeman of Indiana, 1Lt. Edward W. Ketcham (Home of Record Unknown), Sergeant Everett R. Crabb of Harrisburg, Illinois, Sergeant Joseph Pierce Davies, Jr. of Ohio, Technical Sergeant E.H. Gilreath of Virginia, Sergeant Elmer S. Trainer of California, and Sergeant Frank C. Whidden of Florida.

8 February

Prototype Curtiss XSB2C Helldiver, BuNo 1758, suffers engine failure just prior to landing at Buffalo, New York, and fuselage is heavily damaged. Repaired.^[98]

Wreckage of Hudson III, T9449, in Banting Memorial Park.

20 February 

RAF Lockheed Hudson III, T9449, one of five on a delivery flight to England, departs Gander, Newfoundland, at 1958 hrs., but over the Atlantic Ocean, ~50 miles from Gander, the oil supply to the starboard engine fails. Pilot, Captain Joseph Mackey, attempts to shut down the engine and feather the propeller but finds that it will not feather. While attempting a return to the departure airport the port engine suffers the same failure. Aircraft crashes into trees on the side of Seven Mile Pond, ~16 km (10 miles) from Musgrave Harbour, killing navigator William Bird and radio operator William Snailham. Passenger Sir Frederick Banting, Nobel Laureate, and one of the two co-discoverers of insulin, suffers fatal injuries, dying the next day.^[99][100] Wreckage sighted from the air on 25 February and Capt. Mackey rescued by a party from Musgrave Harbour.^[101] In 1990, the wreckage is airlifted to Musgrave Harbour and placed in Banting Memorial Park, and in 1991 the Banting Interpretation Centre is built, with another Hudson displayed near T9449's remnants.^[102]

22 February

Saro Lerwick flying boat, L7263, of 209 Sqn, piloted by Plt. Off. Fyfe, goes missing. Extensive air and sea searches turn up no trace, nor any of 14 on board, including Wing Commander Bainbridge. A new C.O., Wing Commander MacDermott, is appointed a few days later.^[69]

25 February

Douglas B-18 Bolo, 36–446, c/n 1747, formerly of the 11th Bombardment Group Heavy (H), crashes due to main bearing failure on port engine. The crew was rescued three days later.^[103] Since then, the aircraft has been sitting in a gulch on Laupahoehoe Nui LLC property, Hamakua, Hawaii.^[104] Pacific Aviation Museum hopes to recover and restore the aircraft.

28 February 

"SAN DIEGO, Calif., Feb. 28, (AP) - Failing to free himself from the training plane he was piloting when it went into a spin, James Spillman, 23, army air corps cadet flyer stationed at Lindbergh field, died in a crash today six miles north of San Diego. William E. Clark, civilian instructor, leaped to safety in a parachute after ordering Spillman to leave the plane. Clark said that he stayed in the ship until he saw that it could not be brought out of the spin."^[105] Ryan PT-20A Recruit, 40-2409, c/n 347, operated by the Ryan School, San Diego, crashed at Kearny Mesa, San Diego.^[106]

4 March

Douglas TBD-1 Devastator, BuNo 0377, assigned to USS Lexington, but operating out of NAS North Island, San Diego, California, on a bombing training flight, suffers engine failure after making a practice drop, and ditches in the Pacific Ocean, sinking in ~100 fathoms ~5 miles W of Mission Beach, California. Pilot 1st Lt. (j.g.) W. A. H. Howland, AOM2c R. Rogers, and AMM3c O. A. Carter successfully deploy dinghy and are rescued after ~30 minutes by light seaplane tender USS Williamson.^[107] Rediscovered in 1996, the location was kept secret as the TBD is considered one of the holy grails of lost Naval Aviation. In February 2011, the National Museum of Naval Aviation at NAS Pensacola, Florida, announced plans to recover and restore the rara avis. Those plans are later canceled when it is decided that the plane is too deteriorated to recover.^[108]

6 March 

"Langley Field, Va. March 6 (AP) – An Army bomber on a training flight crashed in to the shallow waters adjacent to Langley Field today, killing the pilot, 2d Lieut. Barnard P. Smith Jr., 20, of Bartow, Florida. Boats reached the wreckage of the Martin B-10 ship and the body was extricated within a few minutes, but Smith was apparently killed by the impact of his plane with the water."^[109][110] B-10M, 34–91, c/n 622, of the 3d Observation Squadron, stalled and spun in into the Back River.^[111][112]

6 March 

"Honolulu, Hawaii, March 6 (AP) – First Lieut. Brewster Ward, 25 years old, of Buffalo, N.Y., was killed today as his pursuit ship crashed and burned near Haleiwa field, in northern Oahu Island. Ward was based at Wheeler field here. The widow, Barbara, and a son, Brewster Jr., live here."^[113] Ward was flying Curtiss P-36A Hawk, 38–75, when he crashed.^[112][114]

9 March 

At around 7.30 am a Messerschmitt Bf 110 was attempting to shoot a bus^[115] that was en route to Rabat from Nadur on the island of Gozo. In doing so the pilot found himself in a difficult position to maneuver his aircraft away from the oncoming cliff and the plane disintegrated on impact killing both crewmembers on board. Despite this none of the bus passengers were reported injured. This was the first plane crash on the island of Gozo.

21 March

RAF Vickers Virginia Mk.X K2329 of the Parachute section, 13 Maintenance Unit crashes on take-off from RAF Henlow, Bedfordshire.^[116]

24 March

Final Saro Lerwick flying boat loss for 209 Sqn, before transition to Consolidated Catalina, occurs this date when L7252 strikes a powerful wave in bad sea conditions while landing at Pembroke Dock, throwing aircraft up, sinks rapidly, but all crew escapes. Other Lerwicks are transferred to No. 4 Operational Training Unit (4 OTU) for training purposes.^[69]

1 April

Lockheed Hudson NR-X flown by 220 squadron set off from R.A.F. St Eval, Cornwall in the early morning just after midnight. It was transporting one of the first radar for aircraft. It ran out of fuel during the night and crashed outside Maillé, France. Crew, including 755779 Sgt. R. E. Griffiths, survived the crash and found shelter with a family in the town but were later captured. Pilot name was Bob Milton. Co-pilot name was Sgt. Houghton.

16 April

Sole Martin XB-26D Marauder, 40-1380, assigned to the 18th Reconnaissance Squadron, 22d Bomb Group, Langley Field, Virginia, modified to test hot air de-icing equipment, is written off in a landing accident at Langley Field. Pilot was Dwight Divine II.^[117][118]

16 April

Lt. j.g. Yasushi Nikaido, fighter squadron leader of the Imperial Japanese Navy carrier Kaga, survives close call when Mitsubishi A6M, number 140, loses both port and starboard ailerons as well as part of the upper wing surface while performing dive of 550 km/h at 2,300 rpm, but pilot makes skilful emergency landing at Kisarazu Air Field. Accident is reported to Naval Aeronautical Headquarters, the Naval Aeronautical Technical Establishment, and the Yokosuka Air Corps.^[119][120]

17 April

During dive tests to determine why wrinkles are appearing on the surface plates of the wings, Lt. Manbei Shimokawa, squadron leader at Yokosuka Naval Air Corps, is killed in Mitsubishi A6M Model 21, number 135, equipped with balance tabs, when, during pull-out at 1,500 m (4,900 ft) from dive from 4,000 m (13,000 ft), parts are seen by ground observers to depart from the port wing, fighter drops nose, plunges into ten fathoms of water off Natsu Island. The popular pilot is found in the wreckage with "his head entirely crushed into the instrument panel". Aeronautical Technical Establishment investigation reveals that flutter and vibration tests had not simulated the stiffness distribution of actual airframes and that the ailerons and horizontal stabilizers had been torn out. Fighter had previously been assigned to the carrier Akagi.^[121] Shimokawa is posthumously promoted to Lieutenant Commander.^[122]

5 May

Major George Putnam Moody (13 March 1908 – 5 May 1941), an early Air Force pioneer, is killed while flight-testing the first of what will be the Beechcraft AT-10-BH Wichita advanced two-engine training aircraft, Beechcraft Model 25 prototype, at Wichita Army Airfield, Kansas when it stalls/spins shortly^[123] just after takeoff^[124] on its first flight.^[125] The aircraft burns.^[126][127] According to the cutline of an Associated Press wirephoto on page 1 of The Lowell Sun, Lowell, Massachusetts, "The plane side-slipped on the takeoff, plunged to the ground from a height of 100 feet and caught fire."^[128][129] The pilot had arrived at Wichita on Tuesday 29 April from Maxwell Field, Alabama, for the test programme.^[130][131] There appears to be no official accident report for this crash.^[125] Major Moody earned his military wings in 1930 and flew U.S. airmail as a member of the United States Army Air Corps in 1934. Valdosta Airfield, Valdosta, Georgia, opened 15 September 1941, is renamed Moody Army Airfield on 6 December 1941 in honor of Maj. Moody. The AT-10 is used extensively at Moody AAF during World War II.

7 May

The second prototype MiG I-200, fitted with a prototype of the temperamental Mikulin AM-37 engine and first flown on 6 January 1941, experiences severe vibration problems and, despite efforts to cure the problems, it fails during a flight this date, and the airframe is destroyed in the ensuing crash.

10 May

At 2305 hrs. Messerschmitt Bf 110D, Werknr 3868, 'VJ+OQ', appears over Eaglesham, Renfrewshire. Pilot bails out and when challenged by David McLean, Head Ploughman of a local farm, as to whether he is German, the man replies in good English; "Yes, I am Hauptmann Alfred Horn. I have an important message for the Duke of Hamilton". Horn is taken to McLean's cottage where McLean's wife makes a pot of tea, but the German requests only a glass of water. Horn has hurt his back and help is summoned. Local Home Guard soldiers arrive and Horn is taken to their headquarters at the Drill Hall, Busby, East Renfrewshire, near Glasgow. Upon questioning by a visiting Royal Observer Corps officer, Major Graham Donald, Horn repeats his request to see the Duke. Donald recognises "Hauptmann Horn" to be none other than Rudolf Hess. The remains of Hess' Messerschmitt Bf 110 are now in the Imperial War Museum.^[132]

14 May

Grumman XP-50 Skyrocket, 40-3057, crashes into Long Island Sound during first test flight when the starboard turbo-supercharger explodes. Pilot Robert Hall bails out. Built as a company project, it was allocated a USAAF serial, but was destroyed before being taken on charge.^[133][134]

17 May 

A storm line with "cyclonic winds and torrential rains" over Ohio forces down two Air Corps planes within fifteen minutes at widely dispersed locations, killing seven crew. Beechcraft AT-7, 41-1147, c/n 439, of the 55th Support Squadron, Barksdale Field, Louisiana, piloted by Robert Sonenfield,^[135] on a routine navigation flight to Cleveland, strikes a hill eight miles N of Nelsonville, near Carbon Hill,^[136] killing all five aboard. A quarter hour later, North American AT-6 Texan, 40-2159, c/n 59-1985,^[137] from Bolling Field, Washington, D.C.,^[138] crashes 100 miles W near Wilmington, killing two. (Also cited as crashing at Martinsville).^[139] Dead in the AT-7 are Second Lts. William J. Wiandt, of Akron, James Criswell, of Pittsburgh, Robert L. Brown, of Salt Lake City and Denver, Sonenfield, of Lakewood, Ohio, and Sgt. John H. Davis, of Shreveport, Louisiana. Davis' body is found at noon 17 May amidst the widely spread wreckage. Killed in the AT-6 are Capts. Ralph A. Van Derau (or Von Derau),^[140] of Dayton, and John C. Stanley, of Ashland, Kentucky.

17 May 

A Grumman F4F Wildcat, '6-F-2', of VF-6, aborts landing aboard USS Saratoga off the San Diego coast when Ens. H. E. Tennes, Chicago, cannot extend the undercarriage. He ditches in San Diego Bay. Flotation bags deploy to keep the fighter from sinking and it and the pilot are rescued by a Navy crash barge.^[141]

29 May 

HMS Sheffield, operating in the North Atlantic following action with the German battleship Bismarck, catapults two Supermarine Walrus off at 1334, one for an anti-submarine patrol, the other to drop a message aboard flagship HMS Renown, then proceed to Gibraltar to fetch mail, and was, for this reason, carrying as passenger Regulating Petty Officer J. W. B. Marjoram, in addition to crew Lieutenant (P) B. A. H. Brooks, Lieutenant (A) A. Nedwill, and Leading Aircraftman J. A. Saville. Upon reaching Renown four minutes later, pilot Brooks flew over the forecastle, "and then, for reasons only to be guessed at, decided to make a low pass over the stern. In doing so he steered through the hot gases rising from Renown's funnels. The Walrus was flung over by the hot up-blast, out of control, and fell, to strike the stern awning tripod and then crash into the sea. Only RPO Marjoram was picked up by the destroyer Wishart, unfortunately to die of his injuries. His body was taken onto Gibraltar, reached by Force H at 1900." Wrote Sheffield's Captain Charles Larcom, "A young lieutenant, not fourteen days on board, took my aircraft to drop messages on Renown, and cutting a dash, as I guessed he would, killed himself, another young officer and two men. It is too much at once." Sheffield had lost three crew and five seriously injured while duelling with Bismarck.^[142][143]

Early summer

Junkers Ju 288 V4, D-AACS, crashed during one of its first test flights from Dessau, Germany. Fire starts in the port BMW 801MA radial engine nacelle during landing approach at Dessau, burning so fiercely that it cuts through the main longerons, virtually severing the forward fuselage from the center fuselage. Despite severe damage, airframe is rebuilt and resumes flight test programme in late November.^[144]

2 June

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^[145] 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.^[146] 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.

8 June

Fourth prototype Heinkel He 177A Greif V4, wrk.nr. 0000004,^[17] fails to pull out of a moderate dive during dive trials, crashes into the Baltic Sea, off Ribnitz-Damgarten. It was later discovered that the accident had resulted from the malfunctioning of a controllable-pitch propeller control mechanism.^[16]

16 June

USAAF Douglas O-38F, 33–324, c/n 1177, first aircraft to land at Ladd Field, Alaska, in October 1940, this aircraft flew various missions until it crashed on 16 June 1941, at 1450 hrs., due to engine failure about 70 miles (110 km) SE of Fairbanks. Uninjured, the pilot, Lt. Milton H. Ashkins, and his mechanic, Sgt. Raymond A. Roberts, hiked to safety after supplies were dropped to them. The abandoned aircraft remained in the Alaskan wilderness until the National Museum of the United States Air Force arranged for its recovery by a CH-47 Chinook helicopter from Fort Greely on 10 June 1968. Despite being exposed to the Alaskan weather for 27 years, the aircraft remained in remarkable condition. Only the wings required extensive restoration.^[147][148]

21 June

Lieutenant Colonel Elmer D. Perrin, a native Texan, and the district supervisor, Eastern Air Corps Procurement District, since 1939, and Air Corps representative to the Glenn L. Martin Company, Baltimore, Maryland, is killed in a crash during an acceptance test of, Martin B-26 Marauder bomber, 40-1386, near the aircraft plant north of Baltimore, coming down ~1/2 mile after take off in woods and burning. Copilot A. J. Bowman of the Martin Company was also killed. Lt.Col. Perrin was the Air Corps' most experienced B-26 pilot at the time of this accident. In January 1942, Grayson Basic Flying School, Grayson County, Texas, is renamed Perrin Field in his honor, later Perrin Air Force Base.^[149]

22 June

Royal Air Force Boeing Fortress I, AN522, c/n 2054,^[150] of 90 Squadron, RAF Great Massingham, flown by F/O J. C. Hawley, breaks up in mid-air over Yorkshire during a training flight. Single survivor, a medical officer from RAE Farnborough, reports that the bomber entered a cumulo-nimbus cloud at 33,000 feet (10,100 m), became heavily iced-up with hailstones entering through open gunports, after which control was lost, the port wing detached, and the fuselage broke in two at 25,000 feet (7,600 m). Survivor, who was in the aft fuselage, was able to bail out at 12,000 feet (3,700 m).^[151]

26 June 

Luftwaffe Experten Hauptman Lothar Keller (7 April 1914 – 26 June 1941), Gruppenkommandeur of II./JG 3, credited with 23 victories, is killed in a mid-air collision with a Fieseler Fi 156 near Stojanow, Poland.^[152] He was posthumously awarded the Ritterkreuz on 9 July. He had also survived a collision on 11 September 1940 with a squadron mate during a Ju 88 escort mission that forced him to bail out of Bf 109E-1, wrknr. 3882, into the Channel. Keller's colleague succeeded in bringing his damaged machine back to base and alerted the air-sea rescue service, and he was rescued 90 minutes later.^[153]

29 June

Curtiss XSO2C-1 Seagull, BuNo 0950, crashed at NAS Anacostia, Washington, D.C.. To mechanics school at NAS Jacksonville, Florida.

3 July

Royal Air Force Boeing Fortress I, AN528, c/n 2065,^[150] of No. 90 Squadron RAF (90 Sqn) at RAF Polebrook, is destroyed when a troublesome engine catches fire during a late-night ground run.^[154]

3 July

Luftwaffe Experten Major Wilhelm Balthasar, (47 credited kills), Geschaderkommodore of Jagdgeschwader 2, and winner of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, is killed in action on this date when his Messerschmitt Bf 109F-4 suffers failure of a wing and he crashes into Ferme Goset, Wittes, France, near Saint-Omer. The airframe is recovered in March 2004.^[155]

9 July – 10 July

In a span of under three hours, three Junkers Ju 88As suffer controlled flight into terrain in northeast England, believed to be due to a British radio counter-measure 'Meacon' which falsifies German navigational beacon signals and caused the planes to fly headlong into coastal hills. The first Ju 88A comes in from the sea in mist and flies into the ground at Speeton near Bridlington at 2348 hrs. All crew KWF. At 0006 hrs., another Junkers flies into a cliff at Cliff Farm, Staithes, Yorkshire, in bad weather, killing all crew. A third bomber comes in from the sea in mist and flies into the ground at a shallow angle at Speeton near Bridlington at 0120 hrs. The aircraft is burnt by the crew who are all captured.^[156]

15 July 

A Heinkel He.111 bomber, DA+AZ, of Luftwaffe flight school FFS (C) 12, goes out of control while returning to Prague Ruzyně Airport, Prague (Hlavní město Praha), Czechoslovakia, and crashes into a house at 975 Novotny Street in the village of Jeneč. Airframe destroyed.^[157] Two pilots, a student and instructor Marahrens Hans Otto Herbst, killed, but sole occupant of the house, railwayman Mr. Rufr, Spice, survives. Luftwaffe pays for identical rebuild of the destroyed home.

23 July 

While deployed to Alpena, Michigan, for a gunnery exercise, Lt. James R. Taylor of the 71st Pursuit Squadron, flying Lockheed YP-38 Lightning, 39-695, of the 27th Pursuit Squadron, 1st Pursuit Group,^[158] suffers a port engine fire on takeoff from Selfridge Field^[159] which causes his fighter to strike pine trees. The pilot dies of his injuries a few days later. 71st FS history incorrectly lists accident date as 11 May 1941.^[160]

7 August

Bruno Mussolini, the son of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini and commander of the 274a Squadriglia (274th Squadron), was piloting one of the prototypes of the "secret" Piaggio P.108B bomber, MM22003,^[161] near the San Giusto Airport in Pisa. He flew too low and crashed into a house.^[162] The cockpit section separated from the rest of the aircraft and although the aircraft did not catch fire, it was nevertheless totally destroyed in the impact. Five members of the crew were injured and three died, including Bruno. Benito Mussolini rushed to the Santa Chiara Hospital to be at the side of his dead son.^[163]

21 August

Twenty-four-year-old Lt. Eugene M. Bradley, of Antlers, Oklahoma, assigned to the 64th Pursuit Squadron (Interceptor), 57th Pursuit Group (Interceptor), is killed while engaged in a dogfight training drill with Frank Mears, commander of the 64th. Lt. Bradley's Curtiss P-40C, 41-13348,^[164] spins out of a tight turn and spirals into a grove of trees 1 mile W of Windsor Locks Army Air Base,^[165] Windsor Locks, Connecticut, the first fatality at the new base. Following his funeral in Hartford, Lt. Bradley's remains are interred at San Antonio National Cemetery in Texas. In January 1942, the War Department formally authorized the field's designation as Bradley Field, as a tribute to the flier's memory, so designated on 20 January.^[166] It is now Bradley International Airport.

27 August

Four Boulton Paul Defiants of No. 256 Squadron RAF on practise formation flight, on NE heading a little W of Blackpool at 2,000 feet (610 m), break formation – right into a trio of Blackburn Bothas of No.3 School of General Reconnaissance, flying NW at 1,500 feet (460 m). First two Defiants avoid Bothas, but third off the break, N1745, 'J-TP', strikes one Botha, L6509, cutting it in two, and losing one of its own wings. Botha comes down on ticket office of Blackpool Central railway station, starting a large petrol-fed fire. The Defiant impacts on a private home at No. 97 Reads Avenue. Thirteen killed outright, including all four aircrew, 39 others injured. Of 17 detained in hospital, five later died. All civilian casualties were visitors to the seaside resort, except for one occupant of the house on Reads Avenue. This accident caused more casualties than all the enemy air raids on Blackpool and The Fylde during the entire war.^[167] https://web.archive.org/web/20080418232602/http://web.ukonline.co.uk/lait/site/Botha-Defiant.htm

4 September;

RAF Vickers Virginia Mk.X J7434 of the Parachute section, 13 Maintenance Unit undershoots on landing at RAF Henlow, Bedfordshire and is declared Cat M.^[116]

3 October

Heinkel He 177A Greif V1, wrk. nr. 0000001, CB+RP, is destroyed on landing,^[16] when both main gear struts are sheared at the mounting points.^[168]

14 October

First accident involving Saro Lerwick flying boat assigned to No. 4 Operational Training Unit occurs when L7268 dives into the sea near Tarbat Ness following failure of the port engine. Type could not maintain altitude on single powerplant. Six crew killed, three recovered alive.^[69]

20 October

A Messerschmitt Bf 109F–2, Werk Nr. 12764, previously flown by Rolf Pingel (1 October 1913 – 4 April 2000), a German Luftwaffe experten (ace) and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, captured on 10 July 1941 when Pingel was forced to crash land in England near St Margaret's at Cliffe after being hit by fire from a British Short Stirling bomber that he was pursuing, returned to flying condition by the RAF and allocated the serial ES906, crashes this date near Fowlmere, killing Polish pilot F/O J. Skalski.^[169]

21 October

First prototype Saro Lerwick, L7248, on strength with the Marine Aircraft Experimental Establishment, crashes into hill at Faslane, probably as a result of engine failure, seven crew killed.^[170]

25 October 

Luftwaffe experten Hauptmann Franz von Werra (21 kills) takes off from Katwijk, Netherlands, in Bf 109F-4 W. Nr. 7285 of I./JG 53 on a practice flight. His aircraft suffers a complete engine failure and crashes into the North Sea N of Vlissingen. Werra is presumed killed, though his body is never found. Werra is generally regarded as the only Axis prisoner of war to succeed in escaping from Canadian custody and returning to Germany.^[171] Werra's story was the subject of the 1957 film The One That Got Away starring Hardy Krüger as Franz von Werra. The film was based on a book by Kendall Burt and James Leasor published in 1956.

2 November

Wisconsin-native Lieutenant Thomas "Bud" L. Truax is killed, along with his wingman, Lt. Russell E. Speckman, in a Curtiss P-40 Warhawk training accident during poor weather in San Anselmo, California. In the late afternoon, San Anselmo residents are startled when two low-flying Curtiss P-40C Warhawks, 41-13375 and 41-13454, roar up the valley at just above roof level and crash into the east side of Bald Hill just shy of the peak at 1740 hrs. It was almost dark, was misty and they were under a low cloud ceiling. They were critically low on fuel and part of a larger training group that had gotten separated. They were under the wintertime marine layer of low clouds that are common in the Marin County area, searching for nearby Hamilton Field to land.^[172][173] Madison Army Air Field, Wisconsin, is named Truax Field in his honor in 1942. A third pilot, Lt. Walter V. "Ramblin" Radovich,^[174] flying 41-13392, had left the formation over San Rafael, almost hit the city courthouse on 4th Street, circled the Forbes Hill radio beacon (37°58'44.73"N,122°32'50.78"W), clipped a tree and then turned northeast, towards Hamilton Field. Unsure of what the oncoming terrain might be and critically low on fuel, he decides to climb up though the typically thin marine cloud layer to 2500 ft, trim the airplane for straight and level flight and bail out. According to USAAF accident reports, his left leg was broken when exiting the plane and he parachuted down, landing near Highway 101 in Lucas Valley reportedly near where Fireman's Fund / Marin Commons is currently located (38° 1'10.66"N, 122°32'29.36"W). Ironically, after Lt. Radovich bailed out, the airplane slowly descended back down through the clouds and made a relatively smooth "gear up" landing. All aircraft were of the 57th Pursuit Group (Interceptor), on a cross-country flight from Windsor Locks Army Air Field, Windsor Locks, Connecticut, to McChord Field, Washington.

4 November

Tail section of Lockheed YP-38 Lightning, 39–689, separates in flight over Glendale, California, Lockheed Lightning crashes inverted on house at 1147 Elm Street, killing Lockheed test pilot Ralph Virden. Home owner survives, indeed, sleeps right through the crash.^[175]

11 November

Saro Lerwick flying boat, L7257, of No. 4 OTU, sinks at mooring, Invergordon, when caught in a gale.^[69]

17 November

Northrop A-17, 35-112,^[176] from Albuquerque Army Air Base, NM crashed in Bear Canyon, Sandia Mountains. Killed were Geldon T Miller, 2nd Lt, and Howard L Edwards S/Sgt, 38th Reconnaissance Squadron.^[177]

17 November 

Gregory Boyington, checking out in Curtiss P-40 Tomahawk, P-8102, of the American Volunteer Group, at Kyedaw, Burma, overrevs the engine while recovering from a potential ground-loop upon landing, doing unsuspected internal damage to the Allison V-1710 engine. When pilot Jim Cross takes it up later in the morning, the engine throws a rod and begins burning, and he force lands in a clearing. The P-40 is written off and used for spare parts.^[178]

19 November

North American P-64, 41-19086, assigned to the 66th Air Base Squadron, Luke Field, Arizona, one of six NA-68s ordered by the Royal Thai Air Force which were seized before export by the US government in 1941, after the Franco-Thai War and growing ties between Thailand and the Empire of Japan, crashes and burns 20 miles NW of Luke Field after a stall/spin, killing pilot Charles C. Ball.^[179][180] These aircraft, designated P-64s, were used by the USAAC as unarmed fighter trainers.

22 November

Luftwaffe experten Werner Mölders, traveling as a passenger in a Heinkel He 111, bearing Geschwaderkennung code '1G+TH', of Kampfgeschwader 27 "Boelcke" from the Crimea to Germany to attend the funeral of his superior, Ernst Udet, who had committed suicide, is killed during an attempted landing at Breslau during a thunderstorm when the aircraft crashed at 1130 hrs. Near Breslau, the port engine failed and the crew tried to land at the nearest available airfield, Schmiedefelde. At low altitude, the second engine cut and the He 111 hit the ground near Martin Quander Farm at N°132 Flughafenstrasse.^[181] Mölders, pilot Oberleutnant Kolbe and flight engineer Oberfeldwebel Hobbie were killed. Major Dr. Wenzel and radio operator Oberfeldwebel Tenz survived the crash landing. Dr. Wenzel sustained a broken arm and leg as well as a concussion, and Tenz a broken ankle. Mölders' fatal injuries included a broken back and a crushed ribcage. Accident investigators then and since have speculated whether Mölders would have survived the crash if he had used his seat belt.^[182] In his memory, on 20 December 1941, JG 51 was bestowed the honor name "Mölders".^[183]

26 November

Mitsubishi A6M2, c/n 3372, coded 'V-172', of the 22nd Air Flotilla Fighter Unit, forced-lands on a beach at Leichou Pantao, China, as lost flight of two runs low on fuel. Discovered mostly intact, dismantled and shipped to United States for testing, this was the first of the type to fall into Allied hands. Later test-flown at Eglin Field, Florida, then put on tour as war bond exhibit. Disposition unknown following end of hostilities.^[184]

28 November

First prototype Grumman XTBF-1 Avenger, BuNo 2539, suffers fire in bomb bay during test flight out of Long Island, New York factory airfield, forcing pilot Hobart Cook and engineer Gordon Israel to bail out. (Joe Mizrahi source cites date of accident as 28 August 1941.)^[185][186]

30 November 

The Japanese submarine I-10, patrolling in the South Sea region in advance of the attack on Pearl Harbor, launches a Yokosuka E14Y floatplane on a night air sortie of Suva Bay in the Fiji Islands. It reports sighting no enemy in the harbor but then fails to return to the sub. The I-10 searches for three days but fails to find the scout.^[187]

11 December

American John Gillespie Magee, Jr., serving with newly formed No. 412 Squadron RCAF at RAF Digby on 30 June 1941, is killed at the age of 19, while flying Supermarine Spitfire AD291 'VZ-H', in a mid-air collision with an Airspeed Oxford trainer from RAF Cranwell, flown by Leading Aircraftman Ernest Aubrey. The aircraft collided in cloud cover at about 400 feet (120 m) AGL, at 1130 hrs. over the village of Roxholm which lies between RAF Cranwell and RAF Digby, in Lincolnshire. Magee was descending at the time. At the inquiry afterwards a farmer testified that he saw the Spitfire pilot struggling to push back the canopy. The pilot stood up to jump from the plane but was too close to the ground for his parachute to open, and died on impact. Magee is buried at Holy Cross, Scopwick Cemetery in Lincolnshire, England.^[188] On his grave are inscribed the first and last lines from his poem High Flight.

12 December

Major General Herbert A. Dargue, the first recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States), en route to Hawaii to assume command of the Hawaiian Department from Lieutenant General Walter Short, is killed when his Douglas B-18 Bolo, 36–306, of the 31st Air Base Group,^[189] crashes in the Sierra Mountains, S of Bishop, California, in worsening weather conditions. One account states the wreckage not found until March 1942. (Joe Baugher cites discovery date of 5 July 1942.) Besides the general, seven are KWF, his staff, including Colonel Charles W. Bundy, Chief of the War Plans Division,^[190] and crew chiefs, critically needed in the Pacific.^[191] Actual discovery date is 7 May 1942, when George B. Burns, a civilian from Spokane, succeeds in locating the downed ship on Kidd Mountain which his son, Lt. Homer C. Burns, was co-piloting.^[192] Lt, Burns was commanding officer of the 18th Transport Squadron, March Field, California.^[193] Wirephoto shows aircraft was still wearing the red-centered star roundel.^[194] The body of Pvt. Samuel J. Van Hamme, radio operator, of Twin Falls, Idaho, is recovered on 10 May and taken to Big Pine, California, and onto March Field the next day. That is the only body immediately recovered, search efforts hampered by snow pack, and the evidence that the bomber struck initially a quarter mile from where the wreckage comes to rest.^[195] Lt. Burns' body, recovered in June, is cremated in California, with memorial services in Spokane on 18 June.^[193] A Liberty ship converted as an aircraft repair ship will be named Major General Herbert A Dargue.^[196]

18 December

A RAF Lockheed Hudson III, V9032, of No. 6 Operational Training Unit RAF (6 OTU), crashes onto the farmhouse of Quarry Farm at Ingleby Barwick near Thornaby, England, while on a training mission when aircraft stalls soon after takeoff. Plane and house destroyed in inferno. Of the occupants, a farmer, his wife and two of his children are killed, two other children, boys aged nine and eleven escape. The twenty-three-year-old pilot and five other crew members are KWF. The pilot's fiancee offers to adopt the surviving children.^[197] Killed are F/Sgt Albert G. Graves RAF, pilot, 23, of Ashford, Kent; Sgt Richard H. D. Palmer RAFVR, pilot, 27; P/O Michael B. Van Heerdan RAFVR, observer, 23, of Pretoria, Transvaal, South Africa; Sgt Leslie Hogg RAFVR, WOp/AG, 27, of West Croydon, Surrey; Sgt Harry W. G. Hewitt RAFVR, WOp/AG, 21, of Teddington; Mr. James R. Garbutt, 39; Mrs. Violet M. Garbutt, 41; Master Alick R. Garbutt, 8; and Master Charles R. Garbutt, 6, all of Quarry Farm, Ingleby Barwick.^[198]

21 December

Curtiss XSB2C-1 Helldiver, BuNo 1758, destroyed after suffering a structural failure in the starboard wing and tail collapse while pulling out of a dive from 22,000 ft. Pilot Baron T. Hulse bails out. Airframe had previously crashed on 8 February 1941 due to engine failure during approach. Sustained damage to fuselage but was repaired.^[199]

21 December

No. 4 Operational Training Unit RAF (4 OTU) loses third Saro Lerwick flying boat, L7265, when Flg. Off. Armstrong hits water hard near Invergordon while practising landings, wing distortion leads to total loss of control, all crew escape.^[69]

30 December

Nine Martin B-26 Marauder bombers of the 33d Bombardment Squadron, 22d Bombardment Group, depart Muroc Army Air Field for March Field, California, but only eight arrive. In bad weather, B-26, 40–1475, snags a pine tree and crashes on Keller Peak in the San Bernardino Mountains, killing nine. Wreckage not found until 14 January 1942. Late the next day, a recovery team of sheriff officers and members of the 33rd Squadron reaches the site after a four-mile trek with toboggans from Snow Valley. All of the crew had been thrown from the plane except for one, whose body was trapped beneath the fuselage. A plaque was installed on a rock near the crash site in August 1995 commemorating the lost crew.^[200][201] Two of the other Marauders in this flight were deployed onto Midway Island and saw action in the Battle of Midway on 4 June 1942 in a torpedo attack on the IJN Akagi. One was shot down.

1942

January

Lt. Ivan Chisov of the Red Air Force survives miraculous fall from 22,000 feet (6,700 m) without opening his parachute after departing a heavily damaged Ilyushin Il-4 twin-engined medium bomber when he passes out at high altitude. Afraid of being attacked by German fighters, he delayed opening his chute but passed out from the lack of oxygen at high altitude. After achieving a terminal velocity of about 150 mph (240 km/h), he is decelerated when he hits the lip of a snow-covered ravine, sliding down with decreasing speed until he stops at the bottom, suffering a broken pelvis and severe spinal injuries.^[202]

6 January 

Beechcraft F-2 Expeditor, 40-686, c/n 344, based at Felts Field, Spokane, Washington, departs Gray Army Airfield, Fort Lewis, Washington, on a morning flight with three aboard and vanishes. The flight contacted Medford, Oregon, at 1049 hrs., and at 1053 hrs. announced a change in the flight plan. Nothing more was heard. "A ground searching party and four aerial searching parties combed the country as far south as Redding, Calif., but the heavy snowfall apparently concealed all traces of the plane at the time." The wreck is discovered 15 miles SE of Ashland, Oregon,^[203] near the California-Oregon border, on 9 June 1942, and reported by George E. Miller, Oregon state fire patrolman stationed at Ashland. He makes his way to Yreka, California, to report the find and said the plane had apparently struck a peak in the Siskiyou Mountains head-on. Geiger Field officials identify the victims as: First Lieutenant Raymond Ansel Stockwell, 39, whose wife resides at Garden Springs Terrace in Spokane; Technical Sergeant Paul W. Stone, son of Calvin H. Stone, Bayview, Texas; and Technical Sergeant Randolph Jones, son of Joseph E. Jones, 2405 Connor Street, Joplin, Missouri. "Lieutenant Stockwell was identified as a well-known Northwest and Alaska flyer, who had enlisted in the army as a private, taken flight training and received his commission in September 1941."^[204] Wreck is surveyed on 29 September 1942.^[205]

13 January

Heinkel test pilot Helmut Schenk becomes the first person to escape from a stricken aircraft with an ejection seat after the control surfaces of the first prototype Heinkel He 280 V1, DL+AS, ice up and become inoperable. The fighter, being used in tests of the Argus As 014 impulse jets for Fieseler Fi 103 missile development, had its regular Heinkel-Hirth HeS 8A turbojets removed, and was towed aloft from Rechlin, Germany by a pair of Messerschmitt Bf 110C tugs in a heavy snow-shower. At 7,875 feet (2,400 m), Schenk found he had no control, jettisoned his towline, and ejected.^[206] A 12 June 2003 press release by the Martin-Baker Company gives the details of this incident as "The first recorded live emergency ejection took place from a Heinkel 280 on the 13th January 1943. The pilot Herr Schenke, was on a ferry flight." Note the date discrepancy and the different spelling of the pilot's name. The release also states that "It is estimated that some 60 emergency ejections were made in WW2 by Luftwaffe pilots. It is not known how many were successful."^[207]

14 January

A Douglas B-18A Bolo bomber, 37–619,^[208] of the 1st Reconnaissance Squadron, returning from submarine patrol duties went off course due to high winds, darkness and poor radio contact. Instead of landing at Westover Field, later Westover AFB, in Massachusetts they crashed into Mount Waternomee in New Hampshire's White Mountains. 5 of the 7 crew members survived.^[209][210]

16 January

A Douglas TBD-1 Devastator, BuNo 0335,^[211] '6-T-14',^[212] of Torpedo Squadron 6 (VT-6), from USS Enterprise,^[213] piloted by Chief Harold F. Dixon, becomes lost while on patrol, and ditches in the South Pacific when fuel is exhausted. A search the next day fails to spot them. Dixon and his two crew, bombardier Anthony J. Pastula and gunner Gene Aldrich, survive for 34 days in a small rubber raft with no stored food or water, before drifting ashore on the Pukapuka atoll. Dixon is awarded the Navy Cross for "extraordinary heroism, exceptional determination, resourcefulness, skilled seamanship, excellent judgment and highest quality of leadership."^[214][215]

29 January

A North American Harvard I, N7179, of 61 OTU, crashes on takeoff at Heston, Middlesex, England, killing Royal Air Force pilot Victor William Gunther, service number 113404, age 31.^[216]

10 February

A Hawker Hurricane Mk.I, P3664, of No. 55 OTU, based at RAF Usworth,^[217] crashes in bad weather in an orchard opposite the High Marley Hill Radio Mast, killing RCAF Sergeant Pilot James D’Arcy Lees Graham, 24, of Carstairs, Alberta. The Air Ministry Crash Card records that the fighter flew into high ground in a squall, the weather deteriorated and the aircraft dived out of low cloud into a snow squall and failed to pull out of the dive. The pilot was interred at St Margaret's Church Cemetery, Castletown, Sunderland.^[218]

25 February 

"Lieutenant Clark of the army air corps, flying an army pursuit plane, made a forced landing on the farm of Stephen Shirley in the Oakway community about 12:30 last Thursday afternoon, February 25," reported The Keowee Courier, Walhalla, South Carolina, on 5 March 1942. "The plane was slightly damaged and the pilot suffered no injury except being jarred lightly as the plane 'pan-caked' onto the cotton field. The cause of the forced landing was not disclosed and the mission of the flight was not given as other than practice maneuvers. Friday morning army wrecker service from the air base at Savannah was on the site to dismantle the plane for shipment back to the base for repairs. The Oconee home guard stood guard duty on the spot of the crash from an hour or so after the mishap until the plane was removed Friday."^[219] About 30 different men of Company G of the Oconee Home Guard stood guard duty during the approximate 24-hour vigil.^[220] The Aviation Archeological Investigation & Research database lists Curtiss P-40C, 41-13382, of the 65th Pursuit Squadron, 57th Pursuit Group, out of Trumbull Field, Groton, Connecticut, flown by Thomas W. Clark, as suffering a forced landing near Seneca, South Carolina, in Oconee County, suffering moderate damage on 26 February 1942, which, in this case, was the date of the airframe's recovery.^[221] Repaired, this airframe would go to reclamation at Patterson Army Airfield, Ohio, on 12 May 1945.^[165] Captain Clark would later score four aerial kills with the 57th Fighter Group in the Mediterranean Theatre, two on 26 October 1942, and one each on 13 January and 26 February 1943.^[222] In a related story, a man whose automobile was halted by the Oconee guard on Thursday night, fled on foot through a nearby cotton field after being told to halt. The vehicle was found to have 90 gallons of illegal liquor concealed in its trunk, which was packed in 15 cases containing six gallons each in half-gallon fruit jars. The county officers were notified immediately. "The booze was confiscated by the officers and a search for the missing driver was begun." The man's hat was found about 100 yards from the road on a terrace of the field.^[223]

18 March

The first German A-4 flight-test model, ("Launch Aggregate 1"), completed 25 February 1942,^[224] but which slips out of its "corset" after being fully tanked at Test Stand VII at Peenemünde due to contraction of the fuselage from the cold propellants, falling 2 meters, smashing three fins, and coming to rest on the rim of the engine nozzle; repaired and renamed Versuchsmuster 1 (V1: Experimental Type 1),^[225] at 2345 hrs., this date, the rocket fails during a test firing with flame bursting through the side just above the engine, wrecking the steam generator and many lines on board, with the engine shutting off automatically. Leaks in the fuel and oxidizer lines caused by vibration and stress are determined to have let an explosive mixture to have built up over the head of the motor and the rocket is junked for parts without any launch attempt. Albert Speer witnesses this test failure.^[226]

23 March

North American B-25B Mitchell, 40-2291, piloted by 1st Lt. James P. Bates, crashes on take-off from Auxiliary Field No. 3, Eglin Field, Florida, during training for the planned Doolittle Raid on Japan. This aircraft did not participate in the mission. Bates deployed with the Raiders aboard the USS Hornet (CV-8) but did not fly the mission.

25 March

Test pilot Fritz Wendel takes Messerschmitt Me 262 V1, PC+UA, on its first jet-powered flight but experimental BMW 003 gas turbine engines both fail and he has to limp the prototype airframe back to Augsburg on the nose-mounted Jumo 210 piston engine installed for initial airframe testing.^[227]

26 March

The first Bell XP-39E Airacobra (of three), 41-19501, with lengthened fuselage to accommodate the Allison V-1710-E9 engine, and used for determining handling qualities, armament tests, and maneuvers, crashes on its 36th test flight during a spin test out of Wright Field, Ohio.^[228]

26 March

The fifth Republic P-47B Thunderbolt, 41-5899, is lost when pilot George Burrell is forced to bail out after fabric-covered tail surfaces balloon and rupture. Pilot dies when his chute has insufficient time to open. Future P-47s have enlarged all-metal surfaces.^[229]

27 March 

While Task Force 39 pushes through heavy North Atlantic seas near Sable Island en route to Scapa Flow, Rear Admiral John W. Wilcox, Jr., task force commander, goes overboard^[230] from USS Washington and is lost. USS Wasp launches four SB2U-2 Vindicator dive bombers to assist in the search, but one, BuNo 1362, of VS-71, piloted by Ens. Edwin S. Petway,^[231] crashes astern of Wasp while attempting to land, killing its two-man crew. The admiral's lifeless body is spotted briefly but not recovered.^[232]

3 April

The 303rd Bomb Group, activated at Pendleton Field, Oregon, on 3 February 1942, suffers its first fatal aircraft accident when three flying officers and five enlisted crew are killed in the crash of Boeing B-17E Flying Fortress, 41-9053, c/n 2525,^[150] six miles (10 km) N of Strevell, Idaho^[233] during a training mission.^[234]

6 April 

Boeing B-17B Flying Fortress, 38-214, of the 12th Bomb Squadron, 39th Bomb Group, Davis-Monthan Field, Arizona, suffers engine failure with one bursting into flame, the bomber crashing into the desert 22 miles SE of Tucson, killing all five crew. "The dead and their addresses, as announced by Col. Lowell H. Smith, commander of Davis-Monthan air corps base, who said the tragedy was due to 'engine failure and fire in the air,' were: First Lieut. Donald W. Johnson, the pilot, of Dunning, Neb.; Sgt. Laurel D. Larsen, Minkcreek, Idaho; Pvt. Herbert W. Dunn, Mifflintown, Pa.; Pvt. Emerson L. Wallace, Philipsburg, Pa.; Pvt. Leo W. Thomas, Lemoore, California. Second Lieut. Sidney L. Fouts, of Santa Rosa, California, and Sgt. William F. Regan, of Dunmore, Pa., parachuted to safety, suffering only minor injuries and shock, the air base said."^[235]

6 April 

"Honolulu, April 6 - Army authorities announced today that an army bomber crashed and burned last night with a loss of at least four lives. Four bodies had been recovered and it was feared there were additional victims."^[236] Boeing B-17E Flying Fortress, 41-2443, piloted by Ward Cox, Jr.,^[237] out of Wheeler Field, crashes into cliffs of Mount Keahiakahoe near the Nu'uanu Pali in Hawaii while returning from antisubmarine patrol.^[238]

6 April 

"San Diego, April 6 - Ensign Willard E. Norval, 26, Galesburg, Ill., and James F. Crow Jr., 18, apprentice seaman from White Deer, Texas, were killed today in the crash of their two-seater navy plane near Bonita, 10 miles southeast of San Diego."^[239]

8 April 

An instructor and an aviation cadet are killed near Bakersfield, California, this date, when their Vultee BT-13, 41-9665, of the 327th School Squadron, Minter Field, crashes at Dunlap Auxiliary Field.^[240] KWF are Lt. William B. Raabe, and cadet Irel W. Crowe.^[241]

22 April

Consolidated B-24D-CO Liberator, 41-1133, c/n 73,^[242] 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,^[243] while returning to Kirtland Field, Albuquerque, killing all nine people on board.^[244] Joe Baugher cites crash date as 22 May 1942.

23 April

US Navy Vought SB2U-2 Vindicator, BuNo 1363,^[245] of VS-71, assigned to the USS Wasp, but flown ashore to clear deckspace for Spitfires bound for Malta, crashes in peat bog near Invergordon, Scotland, killing Ens. Jackson and Aviation Machinist's Mate Atchison. Atchison's body recovered, but squadron diary records that Jackson's body and bulk of airframe were buried too deeply, so remains and wreckage were covered over.^[246]

23 April 

"Seattle, May 12 (AP) - The 13th naval district staff headquarters today announced the names of next of kin of the four men killed and the three injured in an airplane accident in Alaska which was announced April [?] (text missing). Among the dead was Ensign Glenn R. Van Bramer, R. J. Van Bramer, father, R. F. D. No. 2, Billings, Mont."^[247] A Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina crashes while attempting a downwind take-off at Dutch Harbor, Alaska. "Plane appeared to get off three times, but each time settled back, struck sand spit, bounced up, and crashed on land and burned. Cause believed to have been a combination of diagonal downwind take-off and failure of lift due to ice on top of wings. Pilot:Ens.Frederick A. Smith/Killed, Ens.Glenn R. Van Bramer/Killed, Ens.John B. Carrol/Killed, Amm2c.Alvin F. Zettell/Seriously inj, Sea2c.Gifford A. King/Seriously inj, and Rm3c.Ralph Mitchell, Jr/Minor inj."^[248]

29 April

A Curtiss P-40 of the 49th Fighter Group, piloted by Lt. Bob Hazard, taking off as second of two P-40s from Twenty-Seven Mile Field, SE of Darwin, Australia, loses directional control in propwash of lead fighter, strikes recently arrived Lockheed C-40 parked next to airstrip, killing General Harold H. George, Time-Life reporter Melville Jacoby, and base personnel 2nd Lt. Robert D. Jasper, who were standing next to the Lockheed. A number of others receive injuries, but P-40 pilot survives. Victorville Air Force Base, California, is renamed for the late general in June 1950.^[249][250]

May (?)

Reggiane Re 2001, MM8071, (third one built), downed in the Tyrrhenian Sea apparently by engine failure, pilot recovered, possibly during ferry flight to Sardinian-based 2nd Gruppo. Airframe recovered 23 November 1991 by Sardinian chapter of the Gruppo Amici Velivoli Storici (GAVS), the Italian national aircraft preservation society for the Italian Air Force Museum. This is the only example of a Daimler-Benz inline engine equipped fighter to survive in Italy.^[251]

May

Grumman XF4F-6 Wildcat, BuNo 7031, prototype for the F4F-3A model, is written off in a crash.^[74]

3 May

Three Bristol Blenheim Mk. IVs, Z7513, Z7610, and T2252, of No. 15 Squadron SAAF, detached to support Allied ground forces garrisoning the oasis at Kufra in Libya, become lost while on a familiarisation flight and land in the Libyan Desert. They are not found until 11 May by which time only one of twelve crew survive. Z7610 and T2252 are flown out in May but damaged Z7513 is abandoned in place.

6 May 

"Tacoma, May 7 (AP) - Rudolph Erlichman, [sic] widely known Seattle and Tacoma investment broker, was killed in an airplane accident in the royal Canadian air force, former business associates said here today. Details of the accident were not disclosed, but it was understood that Ehrlichman, former partner of the firm Drumheller, Ehrlichman & White, was one of eight flyers that lost their lives in an accident near, St. Johns, Newfoundland."^[252] Lockheed Hudson, RAF N7346, c/n B14L-1742, diverted to RCAF and serialled 761, of a detachment from No. 11 (BR) Squadron,^[253] departs RCAF Station Torbay, Newfoundland, at either ~1500 hrs.,^[254] or 1742 hrs.,^[253] on a ferry flight to Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, with four crew and four passengers aboard. On lift off one or both engines sputter and backfire and the aircraft sinks, but then the engines surge and the Hudson rises to 100 feet whereupon a left bank, characteristic of a side slip, develops and deepens, the plane sinks, drags the port wing tip, and cartwheels into a fiercely burning inverted pile of wreckage. The Board of Inquiry cites four causes:

(i) the aircraft was overloaded

(ii) the load was incorrectly distributed

(iii) partial failure of starboard engine

(iv) misuse of controls by pilot.

Crew victims were: Flt. Lieut. Joseph Hyacinthe Ulysses "Hughie" Leblanc, a pre-war RCAF pilot, Flt. Sgt William Freeborne Colville, Navigator, and two Wireless Air Gunners, Sgts. Harold Fulford Taylor and Monty Holt Brothers. Two passengers were Flt. Lieut. Rudolph Irwin Ehrlichman, and Cpl. Charles Frederick Else. Period records do not identify the third passenger, an airman from No. 1 Group, who hitched a last minute ride. This was the first, and, as it came to pass, the most serious fatal RCAF crash at Torbay.^[254]

7 May 

"Montreal, Que., May 7 (AP) - The royal air force ferry command announced today that three men were killed in the crash of a Lockheed plane making a forced landing at Bradore Wharf, Que. The dead were listed as Leon Segal, Los Angeles, captain of the bomber, Pilot Officer James Watson, R. C. A. F., of Toronto, navigator, Martino M. Paggi, Los Angeles, radio operator."^[255]

20 May 

"Montgomery, May 23 (AP) - Gunter field announced today that at least six British cadets were killed when their planes crashed in a storm Wednesday night, and that a seventh plane and its pilot were missing."^[256]

23 May 

Lt. Virgil E. Holman, Rochester, Minnesota, dies in hospital on 24 May of burns sustained during the forced landing of Lockheed P-38F-1-LO Lightning, 41-7554, c/n 222-5681,^[257] from March Field, California, after engine failure, near Greenup,^[258] 16 miles W of Russell, Kentucky, this date.^[259]

23 May 

North American B-25 Mitchell, 40-2173, c/n 62-2842,^[260] of the 390th Bomb Squadron, 42d Bomb Group, McChord Field, Washington, crashes, explodes and burns at the base during a routine flight, killing five crew. The Army Air Force said that this was the sixth bomber crash in the Pacific Northwest for the month of May, with a death toll of 30. Dead are Lt. Col. Eugene Wall, (listed as Eugene Nall in some records)^[261] Atmore, Alabama; 1st Lt. Charles E. Daly, Tacoma, Washington; M/Sgt. Delana A. Shephiard, 56, Frazier, Montana; Cpl. Guinn N. Murdock, 19, Denton, Texas; and PFC Walter F. Rudesill, 20, Hot Springs, Arkansas.^[262]

24 May 

Lockheed C-40D, 42-22249, c/n 1273, ex-NC21770,^[263] Air Transport Command, Trans-Atlantic Sector, Bolling Field, Washington, D.C., crashes in swamp one mile NE of Howe Brook Mountain, NW of Houlton, Maine, during "routine" flight out of Houlton Army Air Base, after possible disorientation in poor visibility, killing all six aboard. Accident is first reported by forestry lookout station observer Alex Bouher. A detail of men under Maj. F. E. Lodge is dispatched to search the wooded area.^[264] KWF are 1st Lt. J. D. Fransiscus; Lt. Col. Louis S. Gimbel, New York City; 1st Lt. Herback; S/Sgt. Frederick Taylor; 2d Lt. Earl R. Wilkinson; and Lt. Col. Clarence A. Wright.^[265] SOC 1 June 1942. This airframe was one of eleven civilian Lockheed Model 12A Electra Juniors impressed 14 March 1942 by the United States Army Air Force (USAAF), with standard six-passenger interior. Surviving examples redesignated UC-40D in January 1943.^[266] The board of inquiry was unable to determine a cause, but listed weather and pilot inexperience under instrument conditions as factors.^[267] Lt. Col Gimbel, "who resided with his wife and two children at 163 East Seventy-eighth Street, New York City, was once an executive of the Saks Fifth Avenue and Gimbel stores. A graduate of Yale, he entered the Atlantic Ferry Service about six months ago and later transferred to the Army Air Corps. He was a son of the late Louis S. Gimbel and a cousin of Bernard F. Gimbel, President of Gimbel Brothers, Inc."^[265]

24 May

Two Curtiss P-40F Warhawks, 41-13793 and 41-13798, of the 62d Fighter Squadron, 56th Fighter Group (redesignated from the 62d Pursuit Squadron / 56th Pursuit Group on 15 May 1942), out of Newark Metropolitan Airport,^[268] collide at 12,000 feet on Sunday afternoon over Englewood, New Jersey,^[269] and plunge into the residential community of Teaneck, six miles west of the George Washington Bridge. Both pilots bail out and no one on the ground is badly hurt. "One plane sheared off the back of a garage and burst into flames; the other buried itself nose first in a dirt street in an exclusive area a mile away, in full view of wide-eyed residents." Lt. Meade M. Brown, Louisville, Kentucky, flying 13798, lands in a swamp, while Lt. Louis Bowen,^[270] (or Lewis Bowen)^[271] Champaign, Illinois, late of 13793, arrives on the front lawn of a home near Teaneck High School, suffering only cuts on the right leg. Falling wreckage damages a few homes.^[270]

30 May

Pilot Officer Albert Hoffman, RCAF, Ritzville, Washington,^[272][273] is killed in Lockheed Hudson Mk. V, AM737, of No. 31 OTU, while attempting a single-engine landing at RCAF Camp Debert, Nova Scotia at 1415 hrs. "He had to go around again to avoid an aircraft on the runway, the Hudson went out of control and crashed into some woods at the aerodrome boundary at Debert." The other members of the crew were: Sgt. William Divers Earl, Observer, and Sgt. Arthur Charles Norris, Wireless Air Gunner.^[274] Both were seriously injured.^[273] Hudson AM737 to No. 4 Repair Depot for write off on 3 June 1942.^[275] Hoffman's body was accompanied to Ritzville by Captain T. C. Howland, flight commander, Camp Debert, and the 9 June funeral was overflown by a formation of Geiger Field aircraft.^[276]

30 May 

McChord Army Air Base officers today announced the death of 2d Lt. Peter A. Trick, in a fighter crash on the Fort Lewis reservation.^[277] He was flying Lockheed P-38E Lightning, 41-2036,^[278] of the headquarters squadron, 55th Fighter Group, when he suffered engine failure on takeoff.^[279]

30 May

As Task Force 17 sorties from Pearl Harbor in preparation for the Battle of Midway, USS Yorktown flies aboard her patched-together air wing including VF-3 under Lieutenant Commander John S. "Jimmy" Thach. VF-3's executive officer, Lieutenant Commander Donald Lovelace, lands his Grumman F4F-4 Wildcat aboard Yorktown and taxis beyond the crash barrier. His inexperienced wingman, Ensign Robert Evans, comes in too high, misses the arresting wires, bounces once, floats over the crash barrier and his F4F-4 impacts on top of Lovelace's Wildcat, killing the XO. "After extricating Lovelace's body from the wreckage, both wrecked planes were unceremoniously shoved over the side, and landing operations continued." Lovelace, who had been scheduled for rotation back to the mainland and command of his own squadron, had opted to stay with VF-3 for this action specifically to pass along his experience to the body of untested new aviators of which Ensign Evans was one.^[280]

31 May 

"Bogota, Colombia, June 1. (AP) - Three United States air corps flyers and a Colombia air force officer were killed when their reconnaissance plane crashed yesterday in a gorge about 10 miles south of here. The American dead are: Major John P. Steward and Staff Sergeants Carlyle Lewis and Thomas H. Noble. The Colombia officer was Major Felix Quinones, The flyers were making the last flight on a photographic mission for the Colombian government from their Orinoco river base. The cause of the crash was not determined and an investigation is being made."^[281]

1 June 

Consolidated PBY-5 Catalina, BuNo 04439, of VP-43,^[282] returning to NAS Alameda after a night patrol, strikes mountains east of Half Moon Bay, California, between 2200 and 0000 hrs., killing seven of eight crew. Sole survivor, Ensign C. H. Apitz, 22, of Henderson, Minnesota, badly burned, cut, bruised, and in shock, walks eight to ten miles, reaching Half Moon Bay at 0400 hrs. Taken to Mills Memorial Hospital in San Mateo, Apitz could not say how he got clear but recalled watching the bomber burn. Amongst the dead was Seaman Kenneth Wayne Simmons, mother, Mrs. W. O. Simmons, Rt. 1, Pasco, Washington.^[283]

3 June 

Williams Field, Arizona, suffers its first fatal accident in the six months it has been open as an advanced training base when Curtiss-Wright AT-9-CS Fledgling, 41-5867, of the 333d School Squadron, crashes five miles NE of the base, apparently flown into the ground,^[284] killing John Clifford Eustice, 23, of Salt Lake City, Utah, and Irving C. Frank, 24, of Brooklyn, New York.^[285]

The Akutan Zero is inspected by US Navy personnel on Akutan Island on 11 July 1942.

3 June

The Akutan Zero – During a Japanese raid on Dutch Harbor, eastern Aleutians, Alaska, the Mitsubishi A6M Model 21, 4593, 'D1-108', flown by Flying Petty Officer 1st Class Tadayoshi Koga (10 September 1922 – 3 June 1942) takes hit to oil line in a brush with a U.S. Navy PBY Catalina. Pilot realizes he cannot make return flight to carrier Ryujo so he attempts emergency landing on what appears to be grassy terrain on Akutan Island but turns out to be soft muskeg, fighter overturning as landing gear makes contact, pilot killed by a broken neck. Attempt by Japanese submarine crew to rescue pilot is unsuccessful. U.S. Navy search team discovers nearly undamaged Zero with dead pilot still under the canopy, retrieves it and in August 1942 ships it to the Assembly and Repair Department at NAS North Island, San Diego, California for repair and evaluation, the second intact example to fall into American hands. Airframe had been built by Mitsubishi at Nagoya in February 1942.^{[286][287][288]} The Navy releases photos of the aircraft both under repair and in flight at San Diego on 15 October 1942.^[289]

4 June 

"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."^[290] Consolidated LB-30 Liberator, AL601, was destroyed.^[291]

4 June 

Pilot Dale Eugene Anderson escapes injury when he force lands Curtiss P-40-CU Warhawk, 39-289, of the 38th Fighter Squadron, 55th Fighter Group, out of Paine Field, Everett, Washington,^[292] ~three miles N of McChord Field, coming down about 40 feet off of the Pacific highway just S of Tacoma city center. "The plane passed over the tops of several automobiles on the busy highway. One driver, Charlie Mael, news stand operator at Fort Lewis, said the plane just missed his automobile, struck a ditch adjoining the highway and came to a stop a few feet from the road. Witnesses said the pilot walked away from the burning plane."^[293]

4 June

During the Battle of Midway, USS Yorktown, slowed to 16 knots by previous battle damage, launches Grumman F4F Wildcat fighters in early afternoon to meet a second Japanese attack force of ten Kate torpedo bombers and their Zero fighter escort. "A twenty-two-year-old ensign with the unlikely name of Milton Tootle IV had barely cleared the bow in his takeoff and did not even have time to manipulate the hand crank to wind up his landing gear when he wheeled toward an attacking torpedo plane and shot it down with one long burst. When he pulled up, he was struck by the Yorktown's own antiair fire and crashed into the sea. His whole flight lasted about sixty seconds, but he got his bogey."^[294] Tootle was flying F4F-4, BuNo 5239 of VF-3.^[295]

Post-4 June

Second prototype Fairey Firefly, Z1827, first flown 4 June 1942, of the Aeroplane & Armament Experimental Establishment (A&AEE), Boscombe Down, is lost shortly thereafter in a crash that kills chief test-pilot Flt. Lt. Chris Staniland. Investigation of wreckage reveals few clues, and loss is initially attributed to failure of the tailplane following failure of the fabric-covered elevators. Later, it is suspected that the cockpit hood detached in flight and lodged itself in the tailplane, disabling the elevators.^[296]

6 June 

Several barrage balloons break free of their moorings in the Puget Sound area near Seattle, and soar over parts of northwest Washington and Vancouver, British Columbia, the dragging cables shorting out power lines, damaging houses, and knocking all but one radio station in Vancouver off the air.^[297] The army was working to trace those balloons not already found, and police in Vancouver captured one.^[298]

7 June

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, AL589, of the 31st Bombardment Squadron, 5th Bombardment Group, 7th Air Force,^[299] 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.^[149] 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.

7 June

English Electric-built Handley Page Halifax BMk.II, serial V9977, crashed on a test flight from RAF Defford carrying a secret H2S radar system at 16:30 hrs at Welsh Bicknor, Herefordshire, killing the crew and several EMI personnel on board, including Alan Blumlein, pioneer of television and stereo audio recording. Blumlein, together with Cecil Browne and Frank Blythen, all from EMI, were attached to the Telecommunications Research Establishment (TRE) at the time of the accident. Also killed was Geoffrey Hensby of TRE. While flying at 500 ft (150 m) a fire starts in the starboard outer engine. Unable to extinguish it and by then too low for a parachute escape, while attempting to reach an open area to put down the fire burns through the outer main spar at low altitude causing the outer wing to fold and detach, whereupon the aircraft rolls almost inverted and impacts the ground. The aircraft's highly secret cavity magnetron is recovered the next day by a TRE team from RAF Defford led by Bernard Lovell. An investigation into the cause of the fire by Rolls-Royce concludes that an insufficiently tightened inlet valve tappet locknut during maintenance caused the inlet valve to drop, where it was hit by the rising piston and broken off at the stem, allowing burning fuel to enter the rocker cover whereupon it quickly spread.^[300] V9977 was one of only two Halifaxes fitted with H2S, the other being the Handley Page-built Mk II, R9490, used for trials of a klystron-based version of the system, developed for security reasons due to the difficulty of self-destructing a magnetron should its carrying aircraft come down over enemy territory. The crash of V9977 wiped out almost the entire H2S development team, delaying its introduction to the extent that Churchill has to be informed.^[301]

The Halifax II United Kingdom military aircraft serials V9977, which crashed killing Alan Blumlein and several other key British radar technicians 7 June 1942.

8 June

Goodyear prototype G-Class Blimp, G-1, purchased 23 September 1935, in constant use until it is lost in a mid-air collision on this date with L-Class Blimp L-2. The two blimps were conducting experimental visual and photographic observations during a night flight off of Manasquan, New Jersey. Although twelve people were killed in the crash (one survivor),^[302] the G-1 had demonstrated her capabilities as a trainer and utility blimp. As the Navy needed additional training airships during the World War II war time build up, a contract was awarded on 24 December 1942 for seven more G-class airships. These were assigned the designation "Goodyear ZNN-G". (Z = lighter-than-air; N = non-rigid; N = trainer; G = type/class). The envelope size of these new G-class blimps was increased over that of the G-1 by 13,700 cubic feet (390 m³).

8 June 

"Fort Benning, Ga., June 8. (AP) - Three army flyers were killed today when bombs from their own plane smashed the ship during bombing practice over the Fort Benning reservation. Lieutenant Russell J. Hammargren said an army bomber from Atlanta was demolished in the air when a bomb struck another that had just left the plane. He identified the dead as Captain Morris Pelham of Anniston, Ala.; Lieutenant Raymond Manley, Brooklyn, and Corporal Ray Roland, Columbia, Iowa. Hammargren said the bombing planes usually dropped practice bombs in a salvo but that the plane involved in today's accident apparently was dropping the missiles one by one."^[303] Douglas A-20A Havoc, 40-163, of the 56th Bombardment Squadron (Light), was actually flying from Hunter Army Airfield, Savannah, Georgia,^[304] when it was destroyed by the premature bomb explosion near Lawson Field.^[305]

13 June 

The army announces on 14 June the death of Private Alexander Evan Campbell,^[306] 23, of Fairfax, Virginia, in the late day crash of Schweizer TG-2-SW, 42-8724,^[307] on Deadman Dry Lake,^[291] near Twentynine Palms, California. Campbell was born at Rigby, Idaho.^[308]

13 June 

Lockheed P-38E Lightning, 41-2086,^[309][310] of the 37th Fighter Squadron, 55th Fighter Group, Paine Field, Washington, experiences engine failure on takeoff from Olympia Army Airfield,^[311] strikes St. Peter's Hospital, and burns in the street. Olympia firemen and hospital staff brave flames and exploding .50 caliber ammunition to pull pilot Ralph M. Edwards Jr. from the cockpit. Several firemen are treated for burns and Deputy Sheriff Ed Stearns is knocked to the pavement by an exploding shell fragment. Robert Hennesy, a military policeman, is also hospitalized after being thrown to the pavement when he contacts a power line broken by the falling plane. Stearns said that he had never seen such bravery as that of the firemen and Dr. Reed Ingham in saving the pilot, with "shells exploding all over the place." Edwards succumbed to his burns in hospital shortly after 1300 hrs.^[312]

13 June 

Second Lieutenant Roy D. Stone Jr., Monrovia, California, is killed in Lockheed P-38E Lightning, 41-2078,^[313][314] of the 38th Fighter Squadron, 55th Fighter Group, Paine Field, Everett, Washington, when he force lands after engine failure^[315] at Lakeview, crashes and burns five miles SW of McChord Field, and 15 miles SW of Tacoma.^[312]

13 June 

Consolidated PBY-5 Catalina, BuNo 04490, of VP-61, crashes on takeoff at Kodiak, Alaska, killing one crew. Underwing torpedo drops and runs but misses a ship and explodes between the docks.^[316]

15 June 

"Macleod, Alta., June 15, (AP) - Two Canadian bombers [sic] collided in the air northeast of Granum today, killing an undetermined number of Canadian air force flyers. The planes were in a formation."^[317] Avro Anson Mk. Is, 6528, and AX166, of No. 7 Service Flying Training School, RCAF Station Fort Macleod, collide at 0900 hrs. while practice formation flying, four miles N of Granum relief field. LAC O. E. Olsen (or Olson?) killed in 6528, ex-RAF W2218, which is scrapped by No. 10 Repair Depot, struck off and reduced to spares and produce 12 March 1943.^[318] LAC Alexander John McLaren, 21, dies in AX166, scrapped by No. 10 Repair Depot, struck off on 27 November 1942.^[319]

15 June 

Following engine failure, 2nd Lt. James H. Mitchell, 23, of Cleveland, intentionally banks away from a hangar occupied by some 200 men in the noon hour in his Lockheed P-38D Lightning, 40-783, of the 83d Fighter Squadron,^[320] dragging a wingtip at Mills Field, south of San Francisco, resulting in a fatal wrecking of his fighter but saving all those who he might have hit. Only a crew chief is killed besides the pilot when he deliberately crashed his plane.^[321][322]

16 June 

Following return to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, after the Battle of Midway, the USS Enterprise air group undergoes reassignments and training. On this date, flying Douglas SBD-3 Dauntless, BuNo 03283,^[323] "Ensign Carl Pieffer of Scouting Six was scheduled for a regular training flight, including a visit to Kaneohe across the island. The start of his take-off run across the mat at Ford Island looked normal but before he could gain flying speed he inexplicably lost directional control. The SBD swerved violently left, then right, and as the crash sirens began to howl, tore off its entire tail section on a parked crane, became briefly airborne, skimmed across the perimeter road barely clearing a loaded station bus and crashed flaming, to a stop a hundred feet away. Neither Carl nor his rear-seatman made any move to escape the burning wreck and the busload of startled sailors ran to pull them out." The gasoline-fed fire then ignited the 500-pound bomb carried by the dive bomber, killing both crew, five would-be rescuers, and injuring 17 more, some critically.^[324] Joe Baugher lists the Dauntless as assigned to VB-3.^[323]

18 June 

Lt. jg. Ralph M. Rich is killed when, during a routine gunnery dive over NAS Kaneohe Bay, a wing tears off of Grumman F4F-4 Wildcat, BuNo 5184, of VF-3,^[325] at 5,000 feet. Rich had shot down a Japanese torpedo plane at the Battle of Midway.^[326] He was awarded the Navy Cross posthumously for his "capable and aggressive leadership" in the Midway battle, which enabled his attack group to "maintain continuous flight over enemy naval units, thereby assuring our dive bombers an unmolested approach." Two U.S. Navy ships have been named for him.

19 June 

Cadet Leon C. Harer, 21, Tacoma, Washington, departs Randolph Field, San Antonio, Texas, at 0020 hrs. in North American BT-9A, 36-120, c/n 19-77,^[327] of the 47th School Squadron,^[328] on a night navigation flight to Seguin, Luling, Lockhart, and San Marcos, and is missing when its fuel limits are reached. A pre-dawn search is launched, involving 18 aircraft along the cadet's projected course, and expanded at dawn to 150 miles in all directions. The cadet is the son of Lt. Col. L. G. Harer, Infantry.^[329] Wreckage is found two^[330] to four miles^[331] E of Seguin on 20 June.

28 June 

Lockheed A-29-LO Hudson, 41-23260,^[332] c/n 414-6025, allocated to the RAF as BW398 but not taken up; reallocated to the Chinese Air Force on 30 March 1942;^[333] on this date departs Patterson Field, Ohio, for delivery to Orlando Army Air Field, Florida,^[334] but crashes in a hayfield at Lebanon, Ohio, ~25 miles S of Dayton, killing all four crew. Capt. John Van Cleve, of the Patterson Field public relations office, said the victims were from Lowry Field, Colorado, and had been here for temporary training. The dead were identified as: 2d Lt. William K. Van Zandt, pilot; 2d Lt. Ralph A. Oehmman Jr., copilot; T/Sgt. S. R. Elder, and S/Sgt. Corder.^[335]

30 June 

The Sikorsky XPBS-1, BuNo 9995, hits a submerged log upon landing at NAS Alameda. Among its passengers was CINCPAC Admiral Chester W. Nimitz who suffered minor injuries. One member of the flight crew, Lieutenant Thomas M. Roscoe, died. The XPBS-1 sank and was lost.^[336]

1 July 

Ex-American Airlines Douglas DST, DST-217, c/n 1976, NC18144, requisitioned by the USAAF on 8 June 1942 as C-49E, 42-56093, assigned to the 4th Troop Carrier Squadron, 62d Troop Carrier Group,^[337] crashes into a hillside Victory Garden this date at mountainous Premier, in southern West Virginia, killing all 21 aboard. This was the date that the 62d TCG was reassigned from Kellogg Field, Michigan, to Florence Army Airfield, South Carolina, and the C-49E was en route to the base. Pilot Walter R. Faught^[338] had attempted several landing approaches at Cincinnati Municipal Lunken Airport and on the last had slammed into the runway with enough force to damage wings and control surfaces. Rather than land and check the airframe, he elects to continue onto Florence, amidst turbulent weather.^[339] The transport was sighted about noon at low altitude over Coalwood, ~five miles from Premier, and witnesses reported that it shed a wing at 500 feet as it came down, which may have been the elevators. Wreckage burns for two hours, but recovery of victims begins even before fire is out. Bodies of 19 passengers and two crew recovered.^[340]

1 July 

Consolidated LB-30 Liberator, AL527, of the 38th Bomb Squadron, 30th Bomb Group, flown by 1st Lt. Robert K. Murphy^[341] 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.^[342]

Wreckage of Do 17M-1, lost 2 July 1942, seen in 2013.

2 July

A Dornier Do 17M-1 crashes in Hansakollen in Maridalen, outside of Oslo, Norway.^[343] The Do 17 was heading to the airport at Gardermoen, but crashed into a mountainside, killing all three German aviators on board. They are buried at the German war cemetery at Alfaset. The wreck is well preserved and remains clearly visible, over 70 years after the accident.

15 July

During Operation Bolero, the ferrying of combat aircraft from the U.S. to England by air, a flight of two Boeing B-17E-BO Flying Fortress bombers, 41-9101, c/n 2573, "Big Stoop", and 41-9105, c/n 2577, "Do-Do", of the 97th Bomb Group and six Lockheed P-38F Lightnings of the 94th Fighter Squadron, 1st Fighter Group, on the 845-mile (1,360 km) leg between Bluie West 8 airfield and Reykjavík, Iceland, run out of fuel after being held up by bad weather, and all force-land on the Greenland icecap. All safely belly in except for the first P-38 which attempts a wheels-down landing, flipping over as nosewheel catches a crevasse, but pilot Lt. Brad McManus unhurt. All crews rescued on 19 July, but aircraft are abandoned in place. One P-38F-1-LO, 41-7630, c/n 222-5757, now known as "Glacier Girl", recovered in 1992 from under 200 feet (61 m) of accumulated snow and ice and rebuilt to flying status, registered N17630. One Boeing B-17 ("Big Stoop") also found, but it is too badly crushed for recovery.^[344] Although the USAAF had expected to lose 10 percent of the 920 planes that made the North Atlantic transit during Bolero, losses were only 5.2 percent, the majority being involved in this single incident.^[345]

30 July

The Focke-Wulf Fw 190 V13, Werke Nummer 0036, unarmed prototype for the Fw 190C-1, with a 1,750 hp (1,300 kW) Daimler-Benz DB 603A engine, crashes shortly after beginning testing.^[346]

8 August

The sole Republic XP-47B Thunderbolt, 40-3051, operating out of the Republic plant at Farmingdale, New York, is lost when the pilot interrupted wheel retraction, leaving the tailwheel in the superchargers' exhaust gases. This set the tire alight which ignited the magnesium hub. When the burning unit retracted into the fuselage, it severed the tail unit control rods, forcing the pilot, Fillmore "Fil" Gilmer, a former naval aviator, to bail out with the airframe crashing in the waters of Long Island Sound.^[347] Loss of prototype went unpublicized at this early stage of the war. Nothing is ever found of the wreckage.^[348]

8 August

1st Lt. Edward Joseph Peterson dies in hospital from injuries suffered in the crash this date of Lockheed F-4 Lightning, 41–2202,^[349] a reconnaissance variant of the P-38, when it suffers engine failure on take-off from Air Support Command Base, near Colorado Springs, Colorado. Field is renamed Peterson Army Air Field on 3 March 1943, later Peterson Air Force Base on 1 March 1976.^[350]

14 August

When Lt. Elza Shahn ferried his Lockheed P-38F Lightning to England, he spotted a German Focke-Wulf Fw 200C-3 Condor near Iceland. These German long-range reconnaissance aircraft gathered data on weather and allied shipping to help U-boats attack ships in the Atlantic. Lt. Shahn shot the Condor down, becoming the first American Army pilot to shoot down a German plane in World War II.^[351]

16 August

U.S. Navy L class blimp L-8, a former Goodyear advertising blimp, of ZP-32, departed Treasure Island, San Francisco, California, with crew of two officer-pilots. Five hours later the partially deflated L-8 is sighted drifting over Daly City, California where it touches down sans crew. Nothing is ever found of Lt. Ernest D. Cody and Ensign Charles E. Adams. It is assumed that they were lost over water but were never found.^[352] The control car from this blimp is now in the National Museum of Naval Aviation, NAS Pensacola, Florida.http://www.check-six.com/Crash_Sites/L-8_crash_site.htm

17 August

Grumman XF6F-3 Hellcat, BuNo 02982, first flown 30 July 1942, suffers engine failure of Pratt & Whitney R-2800-10 on test flight out of Bethpage, New York, Grumman test pilot Bob Hall dead-sticks into a farmer's field on Long Island, survives unpowered landing but airframe heavily damaged.^[353]

17 August

Messerschmitt Me 262 V3 fails to achieve flying speed on his first take-off in the type from Leipheim air field, overruns runway, crashing in an adjacent potato field, in the first Me 262. Both engines of the aircraft are torn from the nacelles, both wings damaged and starboard wheel shorn off, but the airframe is deemed repairable. The pilot was uninjured.^[354]

20 August

Flight Lieutenant István Horthy (the son of the Hungarian regent Miklós Horthy), 37, serving as a fighter pilot with 1/1 Fighter Squadron of the Royal Hungarian Air Force is killed in Russia when his MÁVAG Héja ("Hawk"), "V.421", a Hungarian fighter based on the Reggiane Re.2000, crashes shortly after takeoff from an air field near Ilovskoye.^[355]

23 August

Boeing B-17E-BO Flying Fortress, 41-9091, c/n 2563,^[150] of the 427th Bomb Squadron, 303rd Bomb Group,^[356] operating out of Biggs Field, El Paso, Texas, suffers center fuselage failure in extremely bad weather 12 miles W of Las Cruces, New Mexico, only the radio operator and the engineering officer for the 427th Bomb Squadron, both in the radio room, survive by parachuting. Pilot was James E. Hudson. The 303rd BG was due to deploy overseas from Biggs on 24 August.^[357]

25 August

The Prince George, Duke of Kent (George Edward Alexander Edmund; 20 December 1902 – 25 August 1942) is killed while a passenger on a Short Sunderland Mk.III flying boat, W4026, 'DQ-M', of No. 228 Squadron RAF. Thirteen of 14 on board killed including the Duke of Kent, three members of his staff, pilot Flt. Lt. Frank Goyen, Wing Cmdr. Moseley, and six other crew. Tail gunner Sgt. Andrew Jack was thrown clear of the wreckage in his turret, suffering burns and other injuries. The plane was en route from Evanton, Rosshire to Iceland, and then on to the Dominion of Newfoundland. The four-engined Sunderland struck Eagle's Rock near Morven, Caithness but the accident was never fully explained and several conspiracy theories have been circulated regarding the accident and Prince George's mission. Sole survivor Jack refused to discuss the accident throughout his life, fuelling the conspiracies.

30 August

General Aircraft Owlet, DP240, ex-G-AGBK, a tandem two-seat primary trainer with tricycle landing gear, impressed by the RAF to train Douglas Boston pilots with tricycle landing gear techniques. The Owlet, of No. 605 (County of Warwick) Squadron RAF at RNAS Ford, crashed this date near Arundel, Sussex.^[358]

4 September

On the night of 4–5 September, Handley Page Hampden AE436, of No. 144 Squadron RAF crashes on the remote Tsatsa Mountain in Sweden while en route from RAF Sumburgh in the Shetland Isles to Afrikanda air base, Northern Russia, after being forced down to lower altitude by an overheating engine. Pilot Officer D.I. Evans and passenger Corporal B.J. Sowerby survive with only slight injuries, three other members of crew die. Evans and Sowerby take three days to cross mountains and reach the village of Kvikkvokk, ~20 miles (32 km) to the south east. Wreckage of the Hampden is re-discovered by three girl hikers at 5,000 ft (1,500 m) in August 1976, with remains of dead crew-members still in wreckage.^[359]

10 September

No. 422 Squadron RCAF, temporarily operating Saro Lerwick flying boats cast off from No. 4 Operational Training Unit (4 OTU) while awaiting arrival of Short Sunderlands, suffers loss of L7267 this date when Plt. Off. Hoare crashes on landing at Lough Erne in good weather, airframe breaks up and sinks, but crew escapes safely. This is the final Lerwick write-off as the type is withdrawn from operation, remaining airframes sent to Scottish Aviation in November 1942 for reduction to salvage. Operations were generally not successful, with negligible contributions to the U-boat war. None now exist.^[69]

B-17F, Serial No. 41-24626, 324BS, 91BG, Pilot, Pinneo, Richard, E, out of Geiger Field WA, crashed into ridge located 25 miles SE of Enterprise Oregon, killing all aboard.^[360]

12 September

Martin-Baker MB-3, R2492, prototype fighter crashes on its tenth flight after its engine seized shortly after takeoff from RAF Wing at a height of no more than 100 ft (30 m). A crank on one of the Napier Sabre II's sleeve valves had failed. While trying to land in a field, Captain Valentine Baker (Company manager, aircraft-designer and test pilot) was forced to turn to port to avoid a farmhouse, a wing clipped a tree stump, the fighter cartwheeled and burst into flame, killing him.^[361]

15 September

Vultee XA-31B-VU Vengeance, 42-35824, piloted by H. H. Sargent Jr., out of Rentschler Field, Connecticut, overturns in a tobacco field while making forced landing near Windsor Locks, Connecticut, after engine failure.^[362] Initially built as a non-flying XA-31A engine-test airframe but later upgraded for operation.^[363]

20 September 

Lt. Burton W. Basten, pilot, of Placentia, California, is killed in the crash of Martin B-26A-1 Marauder, 41-7459, of the 474th Bomb Squadron, 335th Bomb Group, Barksdale Field, Louisiana, when the bomber suffers a stall/spin crash 4 miles W of Plain Dealing, Louisiana.^[364] Airframe condemned at Barksdale Field on 24 September.^[365] Basten is buried in Fullerton, California, on 26 September. He graduated from Redlands High School, Redlands, California.^[366]

21 September 

During flight back home from it´s bombing mission in Munich an Avro Lancaster Mk.I squadron code QR and serial number W4166 was shot down above Cochem in the night from the 20th to the 21st September 1942. The aircraft was hit high likely by a German Messerschmitt Bf 110 (Me110) from the Nachtjagdgeschwader 4 based in Metz. All seven crewmembers were killed when the airplane all ablaze (according an eyewitness) crashed down. The crewmembers were Sgt R.R.B.Owen RAAF KIA (Pilot), Sgt T.Thompson KIA (Mechanic), P/O W.H.Donovan RCAF KIA (Navigator), F/S J.O.Tuller RCAF KIA (Bombardier), Sgt D.T.McLean RAAF KIA (Radio-Operator), Sgt A.G.Sale KIA (Upper Turret) and Sgt P.J.Maxwell KIA (Tailgunner). They were first buried honorably with a salute in the presence of German and English government representatives in Cochem, later the remains were brought to the Rheinberg War Cemetery, Coll. grave 9. H. 18-22 (5), 9. H. 16 (1), 9. H. 17 (1).^[367] This aircraft was one of 450 Manchesters ordered from A.V.Roe Chadderton Jan. 1940 of which 207 were built as Lancaster Mk.1s, delivered from July 1942 to Nov. 1942 initially fitted with Merlin 20 engines. W4166 was delivered to 61 Squadron 31. August 1942. W4166 also took part in the key Raids against Bremen 13/14 Sep. 1942 and Essen 16/17 Sep. 1942. When lost this aircraft had only 23 flying hours.

24 September 

Eight fliers are killed, four officers and four cadet bombardiers, when their two Beechcraft AT-11 Kansans bombing trainers collide over a target and burn during training out of Williams Field, Arizona. The Williams Field public relations office said that a commercial transport sighted and reported the wreckage. The bombing range was about six miles SE of Florence, Arizona. Victims of the accident were identified as Lt. William P. Owen, 24, Magnolia, Arkansas; Lt. Donald J. Gibson, 24, Valley City, North Dakota; Lt. Robert T. Ross, 20, Port Huron, Michigan; Lt. William B. Shea, 23, Kansas City; Cadets Robert E. Coate, 19, Woonsocket, Rhode Island; Mathew F. Farrell, 25, Lynn, Massachusetts; Wilbur C. Harter, 24, Delaware, Ohio; and John H. Cwik, 27, Johnstown, Pennsylvania.^[368] AT-11, 41-27630, piloted Lt. Shea, and AT-11, 41-27620, piloted by Lt. Gibson, both of the 537th School Squadron, were the airframes involved.^[369]

26 September 

A USAAF Martin B-26B Marauder, 41-17767, of the 437th Bomb Squadron, 319th Bomb Group, out of Baer Field, Fort Wayne, Indiana,^[370] explodes in mid-air and crashes to earth two miles N of Rimer, Ohio, killing its crew of seven. Public relations officers at Baer Field said that the victims were: 2d Lt.s Eugene L. Newton, Kansas City, Missouri,| pilot, and Fred Bice, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, co-pilot; Tech/Sgt. A. J. Lamison, Three Springs, Pennsylvania; Staff Sgt. P. J. Nelligan, Santa Rosa, California; and Pvts. O. R. Colestock, Hecla, South Dakota; A. A. Wildt, Broadmead, Oregon; and R. D. Risepter, Radcliffe, Iowa.^[371]

30 September 

Two pilots are killed and two injured when Lockheed P-38G-5-LO Lightning, 42-12854,^[372] piloted by William C. McConnell, by one source,^[373] or William M. McConnell, by another,^[374] taking off from the Lockheed Air Terminal, Burbank, California, on a test flight, swerves out of control, plows through several parked training planes, ignites, and damages a hangar of the Pacific Airmotive Company. McConnell, of San Fernando, California, a Lockheed test pilot for about two years, is killed. "The other pilot killed was identified from papers on his body as Eddie C. Wike, of Sharon, Conn., student flier from Ryan Aeronautical school at Hemet, who was near the group of parked training planes when the accident occurred. The two injured men were John Waide, Ryan instructor from Hemet, and Harold Keefe of Hollywood, representative of an airplane engine company."^[374] Parked aircraft damaged or destroyed were Ryan PT-22s, 41-15341, 41-15610, 41-20852, and a fourth with an incorrectly recorded serial that ties up to an AT-6A-NT Texan rather than the reported PT-22.^[375]

30 September 

"Hondo, Texas, Sept. 30 - Two officers and two enlisted men were killed in an airplane accident near the A.A.F. navigation school here. The dead included Capt. John G. Rafferty, 40, Monrovia, California."^[376] Lockheed A-28A-LO Hudson, 42-46980, of the 846th School Squadron, Hondo Army Airfield Navigation School, Texas, crashed 2.5 miles E - 1.5 mile N of the base due to a spin / stall after takeoff. Capt. Rafferty was the pilot.^[377]

October

DAR 10 (ДАР-10), light bomber and reconnaissance aircraft, one of only two prototypes, crashes this month (Darzhavna Aeroplanna Rabotilnica – State Airplane Workshop) (Bekas – snipe). In spite of good flight reviews, the type was not chosen for production and the high-wing Kaproni Bulgarski KB-11 Fazan was selected for production instead.

October

Early production Messerschmitt Me 163B Komet being test flown by renowned pre-war glider and test pilot Hanna Reitsch, from Obertraubling, near Regensburg, while on unpowered flight towed by Messerschmitt Bf 110, jettisoning of take-off dolley at 30 ft (9.1 m) altitude fails, causing severe juddering of airframe. Bf 110 tows Reitsch to height of 10,500 ft (3,200 m) and Reitsch casts off. Despite violent maneuvering to try to shake off dolly, which also fails, Reitsch decides to attempt landing in order to save aircraft. On approach to field, sideslipping to lose height, the unfuelled Me 163 stalls at a higher than normal airspeed, due to disturbed airflow caused by wheels of dolly. Komet impacts ground and somersaults. Although conscious immediately after the crash, Reitsch passes out as rescuers arrive. She is taken to the Hospital of the Sisters of Mercy, Regensburg, where she is discovered to be suffering from skull fractures in four places, compression of the brain, displacement of the upper jaw-bones, and separation of the bones of the nose. Regaining consciousness in hospital, she makes a slow recovery, being well enough to be discharged from hospital in March 1943. Shortly after the accident, Reitsch is awarded the Iron Cross, First Class.^[378]

1 October 

The Associated Press reported from San Juan, Puerto Rico, that a USAAF transport had crashed in the mountains NW of the town of Coamo, in southern Puerto Rico, killing all 22 on board. "Names of the dead were not announced immediately pending notification of relatives in the United States. Several civilians were known to have been aboard. The plane crashed shortly after its takeoff. It took hours for a searching party working afoot in the difficult mountain country to locate the wreckage."^[379] Douglas C-39, 38-524, c/n 2081, of the 20th Troop Carrier Squadron, assigned at Losey Field, Puerto Rico, piloted by Francis H. Durant, crashed 15 mi NW of Coamo.^[380][381]

1 October 

"VISALIA, Oct. 1 - Two Army aviation cadets and a civilian instructor were killed today in the mid-air collision of two primary training planes near Seville, five miles from their Sequoia field base. They were Cadets Mike Mumolo, 25, Los Angeles, and James Cameron Schwindt, 19, Santa Paul, and Instructor Edward Hedrick, 47, formerly of Ontario."^[382] Ryan PT-22s, 41-20658, flown by Schwindt, and 41-20661, flown by Mumolo, came down 7 mi E of Sequoia Field.^[383]

3 October 

"Akron, Ohio, Oct. 3 - A medium Army bomber crashed near Akron airport tonight and airport officials said all seven occupants were killed. Guards at the Goodyear Aircraft Corp. reported one of the ship's motors failed immediately after the takeoff. The state highway patrol at Columbus listed three of the victims as Lieut, C. R. Jackson of Akron, pilot; Lieut. Thomas Schoefield, Providence, R. I., and Lieut. Ralph Shrigley, Rootstown, Ohio."^[384] B-26B, 41-17813, of the 442d Bomb Squadron, 320th Bomb Group, out of Baer Field, Ft. Wayne, Indiana. The pilot was listed in the accident report as Claude R. Jackson.^[385]

6 October 

"Savannah, Ga., Oct. 6. - Five men stationed at Hunter field of the Savannah army air base were killed late today and a sixth was critically injured when the plane in which they were making a routine flight crashed over Camp Stewart."^[386] Lockheed B-34 Lexington, AJ420. of the 4th TTSq, Hunter Field, Savannah, suffered a forced landing following engine failure. Pilot was William L. Ineson.^[387] Aircraft was originally part of an RAF order for Lockheed Ventura IIs.^[388]

8 October 

"Long Beach, Oct. 8 - Capt. Don E. Brown, 25, son of Actor Joe E. Brown, was killed in the crash of an army bomber near Palm Springs this afternoon. An announcement from ferrying command said 'Capt. Brown was on a routine flight from the Long Beach air base to Utah when the crash occurred nine miles north of Palm Springs. Brown was flying alone.' He was only recently promoted to a captaincy, after having been commissioned a second lieutenant in the air forces July 11, 1941, and had been attached to the Long Beach ferrying command base a little over a year. Capt. Brown was a student body president at the University of California at Los Angeles in 1939 and cadet colonel of the R.O.T.C., and a first string football player in 1938 and 1939. He received his air forces training at Ontario, Moffett field and Stockton".^[389] Douglas A-20B-DL Havoc, 41-3295, of the 1st Ferrying Squadron, 6th Ferrying Group, Long Beach AAF, crashed after takeoff due to engine failure.^[390] Word of the accident reached the actor just before his cue to go on in the stage performance in Detroit of "The Show-Off". In a break with the old tradition that "the show must go on", Brown left the theatre immediately and the performance was cancelled. "Don was my oldest son, but I have another who will take his place in a few weeks," said Brown. "He is Joe Jr., 20 years old, now employed in the Douglas aircraft factory. Joe has arranged to join the marines."^[391] Funeral services were held at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale on 11 October 1942. "'Well, it had to be my boy,' said Brown, met at the airport by his other son Joe, Jr. 'He was a man and he took it like a man, I know. And so will I.'"^[392]

8 October 

"Halifax, N. S., Oct. 8 - Seven airmen are missing and believed killed after an R.A.F. [sic] plane crash in the Bay of Fundy at noon today."^[393] Lockheed Hudson Mk. III, RCAF BW700, taken on strength by Eastern Air Command, 25 March 1942, assigned to No. 36 Operational Training Unit at RCAF Station Greenwood, N. S. Still with this unit when it crashed near Port George, N. S. (on the Bay of Fundy, about 9 miles west of Greenwood) on 8 October 1942. Was reported missing on air to sea firing exercise, all crew missing, assumed killed. Ownership to No. 4 Repair Depot on 13 October 1942 for write off.^[394]

10 October 

"Berkeley, Oct. 10. - A World war I airplane believed to be the first to carry airmail to San Francisco will be salvaged for scrap metal. Mrs. C. A. (Mother) Tusch, friend and confidante of many of America's most famous aviators, said she will donate the plane to the scrap drive. Her 'hangar' here is a museum for historical aeronautical relics. She also planned to contribute a German machine gun given her by a soldier in the first World war.".^[395]

11 October 

Consolidated B-24D-1-CO Liberator, 41-23647, c/n 442, the eighth block 1 airframe,^[396][397] 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,^[398] 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."^[399]

12 October 

"Los Angeles, Oct. 12. - Four barrage balloons of the army's coastal defense system broke from their moorings today, one falling in flames after its metal trailing cable struck a high tension wire. Two were later recaptured and the fourth continued to soar."^[400]

13 October 

"Seattle, Oct. 13. - An army barrage balloon broke from its moorings in the Puget sound area today and swept over Seattle, starting a fire, breaking power and telephone wires, and disrupting transit system service. The balloon was brought to a halt about an hour after breaking away. A thousand feet of cable dragging from beneath the balloon caused the damage."^[401]

14 October 

The apparent mid-air explosion and crash of Beechcraft AT-11 Kansan, 41-27447, of the 383d School Squadron, out of Kirtland Field, four miles W of Belen, New Mexico, kills three crew.^[402] "The dead, as released by the Albuquerque air base: Second Lieut. Boyd C. Knetsar, the pilot, of Houston, Texas, and Aviation Cadets John Joseph Fischer, Detroit, and Earl William Ferris, St. Louis."^[403]

15 October

Douglas C-49E-DO Skytrain, 42-43619, DST-114, c/n 1494, ex-American Airlines Douglas Sleeper Transport NC14988, A115 "Texas", first flown as X14988 on 17 December 1935; sold to TWA, 14 March 1942, as line number 361; commandeered by USAAF, 31 March 1942; assigned to the 24th Troop Carrier Squadron, crashed this date in bad weather at Knob Noster, Missouri.^[404][405] Another source gives crash location as 2.5 mi SW of Chicago Municipal Airport, Illinois.^[406] An Associated Press item states that the transport crashed and burned on a prairie about two miles W of the municipal airport on Chicago's southwest side, the public relations office for the Sixth Service Command announced. The two crew and seven passengers were all killed.^[407]

15 October 

Nine men are killed when Boeing B-17E-BO Flying Fortress, 41-9161, of the 459th Bomb Squadron, 330th Bombardment Group, Alamagordo, New Mexico, piloted by John R. Pratt, crashes into Magdalena Peak, 6 miles SE of Magdalena, New Mexico.^[408] Forest Ranger Arthur Gibson reported the crash.^[409]

16 October

North American B-25C-1 Mitchell, 41-13206,^[410] operated by the USAAF 5th Ferrying Group, Air Transport Command, piloted by Captain James M. Treweek, is on a routine flight from Rosecrans Field, St. Joseph, Missouri to Dallas Love Field^[406] when bad weather closes airfield and controllers advise crew to divert. Pilot heads west, presumably bound for Meacham Field, flying below 500 ft (152 m) altitude to stay in visual conditions under low cloud deck. As bomber nears Grapevine, Texas, a wingtip and aileron are sliced off by a guy-wire of WFAA radio tower, causing pilot to lose control; all 6 crew-members die in subsequent crash.^[411] Also killed in the crash was, Colonel Edward Standifer Fee of Little Rock, Arkansas, Corporal Joseph L. Tyndall, Captain Louis M. Rawlins, Jr., of Baltimore, Maryland, Staff Sergeant Wilfred E. Miller of Washington D.C., and Private William A. Echko of Lorain, Ohio.

18 October

Vickers Wellington Mk.IC, T2564, 'KX-T',^[412] of No. 311 Squadron RAF, Coastal Command, Royal Air Force, based at RAF Talbenny, Wales, crashes at 16:08 near Ruislip station while on approach to RAF Northolt, England, killing all 15 on board and six on the ground (including four children).^[413][414]

21 October

Boeing B-17D Flying Fortress, 40-3089, of the 5th Bomb Group/11th Bombardment Group Heavy (H), with Captain Eddie Rickenbacker, America's top-scoring World War I ace (26 kills), aboard on a secret mission, is lost at sea in the central Pacific Ocean when the bomber goes off-course. After 24 days afloat, Rickenbackker and surviving crew are rescued by the U.S. Navy after having been given up for lost and discovered by a Vought-Sikorsky OS2U Kingfisher crew.

23 October

Mid-air collision at 9,000 feet (2,700 m) altitude between American Airlines Douglas DC-3, NC16017, "Flagship Connecticut", flying out of Lockheed Air Terminal (now Burbank Airport) en route to Phoenix, Arizona and New York City, and USAAF Lockheed B-34 Ventura II bomber, 41-38116, on a ferry flight from Long Beach Army Air Base to Palm Springs Army Air Field. Pilot of B-34, Lt. William N. Wilson and copilot Staff Sergeant Robert Leicht, were able to make emergency landing at Palm Springs, but DC-3, carrying nine passengers and a crew of three, its tail splintered and its rudder shorn off by B-34's right engine, went into a flat spin, clipped a rocky ledge in Chino Canyon, California below San Jacinto Peak, and exploded in desert, killing all on board. Among the passengers killed was Academy Award-winning Hollywood composer Ralph Rainger, 41, who had written or collaborated on such hit songs as "Louise", "Love in Bloom" (comedian Jack Benny's theme song), "Faithful Forever", "June in January", "Blue Hawaii" and "Thanks for the Memory", which entertainer Bob Hope adopted as his signature song. Initial report by Ventura crew was that they had lost sight of the airliner due to smoke from a forest fire, but closed-door Congressional investigation revealed that bomber pilot knew the first officer on the DC-3, Louis Frederick Reppert, and had attempted to wave to him in mid-air rendezvous. However, Wilson misjudged the distance between the two aircraft and triggered the fatal collision when, in pulling his B-34 up and away from the DC-3, its right propeller sliced through the airliner's tail. The Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) placed the blame directly on the "reckless and irresponsible conduct of Lieutenant William N. Wilson in deliberately maneuvering a bomber in dangerous proximity to an airliner in an unjustifiable attempt to attract the attention of the first officer (copilot) of the latter plane." Lt. Wilson subsequently faced manslaughter charges by the U.S. Army but about a month after the accident a court martial trial board acquitted him of blame. In a separate legal development, a lawsuit seeking $227,637 was filed against American Airlines on behalf of crash victim Ralph Rainger's wife, Elizabeth, who was left widowed with three small children. In June 1943 a jury awarded her $77,637. The Ventura, repaired, and eventually modified to a RB-34A-4 target-tug, would crash at Wolf Hill near Smithfield, Rhode Island after engine failure on 5 August 1943, killing all three crew.^[415]

Late October

Second prototype Messerschmitt Me 262 V2, PC+UB, first flown 1 October 1942, is damaged when pilot strikes ground vehicle with starboard wing during flight preparations, due to restricted visibility from cockpit in tail-dragger configuration of early 262s. Aircraft repaired.^[416]

2 November

A Boeing B-17C Flying Fortress, 40-2047, c/n 2117,^[150] breaks apart in the air near Tells Peak, California, while en route to Sacramento for an overhaul of the number 3 (starboard inner) engine. Pilot 1st Lieutenant Leo M. H. Walker dies, but the other eight crew members survive.^[417]

6 November

Grumman UC-103, 42-97044, former civilian Grumman G-32 Gulfhawk III, ex-NC1051,^[418] built for the Gulf Oil Refining Company, delivered 6 May 1938 and impressed by the USAAF in November 1942, used as VIP ferry aircraft, 427th Air Base Squadron, Homestead Army Air Field,^[419] force-lands in the southern Florida Everglades with engine failure: written off.^[418]

18 November

In a typical wartime training accident, a Beechcraft AT-7 Navigator, 41-21079, c/n 1094, of the 341st School Squadron,^[420] crashes in the Mendel Glacier (one source says Darwin Glacier^[421]) in California's Kings Canyon National Park. The four-member training flight left Mather Field in Sacramento, California, and was never heard from again. On 24 September 1947, a hiker discovered wreckage of the plane on a glacier in Kings Canyon. On 16 October 2005, a climber on the Mendel Glacier discovered a body believed to be one of the crew members. He was later identified as Leo M. Mustonen, 22, of Brainerd, Minnesota. The others were John M. Mortenson, 25, of Moscow, Idaho; William R. Gamber, 23, of Fayette, Ohio; and Ernest G. Munn of St. Clairsville, Ohio. A second body was found under receding snow in 2007 and was identified Ernest G. Munn.^[422]

19/20 November

Two British Airspeed Horsa gliders on a top-secret mission (Operation Freshman) to destroy the Vemork Norsk Hydro chemical plant in Norway, which at the time was developing heavy water (deuterium oxide) for Hitler's Atomic bomb, crashed in Norway, killing eleven men outright, with the survivors being captured and executed soon after the crash under direct orders from Hitler.

27 November

Douglas O-46A, 35–179, of the 81st Air Base Squadron, piloted by Gordon H. Fleisch,^[423] lands downwind at Brooks Field, Harlingen, Texas, runs out of runway, overturns. Written off, it is abandoned in place. More than twenty years later it is discovered by the Antique Airplane Association with trees growing through its wings, and in 1967 it is rescued and hauled to Ottumwa, Iowa. Restoration turns out to beyond the organization's capability, and in September 1970 it is traded to the National Museum of the United States Air Force for a flyable C-47. The (then) Air Force Museum has it restored at Purdue University and places it on display in 1974, the sole survivor of the 91 O-46s built.^[424]

Post-November

Henschel Hs 130E V2, high-altitude reconnaissance and bomber design, first flown in November 1942, is lost on its seventh flight due to an engine fire. Replaced in testing by the V3. Type is never accepted for production.^[425]

26 December 

"Second Lt. Henry P. Perchal, 23 years old, son of Mr. and Mrs. Edward Perchal, 3460 North Laramie avenue, is one of eight men aboard an army medium bomber missing since last Saturday night on a flight from Barksdale field, near Shreveport, La., to its base at Walterboro, S. C."^[426] B-25C Mitchell, 41-12630, of the 489th Bomb Squadron (Medium), 340th Bomb Group (Medium), from Walterboro Army Airfield, piloted by Fred M. Hampton, crashes in Lafourche Swamp, Louisiana.^[427]

28 December 

Martin B-26B-4 Marauder, 41-18101, of the 496th Bomb Squadron, 344th Bomb Group, Drane Field, Lakeland Army Air Base #2, Lakeland, Florida, piloted by William A. Booth,^[428] with six on board,^[429] departs Tampa for San Antonio, Texas, and vanishes over the Gulf of Mexico. Aboard as passengers are Women's Army Auxiliary Corps Third Officer Eleanor C. Nate, 36, 631 Central Avenue, Wilmette, Illinois, and her husband, Maj. Joseph C. Nate. "Third Officer Nate, who is a recruiting officer at San Antonio, was en route to her post after spending a Christmas leave with her husband and her brother, Capt. John M. Campbell, in Tampa. Maj. Nate was accompanying her."^[430][431]

29 December 

"Pensacola, Fla., December 30, (AP) - Two Pensacola pilots are presumed to have been killed Tuesday night, it was announced by naval officials here tonight. They were Ensign Sylvain Bouche of New Orleans, La., and Cadet John T. Greer of Tamaqua, Pa."^[432]

30 December 

North American B-25D-1 Mitchell, 41-29855,^[433] of the 498th Bomb Squadron, 345th Bomb Group, flown by Frank E. Mason, crashes 1½ miles from Columbia Army Air Base, South Carolina.^[434] Three officers and two enlisted men are killed in the late Wednesday takeoff accident.^[435]

30 December 

A flying instructor and two cadets are killed in the collision of two Vultee BT-13A Valiants shortly after their takeoffs from Waco Army Air Field, Texas. BT-13A, 41-21734,^[436] of the 470th Basic Flight Training Squadron, flown by cadet Paul G. Shudick, and BT-13A, 41-22734, of the 468th Basic Flight Training Squadron, piloted by Lt. James A. Abney,^[437] crash killing Abney, of Shreveport, Louisiana, cadet Shudick, Gary, Indiana, and cadet William H. Turner, Burton, Texas.^[438]

30 December 

Boeing B-17F-35-BO Flying Fortress, 42-5123,^[439] of the 20th Bomb Squadron, 2d Bomb Group, Great Falls Army Air Base, Montana, piloted by Edward T. Layfield,^[440] crashes near Musselshell, Montana. Capt. John Lloyd, public relations officer at the Great Falls base, said that eleven aboard were killed.^[441]

30 December 

A U.S. Navy patrol bomber on a routine training flight crashes Sunday afternoon in the north end of the Salton Sea in the Imperial Valley, California, killing seven crew and injuring two. The Eleventh Naval District at San Diego identifies the dead as: Lt. William O. Carlson, plane commander, Seattle, Washington; Lt. Jack E. Brenner, pilot, Coronado, California; Ens. J. Douglas Simmons III, pilot, Cleveland, Mississippi; W. A. Morgan, aviation machinist's mate, San Diego; Louis J. Hanlon, aviation machinist's mate first class, Coronado; J. W. Jones, aviation ordnanceman second class, Utica, New York; J. J. O'Connor, aviation radioman third class, Denver, Colorado. "All bodies were recovered. No other details were made public."^{[442][443][444]}

30 December 

"San Francisco, December 30 - Four army fighter planes crashed within a 12-hour span in the San Francisco bay area today. Three of the pilots were believed killed. Two of the ships plunged to earth near Hamilton field, one ten miles north of Napa and the other just south of the field. Another crashed and exploded in a salt pond near Newark in southern Alameda county and the fourth crashed in Lake Chabot in the east Oakland foothills. Hamilton field, which announced all four mishaps, said the victim of the crash nearest the field was Second Lieut. Lloyd E. Blythe, 24, of Oakland. Second Lieut. Howard B. Stivers (home address not given) rode his plane to earth as it fell in Lake Chabot and was rescued uninjured. The pilots of the other two single-seaters were not identified immediately."^[445]

Blythe (also reported with middle initial G) was killed flying Bell P-39D-1-BE Airacobra, 41-28302,^[446] of the 326th Fighter Squadron, 328th Fighter Group, Hamilton Field.^[447]

1943

January (?)

"Aviation Cadet Henry A. McGinnis, East Falls Church, Va., crashed within a block of his own home recently while on a routine training flight from the Naval Air Base at Anacostia. He was taken to the Naval Medical Center at Bethesda, Md., where his condition was reported not serious."^[448][449]

1 January

The sole Lockheed XP-49, 40-3055,^[450] a development of the P-38 Lightning, first flown 11 November 1942, suffers a crash landing at Burbank, California when the port landing gear fails to lock down due to a combined hydraulic and electrical problem. Pilot was Joe C. Towle. Repaired, it returns to flight on 16 February 1943, and is sent to Wright Field, Ohio, for further testing. Despite improved performance over the P-38, difficulties with the new engines, as well as the success of the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt and the P-51 Mustang, leads to no additional orders or production.^[451]

3 January

Boeing B-17F-27-BO Flying Fortress, 41-24620, c/n 3305,^[150] "snap! crackle! pop!", 'PU-O',^[452] of the 360th Bomb Squadron, 303rd Bomb Group, on daylight raid over Saint-Nazaire, France, loses wing due to flak, goes into spiral. Ball turret gunner Alan Eugene Magee (13 January 1919 – 20 December 2003), though suffering 27 shrapnel wounds, bails out (or is thrown from wreckage) without his chute at ~20,000 feet (6,100 m), loses consciousness due to altitude, freefall plunges through glass roof of the Gare de Saint-Nazaire and is found alive but with serious injuries on floor of depot:saved by German medical care, spends rest of war in prison camp.^[453][454] On 3 January 1993, the people of St. Nazaire honored Magee and the crew of his bomber by erecting a 6-foot-tall (1.8 m) memorial to them.

6 January

At 1735 CWT, three miles W of White City, Kansas, a Consolidated B-24D-13-CO Liberator, 41-23961, c/n 756,^[165] of the 469th Bomb Squadron, 333d Bomb Group, out of Topeka Army Air Base, Kansas, piloted by Robert Clyne,^[450] 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

Consolidated B-24D-20-CO Liberator, 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.^[165][450]

13 January

Junkers Ju 290 V1, (Junkers Ju 90 V11), modified from Ju 90B-1, Werknummer 90 0007, D-AFHG, "Oldenberg", crashed on takeoff evacuating load of wounded troops from the German 6th Army at Stalingrad. The need for large capacity transports was so dire at this point that the Luftwaffe was taking Ju 290As straight from the assembly line into operation.^[455]

15 January

Prototype Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation CA-4 Wackett Bomber, A23-1001, crashes on a test flight to assess powerplant performance and evaluate aerodynamic effects of a new fixed leading edge slat. During return to CAC airfield at Fisherman's Bend, Australia, pilot Sqn. Leader Jim Harper detects fuel leak in port Pratt & Whitney R-1830 engine; as problem worsens he attempts shut-down and feathering of propeller but actuation of feathering switch causes explosion and uncontrollable fire. Crew of three attempts evacuation at 1000 feet (300 m), but only pilot Harper succeeds in parachuting, CAC test pilot Jim Carter and CAC power plant group engineer Lionel Dudgeon KWF. Airframe impacts ~three miles SW of Kilmore, Victoria. Wreckage recovered by No. 26 Repair and Salvage Unit on 18 January, delivered to No. 1 Aircraft Depot, RAAF Laverton, on the 19th. Final action taken on 26 January when the Air Member for Supply and Equipment approves "conversion to components" for what remains of the CA-4.^[456]

21 January 

Pan Am Flight 1104, a Martin M-130, the Philippine Clipper, being operated by Pan American Airways for the U. S. Navy, en route from Honolulu to San Francisco, crashes in northern California, in bad weather and poor visibility, killing 19, including 10 Navy passengers. ComSubPac Admiral Robert H. English is killed.^[457]

29 January 

A Douglas B-23 Dragon, 39-052, c/n 2738,^[458] of the 390th Bomb Squadron, 42d Bomb Group,^[459] assigned at McChord Field, Washington, piloted by Lt. Robert Orr, attempts ferry flight from Tonopah, Nevada, back to McChord Field, with eight aboard, but runs into a snowstorm and has to divert to Gowen Field, Boise, Idaho. Unable to locate another landing field and running low on fuel, pilot spots a clearing which is actually frozen Loon Lake in the Payette National Forest, Stevens County, Washington, and attempts landing, with one engine afire, but overshoots and shears wings as it crashes into a grove of trees on the shore. Only two of eight suffer injuries; wreckage sighted 13 February by veteran civilian pilot Penn Stohr, flying his own private plane from Cascade to Warren, who reports to Gowen Field seeing three men, apparently in uniform, standing around the downed fuselage. His attention was drawn by a string of trees along the south shore with their tops sheared off.^[460] Five airmen who remained with the aircraft are rescued by Stohr who twice landed his ski-equipped plane on the lake.^[461] Three others who left the crash site to seek help reach the Lake Fork ranger station unaided on 16 February, and telephone Gowen Field. The station is 12 miles E of McCall, and 15 miles SW of Loon Lake.^[462] Wreckage is largely still where it came to rest.^[463][464]

5 February

Douglas A-20 Havoc, 39–735, modified as prototype Douglas XP-70 night fighter, assigned to the 349th Night Fighter Squadron, 50th Fighter Group (Special), crashes on takeoff from Kissimmee Army Airfield, Florida,^[465] coming down 1/2 mile NW of the field,^[458] killing pilot James H. Toal. The Army Air Force decides at the end of March that the airframe is beyond repair and scraps it.^[466]

5 February

A Douglas C-49K, 43-2004, msn 6329, piloted by Anthony R. Mensing,^[467] (a DC-3-455 ordered by TWA as NC43982, but taken over by the USAAF before delivery)^[468] en route from Fort Nelson, British Columbia, Canada, to Seattle, Washington, crashes 76 miles SW of Fort Nelson at the 8,500 foot level of Mount Mary Henry, killing all eleven on board. The wreckage is discovered by a party of hunters in 1948. The remains were removed in September 1948 by pack horse and seaplane "from the almost inaccessible peak where the plane crashed," to Tuchodi Lake, 20 miles away. There they were loaded aboard a Canadian air force plane to bring them to Fort Nelson. "Removal of the skeletons and the investigation of the wreckage are under the direction of Maj. Max E. Van Bethuysen of the United States air force, aided by Squadron Leader Maxwell Strange of the Canadian air force and Constable William Bolton of British Columbia. Major Van Bethuysen said no trace of gold bullion or currency has been found amid the wreckage. Debris is scattered over a square mile of the mountainside above the timberline, however, and some of it is buried under 9 feet of rock which has fallen from the cliffs rising approximately 1,000 feet above the site. Early rumors that the ill-fated C-49, which crashed Feb. 5, 1943, ... carried nearly half a million dollars in gold and currency, previously were denied by the air force in Washington. However, the searchers found moldy war department documents in United States mail sacks which also contained envelopes addressed to the United States treasury and hundreds of letters from servicemen in Alaska and the Aleutians to their relatives and friends at home. A rubber oxygen mask that had survived the elements still was on the pilot's skull. The investigators said that some scraps of metal from the plane were fused, indicating part of the wreckage had burned. The wide scattering of the debris was taken to indicate that the plane had either had struck the peak with terrific impact, or that it exploded in midair. The answer may never be known."^[469]

8 February

The second Bell XP-39E Airacobra (of three), 41-19502, is damaged during a forced landing when a Wright Field test pilot runs out of fuel short of Niagara Falls Airport, New York, where the Bell Aircraft plant is located.^[470]

9 February 

"San Francisco, Feb. 9, (AP) - A two-motored navy bomber from the Alameda naval air station crashed into San Francisco bay and exploded this afternoon, apparently killing all five members of the crew. The 12th naval district said the ship, on a test flight, had radioed that one engine was failing and that she was returning to base. Just as the plane was ready to come in for a landing, it was seen to dive abruptly into the bay a few hundred feet offshore from the naval station. An explosion shattered the ship as it struck the water, and a few minutes later the crew of a crash barge from the air station was able to find only scattered wreckage on the water."^[471]

11 February 

Boeing B-17F-50-BO Flying Fortress, 42-5367,^[472] of the 317th Bomb Squadron, 88th Bomb Group,^[473] with ten aboard goes missing on flight from Walla Walla Army Air Base, Washington. Civil Air Patrol planes spot the wreckage on 14 February in the Blue Mountains, 17 miles E of Walla Walla, where the bomber apparently flew head-on into a ridge at about the 5,000 foot level. Ground parties reach the site on 16 February and confirm the crew dead. Victims: Lt. John T. Ray, Klamath Falls, Oregon, pilot; Lt. Richard H. Reed, temporarily residing at Walla Walla; Lt. David T. Dunning, Madisonville, Kentucky; Lt. Hans N. Lehne, Glen Ellyn, Illinois; Sgt. Alexander Dee, Buffalo, New York; Sgt. Lloyd I. Ball, Huntington Park, California; Sgt. Milton D. Johnson, Midland, Texas; Sgt. C. W. Seifer Jr., San Jose, California; Sgt. Joseph F. Perkins, Fort Worth, Texas; Sgt. Wilmer C. Fankhavel, Barnesville, Minnesota.^[474]

12 February 

Eight of nine crew are killed aboard Consolidated B-24D-35-CO Liberator, 42-40144, c/n 1221,^[475] 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,^[476] and five miles N of Roswell according to the Associated Press. One crewman successfully parachuted to safety.^[477]

Mid-February

Blohm & Voss BV 222 V1, X4+AH, of air transport squadron Lufttransportstaffel 222 (LTS 222), sinks following a collision with a submerged wreck while landing at Piraeus harbour, Greece. Between 1942 and 1943, the aircraft flew in the Mediterranean theatre.

17 February

Consolidated B-24D-53-CO Liberator, 42-40355, c/n 1432, crashes at Tucson Municipal Airport #2, Tucson, Arizona, this date.^[478] 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.

18 February

Second prototype Boeing XB-29 Superfortress, 41-003,^[479] crashes into factory at Seattle, Washington after R-3350 engine catches fire, killing all 10 crew including chief test pilot Edmund T. "Eddie" Allen^[480] along with 20 on the ground.^[481]

22 February

Boeing 314, Pan American "Yankee Clipper", NC18603, c/n 1990, (U.S. Navy BuNo 48224), crashes into the Tagus River near Lisbon, while on approach to Portugal by way of the Azores. Caught in a storm, the flying boat hooked a wingtip in a turn while attempting an emergency landing. 25 of 39 on board die. Among those killed are actress Tamara Drasin and international journalist Ben Robertson, en route to his new job, chief of the New York Herald-Tribune's London bureau. Actress Jane Froman is seriously injured. Her story of survival will be made into the 1952 film "With a Song in My Heart" starring Susan Hayward.

10 March 

North American B-25C Mitchell, 41-12740,^[410] of the 473d Bombardment Squadron (Medium), 334th Bombardment Group (Medium),^[482] (activated as a combat crew training group on 16 July 1942) en route from Greenville Army Air Base, South Carolina, to Key Field, Meridian, Mississippi, crashed into the Blue Ridge Mountains ~21 miles N of Walhalla in Pickens County, South Carolina, at about midnight,^[483] killing all five crew "apparently instantaneously." The aircraft was assigned at Greenville AAB. Despite a large-scale search by army aircraft along the route from Greenville to Meridian, the wreckage was finally found 21 March 1943 by a 15-year-old mountain boy, Seab Crane, who was riding a horse along a remote path known as the Moody trail. The bomber had clipped off treetops at the peak of a mountain, just off Turnpike road about 2 1/2 miles from the Walhalla State Fish Hatchery, and plunged into a ravine. The altitude where the plane first struck is more than 2,000 feet. Heavy recent rains kept the crash fire isolated to the actual wreckage. Crane, who lived in the Cheohee community, was riding to visit relatives who lived beyond the Tri-State Fishing club house, when his horse balked at an unknown foreign object on the trail. The boy and his mount galloped 2 1/2 miles to the nearest cabin, the club house, where he recruited the caretaker Ben Rogers, and they returned to the site where the mystery object turned out to be one of the Wright R-2600-13 radial engines that had been thrown a hundred yards beyond the main wreckage, the bulk of which had ploughed into an embankment in a ravine after it had sheared through tree tops for a quarter mile. "Three of the airmen were thrown from the plane and they lay as they fell – twisted and gesticulating. One of the men's wrist watches had stopped at 9:30. One of the men had died in his seat and the fifth body was found in the wreckage." One of the motors and the gasoline tank had burned, but only a few square yards of woods had burned. "After Rogers and Crane had found the wrecked ship they reported it to R. A. Stewart at the Fish Hatchery, an aircraft warning service spotter. Stewart put in a 'red flash' call to the filter center in Columbia and immediately afterwards notified Derrill B. Darby, of Walhalla, chief of the aircraft warning service in Oconee county [sic]. That was shortly before 1 o'clock Monday afternoon." After the wreckage had been viewed, home guardsmen took charge and kept watch until army men from the Greenville air base arrived. The victims were: Flight Officer Richard S. Brook, 22, pilot, of 10 Superior Court, Lima, Ohio; Second Lieutenant Earl S. Monroe, 26, co-pilot, of Bolivar, New York; Second Lieutenant Philip J. Graziano, 23, navigator, of 166 Chestnut Street, Lawrence, Massachusetts; Staff Sergeant Harvey M. Capellman, engineer, of Blanchard, Idaho; and Sergeant Michael Sekel, 29, radio operator, of Buffalo, Ohio. "Soldiers, home guardsmen, and volunteers labored into the night to remove the bodies and carry them on stretchers up the steep mountain side to the ambulance. Salvage of the wrecked ship was started on Tuesday."^[484] A later report stated that the B-25 was en route TO Greenville Army Air Base from Meridian, Mississippi.^[483] A memorial marker to the crew was dedicated at the site on 21 March 2014 by the Walhalla American Legion and the Oconee Veterans Council.^[485]

18 March 

A Douglas SBD-4 Dauntless hits the rail of the control tower and smashes into the ground at MCAAS Mojave, California, demolishing the airframe. "The flat-hatting pilot was taken to the hospital with 'multiple, extreme injuries.' Incredibly, the mechanic riding as a passenger walked away with only minor cuts and bruises."^[486]

23 March

Waco UC-72A, 42-68676, c/n 5150, civilian Waco ARE, ex-NC29376, impressed by USAAF, flown by Roy F. Brown, of the 5th Ferrying Squadron, 3rd Ferrying Group, out of Romulus Army Airfield, Michigan, is wrecked this date at Hebron, Kentucky.^[487][488]

23 March

A Republic P-47C-2-RE Thunderbolt, 41-6292, of the 328th Fighter Squadron, 352d Fighter Group,^[482] crashes into Barnard Hall at Hofstra College shortly after take-off from Mitchel Field, Long Island, New York, early this date, hitting the west side near the roof, setting the building afire, police announced. Pilot Earl D. Hayward died. The blaze was brought under control within 45 minutes by firemen from Hempstead, East Hempstead and Uniondale. No students were in the vicinity at the time. The Eastern Defense Command in New York City announced that the pilot was killed. He had taken off from Mitchel Field on a training mission shortly before the crash.^[489] This crash led to the abandonment of the use of Runway 18/36 at Mitchel Field.

4 April

North American B-25C Mitchell, 41-12634, of the 376th Bomb Squadron, 309th Bomb Group (M), ditches in Lake Murray, South Carolina, during skip-bombing practice, after starboard engine failure. Crew of five escapes before Mitchell sinks after seven minutes afloat, about two miles (3 km) west of the Saluda Dam in 150 feet (46 m) of water. On 19 September 2005, the bomber was raised to the surface by aircraft recoverer Gary Larkins for preservation (not restoration) at the Southern Museum of Flight, Birmingham, Alabama.^[490]

9 April

Lockheed P-38G-10-LO Lightning, 42-12937, flown by Col. Benjamin S. Kelsey, gets into an inverted spin during dive flap test, loses one wing and entire tail section. Kelsey bails out, suffers broken ankle, while P-38 hits flat on hillside near Calabasas, California.^[491]

13 April 

Martin B-26B-2 Marauder, 41-17945,^[492] of the 480th Bomb Squadron (Medium), 336th Bomb Group (Medium), Avon Park Army Air Field,^[493] Florida, while on a training flight crashes and is destroyed by fire at Daniel Army Air Field, Augusta, Georgia. All seven crew are killed. The base public relations office at Avon Park identified the victims as 1st Lt. Robert L. Floyd, McLean, Texas, pilot; 2d Lt. Richard C. Larsen, Rochester, Minnesota; S/Sgt. Carl Justh, York Haven, Pennsylvania; Sgt. Charles S. Elder, Banning, California; Sgt. Lewis F. Haimi, Palmerton, Pennsylvania; Cpl. Woodrow O. Rosell, San Antonio, Texas; and Pvt. James S. Nelson, Seattle, Washington.^[494]

14 April 

The crash of Curtiss O-52 Owl, 40-2780, c/n 14313,^[495] of the 392d Observation Training Squadron, Brooks Field, Texas, when it spins in^[496] a short distance from that base, kills 2d Lt. Robert E. Kuhn, 23, Chicago, pilot, and 2d Lt. Robert O. Fechtner, 21, Boling, Texas, observer.^[497]

14 April

Two RAAF Bristol Beaufort torpedo bombers, in a flight of three, collided with each other over Jervis Bay. They were A9-27 and A9-268 of Base Torpedo Unit, HMAS Albatros, Nowra, Australia, carrying out a series of dummy runs and torpedo attacks on HMAS Burra Bra for a group of accredited War Correspondents on board the ship when the centre aircraft of the vic, A9-27, coded 'B', pulled up, causing the port wing of the right-hand bomber, A9-268, coded 'I', to clip off its tail with both aircraft crashing. The flight was attempting a "Prince of Wales" break-up formation. KWF aboard A9-27 were F/O Raymond Sydney Green (408110), 23, pilot; Sgt. Albert John Bailey (409976), 22; F/O Maurice Francis Hoban (409118), 30; and P/O Eric William Sweetnam (408077), 20. Fatalities aboard A9-268 were Flt. Lt. David George Dey (280627), 27, pilot; F/O Rex Lindsay Solomon (408149), 21; F/O Jack Norman (407561); and Sgt. Hugh Sydney George Richardson (410093), 23. The accident was filmed by Fox Movietone News cameraman Eric Bieve, and footage is available on the web. "Green, Hoban and Bailey were buried in the Air Force section of the War Cemetery at Nowra on 15 Apr 43 at 1500 hours. The funeral was attended by Wing Commander Dibbs, Base Torpedo Unit (BTU) staff officers, Instructional crews and personnel of No 7 Beaufort course. On 17 April 1943, the body of Sweetnam was recovered and buried at 1600 hours with Air Force honours at Nowra. Late on the same day a diving party reported that they had not located the bodies of Dey, Norman, Solomon and Richardson. A Funeral held on 18 April 1943 on board the "Burra-Bra" at 1030 hours attended by the same people as listed for the 15 April Funeral."^[498]

18 April

Messerschmitt Me 262 V2, WrkNr. 262 000 002, PC+UB, is completely destroyed on a test flight out of Lechfeld, its 48th flight, this date, killing pilot Ofw. Wilhelm Ostertag, after being airborne only seven minutes. "It was thought that the cause was in part due to a disturbance in the tail plane adjustment, but a later investigation found that a section of a rear part of one of the engines had detached and blocked the engine, forcing the aircraft into an uncontrollable downward spiral." Airframe flight time was 18 hours 17 minutes.^[499]

29 April

Republic P-43 Lancer, 41-6718, converted to P-43D. To RAAF as A56-7. Assigned to 1 PRU, it went missing in flight from Wagga, Australia, this date. Aircraft found crashed in thick forest on the side of Gordon Gully near Healesville in Victoria, NE of Melbourne, in June 1958.^[500] The airframe was approved as a write-off on 30 April. The pilot was P/O A. W. Green (406393) of 1 PRU Rear Echelon based at Laverton. His body has not been found.^[501]

U.S. Army personnel remove bodies from the wreckage of General Frank Maxwell Andrews' B-24D after it struck a mountain side in Iceland, 3 May 1943. The rudders and elevators have lost their fabric covering after the accident

3 May

During an inspection tour, Lt. Gen. Frank Maxwell Andrews (1884–1943) is killed in crash of Consolidated B-24D-1-CO Liberator, 41-23728, "Hot Stuff", of the 330th Bomb Squadron, 93d Bomb Group, 8th Air Force,^[502] 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.^[503] 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.^[504][505] 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.^[506]

6 May

Curtiss XP-60D-CU 41-19508 (the second Curtiss XP-53-CU re-designated), crashed at Rome Air Depot, New York.

Circa 7 May

The first prototype of the VL Myrsky (State Aircraft Factory Storm), a low-wing single-seat cantilever monoplane fighter completed on 30 April 1943, crashes "a week later."^[507]

8 May

A USAAF Douglas C-33, 36–85, c/n 1518, of the 482d Air Base Squadron, is written off at Hill Field, Ogden, Utah, when the landing gear retracts on take off.^[103][508] Pilot was William B. Cline.^[509]

10 May

First Consolidated XB-32 Dominator, 41–141, crashes on take-off at Lindbergh Field, San Diego, probably from flap failure. Although bomber does not burn when it piles up at end of runway, Consolidated's senior test pilot Dick McMakin is killed. Six others on board injured.^[510] This was one of only two twin-finned B-32s (41–142 was the other) – all subsequent had a PB4Y-style single tail.

10 May

First Curtiss YC-76 Caravan constructed at the Louisville, Kentucky plant, 42-86918, loses tail unit at 1729 hrs. due to lack of "forgotten" securing bolts during test flight, crashes at Okolona, Kentucky, killing three Curtiss-Wright test crew, pilot Ed Schubinger, co-pilot John L. "Duke" Trowbridge, and engineer Robert G. Scudder. All-wood cargo design is cancelled by the USAAF on 3 August with only nineteen completed, all grounded by 12 September 1944. Four Curtiss C-76 Caravans at the St. Louis, Missouri plant are granted one-time flight clearance and flown directly to Air Training Command bases for use as instructional airframes.^[511]

16 May

Handley Page Halifax B Mk.V bomber suffered starboard inner engine failure shortly after takeoff from RAF Holmsley South en-route to RAF Hurn. Crashed in Thatcher's Lane, Sopley, at grid reference OS SZ164986. All on board were killed. The names of those that died are: Donald J Smith ( J10798 Fg Offr RCAF Pilot ), M.W. Collins (J10509 Fg Offr RCAF Pilot ), Barrie Noel Stephenson ( RAFVR Flight Engineer ), P.S. Thomas ( Gunner ), Frances Joseph Davies ( Sgt Glider Pilot passenger ), Roland Davies Sunter ( Sgt Glider Pilot passenger ) and Ronald Herbert Borton ( Sgt Glider Pilot passenger ).

19 May 

The 1943 RAF Hudson crash was an aerial accident that killed two people. The aircraft crashed in a forced landing attempt near RAF St Eval, Cornwall, England, following engine failure. Lockheed Hudson IIIA, FH168, a lend-lease A-29-LO, 41-36969, c/n 414-6458, operated by No. 38 Wing RAF, based at RAF Netheravon, crashed and burned 7 miles (11 km) south of St. Eval. The aircraft was unable to maintain height due to one engine failing, and the load it was carrying. Air Commodore Sir Nigel Norman, en route to the Middle East for an Airborne Forces Planning Conference, died in this accident.^[512][513]

19 May

Northrop N-9M-1, one-third scale flying testbed for the Northrop XB-35 flying wing design, crashes approximately 12 mi (19 km) W of Muroc Army Air Base, California, killing pilot Max Constant. First flown 27 December 1942, airframe had only logged 22.5 hours, and little data was accumulated before the loss. Post-crash investigation suggested that: "...while Constant was conducting stalls and aft centre of gravity stability tests, aerodynamic forces developed full aft, which were too strong for Constant to overcome, trapping him in the cockpit. To prevent this happening on future flights, a one-shot hydraulic boost device was installed to push the controls forward in an emergency."^[514]

20 May

Consolidated B-24E-5-FO Liberator, 42-7053, c/n 77,^[263] of the 1014th Pilot Transition Training Squadron, Tarrant Army Airfield, Texas, departing there at 0650 hrs. CWT, piloted by David S. Alter,^[509] hits the side of a 20 million cubic foot gasometer^[515] 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.^[509] 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.^[516] 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.^[517] The USAAF Report of Aircraft Accident listed the other two victims as 2d Lt. A. L. Gentry and Capt. John M. Wallace.^[516] The storage tank was erected in 1928 at a cost of $2 million, according to a Chicago Daily Tribune account. It was not rebuilt.

28 May 

The loss of US Navy Curtiss SB2C-1 Helldiver, BuNo 00154, of VB-5, during launch near Trinidad on 28 May 1943^[518] during the shakedown cruise of the USS Yorktown was incorporated by 20th Century Fox into the 1944 film Wing and a Prayer: The Story of Carrier X.^[519]

30 May 

Boeing B-17F-45-BO Flying Fortress, 42-5318, of the 464th Bombardment Squadron, 331st Bombardment Group,^[263] out of Casper Army Air Field, Wyoming, piloted by James O. Westbury,^[509] after departing Marysville Army Airfield^[520] crashes into a mountainside 15 miles NE of Covelo, California^[521] while on a training flight to Eugene, Oregon, killing all six people on board.^[522] The wreckage of the missing plane finally discovered on the weekend of 7–8 August 1943. Badly burned bodies could not be immediately identified.^[520]

June

Second production Mitsubishi J2M2 Raiden (Thunderbolt), Allied codename "Jack", noses over shortly after take-off and crashes for unknown reasons. When pilot of tenth production J2M2 experiences same phenomenon just after gear-retraction on test flight, he has enough altitude to drop gear and recover. It is discovered that retractable tailwheel shock strut can press against elevator torque tube during retraction, forcing control stick full-forward. This is modified and fighter production resumes.^[523]

2 June

An hour into a routine training flight from the USS Lexington (CV-16) over the Gulf of Paria off Venezuela, 1939 Heisman Trophy winner Ensign Nile Kinnick, USNR, develops severe oil leak at 0951 hrs., cannot recover to either the carrier or land, and ditches his Grumman F4F-4 Wildcat, BuNo 12042, at Lat. 10° 28' N, Long. 62° 02' 15" W, at 0952 hrs.^{[524][525][526]} Although rescue forces arrive at the scene in eight minutes, neither he nor his plane are found, only an oil slick. Kinnick was the first Heisman winner to die. The University of Iowa renamed their football stadium "Kinnick Stadium" in 1972.

3 June

A Boeing B-17F-55-DL Flying Fortress, 42-3399, "Scharazad",^[527] of the Plummer Provisional Group, 318th Bomb Squadron,^[263] flying to Grand Island, Nebraska from Pendleton Army Air Base in Oregon crashes on Bomber Mountain in the Big Horn Mountains of Wyoming. 10 crew members were killed. Wreckage finally discovered on 12 August 1945.

4 June

RAF Supermarine Spitfire Mk.Vc, AR512, of 312 (Czech) squadron based at Churchstanton in the Blackdown Hills hits a train while conducting a mock-attack near Bradford-on-Tone just west of Norton Fitzwarren. The roof of at least one carriage is ripped off and several passengers, mainly WRENs, are killed. The plane flies on before eventually crashing near Castle Cary. The pilot, F/O Jaroslav Cermak, dies and is buried in Taunton.

13 June

Blohm & Voss BV 138C-1, WNr.0310158, K6+AK, of 2.Staffel KüstenFlieger Gruppe 406, capsizes upon landing at Drontheim See Ilsvika in Trondheim harbour, Norway. Crew has to swim underwater to escape. Oblt. Ludwig Schönherr, wounded; Ltn. Günther Behr, wounded; Uffz. Heinz Kitzmann, unhurt; Uffz. Reinhold Zwanzig, unhurt; Ofw. Ernst Neumann, drowned. His body is recovered from inside the flying boat when it is recovered the following day.^[528]

14 June

Boeing B-17C Flying Fortress, 40-2072, "Miss E.M.F." (Every Morning Fixing), of the 19th Bomb Group, heavily damaged on Davao mission 25 December 1941 and converted into transport. With 46th Troop Carrier Squadron, 317th Troop Carrier Group, crashed Bakers Creek, Queensland, Australia, this date while ferrying troops to New Guinea. Six crew and 34 GIs killed. One survived. (see Bakers Creek air crash) A memorial to the victims of this crash was installed at the Selfridge Gate of Arlington National Cemetery on 11 June 2009, donated by the Bakers Creek Memorial Association. The gate is named for Lt. Thomas Selfridge, killed in a 1908 crash at Fort Myer, Virginia, the first victim of a powered air accident.^[529]

16 June

Boeing XB-38-VE, 41-2401, powered with Allison V-1710 liquid-cooled engines, crashed near Tipton, California, on its ninth test flight when the number three (starboard inner) engine caught fire. Attempts to extinguish it were unsuccessful, and as the fire spread to the wing, the pilots bailed out after pointing the aircraft to an uninhabited area. Lockheed test pilot George MacDonald was killed when his parachute did not deploy, and Lockheed test pilot Bud Martin was seriously injured when his parachute did not deploy properly.

1 July

US Navy Consolidated PBY-5 Catalina, BuNo 04447, returning to NAS Pensacola, Florida, after anti-submarine patrol flight over the Gulf of Mexico, attempts ill-advised landing in a storm brought on by a passing weather front, hits swell, bounces twice and overturns in Pensacola Bay. Nose section breaks away right at the wing tower and sinks, taking with it U.S. Coast Guard Motor Machinists Mate Chief Dana W. Heckart, in the co-pilot's seat as a pilot trainee. Rest of crew, all U.S. Navy personnel, pilot Ltjg. John W. Nichols, Lt. Norman Bennett, Ens. Francis R. Young, AMM3c Van C. Hardin, AM3c William E. Mutch, AMM2c Robert H. Ovink, ASM3c Albert W. Smith, and ARM3c Ralph E. Stuckey, survive as rest of airframe floats. Hardin, Mutch, Ovink and Smith suffer minor injuries, rest of crew more seriously injured. A seaplane wrecking derrick (YSD) retrieves floating section the following day. Heckart's body never recovered. Investigation finds pilot Nichols at fault for trying to land in storm conditions.^[530][531]

3 July

Armstrong Whitworth Whitley Mk.V, LA877, 'ZV-W', of No.19 Operational Training Unit, out of Forres, on the Moray coast, a satellite of RAF Kinloss crashes on Meallan Odhar near Loch Pattack. Fire in the port wing caused structural failure, the wing coming down a half mile from the main wreckage. "At the request of the investigating officer the port engine was excavated from the crash site and sent to Rolls Royce who examined it. They said that there been a failure of one of the pistons with hot gases passing beyond the piston rings of that piston which caused the gudgeon pin to fail and the connecting rod to break away which then broke through the crank case. This allowed a fuel/air mixture as well as engine oil to escape under pressure into the nacelle were it ignited and in less than one minute caused the failure of the forward wing spar and lower skin of the port wing." Five crew killed. They were: Sgt. Dennys Cyril Hunt, pilot; Sgt. Edwin Albert Deacon, navigator; Flt. Sgt. Donald James Gillies RCAF, bomb aimer; Sgt. Robert Norman Cowie, wireless operator / air gunner; and Sgt. Keith Pratt Gemmel, RCAF, air gunner.^[532]

4 July

RAF Consolidated LB-30 Liberator II, AL523, crashes on takeoff from RAF North Front, Gibraltar, killing the exiled Polish Prime Minister General Władysław 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."^[145]

4 July

The prototype Platt-LePage XR-1 helicopter, 41-001, tested at Wright Field, Ohio, by the Rotary Branch of the Air Technical Service Command from May 1943, is damaged this date by the failure of a rotor blade spinner. Never ordered into production, its last flight will take place on 21 June 1946 with 91 hours, 45 minutes of flight time, and it will be donated the National Air Museum in Washington, D.C., where it remains in storage at the Paul Garber Facility at Silver Hill, Maryland.^[533]

21 July 

Captain Roberto Roque and his mechanic Fernando Cubas, of the Cuban Army Aviation Corps, suffer a fatal crash in Vultee BT-13, 72, when they come out of a dive and strike a huge tree at Güines.^[534]

31 July

The first prototype Focke-Wulf Ta 154 V1, TE+FE, powered by Jumo 211R engines, first flown 1 July 1943, tested at Rechlin, is written off in a landing accident this date when the landing gear collapsed. This was a recurrent problem that accounted for the loss of several of the type.^[535]

31 July 

"Topeka, Kan. (AP) - The army air base reported today five men, all of those aboard the plane, were killed in the crash of a four-engined bomber near Boone, Iowa. The plane was flying with a short crew, Major Forrest Moore, public relations officer at the base, said."^[536] Consolidated B-24E-20-CF Liberator, 41-29052, c/n 44, of the 579th Bombardment Squadron, 392d Bombardment Group,^[537] operating out of Topeka Army Air Base, en route to Duluth, Minnesota, on a navigation training flight, crashes 10 miles SW of Boone,^[538] (N 41° 57.1081', W 93° 58.)^[539] after losing part of starboard wing in a thunderstorm.^[540]

Killed were:

1st Lt. Melvin S. Meeker, Pilot

2nd Lt. Samuel Levitt, Copilot

2nd Lt. Mathew J. Radosvich, Bombardier

T/Sgt. James M. Parker, Engineer

T/Sgt. Thomas J. Leyshon, Radioman

A memorial marker was erected by the landowner, who has also preserved the three impact craters from the crash.^[541]

Joe Baugher cites crash date as 18 July 1945.

1 August

During a demonstration flight of an "all St. Louis-built glider", a WACO CG-4A-RO, 42-78839, built by sub-contractor Robertson Aircraft Corporation, loses its starboard wing due to a defective wing strut support, plummets vertically to the ground at Lambert Field, St. Louis, Missouri, killing all on board, including St. Louis Mayor William D. Becker, Maj. William B. Robertson and Harold Krueger, both of Robertson Aircraft, Thomas Dysart, president of the St. Louis Chamber of Commerce, Max Doyne, director of public utilities, Charles Cunningham, department comptroller, Henry Mueller, St. Louis Court presiding judge, Lt. Col. Paul Hazleton, pilot Capt. Milton C. Klugh, and co-pilot/mechanic PFC Jack W. Davis, of the USAAF 71st Troop Carrier Squadron.^[542] The failed component had been manufactured by Robertson subcontractor Gardner Metal Products Company, of St. Louis, who, coincidentally, had been a casket maker.^[543] The War Department announces on 11 August that a summary of conclusions by three air forces investigating groups "indicated 'that faulty manufacture by a sub-contractor, faulty inspection by the prime manufacturer, and inadequate enforcement of inspection procedures, combined to produce a fatal hidden defect in a wing strut metal fitting.' The air forces have acted to prevent any recurrence of such parts failure, including the grounding of all similar gliders manufactured in the St. Louis area because they might contain fittings from the same sub-contractors. The glider which crashed Aug. 1 was manufactured by Robertson Aircraft Corp., the Army said, and approximately 100 craft were grounded Aug. 4."^[544]

1 August

A Boeing B-17F-95-BO Flying Fortress, 42-30326, c/n 5440,^[545] of the 541st Bomb Squadron, 383d Bomb Group, piloted by Roy J. Lee,^[546] was headed north up the Oregon coast on a routine patrol flight. The plane had left Pendleton Field, near Pendleton, Oregon, at 0900 and was tasked with flying to Cape Disappointment on the Oregon coast. They were then to fly 500 miles out to sea, followed by a direct flight back to Pendleton Field. On arriving at the coast, the crew found the entire area hidden in overcast clouds which extended to an elevation of 8000 feet. The pilot decided to locate Cape Disappointment by flying below the overcast. The overcast proved to reach almost to the level of the sea. The plane was flying at about 50–150 feet above the waves. Deciding that the risk was too great the crew began to climb back up into the overcast. Unfortunately, the plane crashed into the side of Cape Lookout at about 900 feet in elevation.^[547][548] The Aviation Archeological Investigation & Research website lists the crash date as 2 August.^[546]

2 August 

"Phoenix, Ariz., Aug. 2 (UP) - Second Lt. Arthur C. Collins, 22, and Aviation Cadet Wayne B. Bowers, 22, were killed today when their twin engine training plane crashed 10 miles west of Chandler, Ariz."^[549] They went down in Lockheed RP-322 Lightning, AF162, of the 535th Twin Engine Flying Training Squadron, Williams Field, Arizona. One source gives the accident date as 1 August, and gives the location as eight miles W of Chandler.^[550] P-322s were non-turbocharged Lightning Is, originally ordered by France, the order being taken over by the Royal Air Force (hence, the RAF AF162 serial), but only three were actually retained by Great Britain, the rest being used as trainers by the U.S. Army Air Force.

2 August

Boeing B-17E Flying Fortress, 41-2463, "Yankee Doodle", of the 19th Bomb Group, then to 394th Bomb Squadron, 5th Bomb Group, crashes on takeoff due mechanical failure at Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides, Bombardier Sgt. John P. Kruger and navigator Lt. Talbert H. Woolam are killed. Pilot was Gene Roddenberry, future creator of Star Trek.^[551] The airframe was stricken on 13 August 1943.^[552]

4 August

North American XB-28A-NA, 40-3058, c/n 67-3417, crashes into the Pacific Ocean off California after the crew bails out. Project not proceeded with.^[553]

5 August 

Lockheed B-34, 41-38116, that collided with American Airlines Flight 28 on 23 October 1942, was repaired and re-designated as an RB-34A-4 target tug. On 5 August 1943, this same aircraft suffered starboard engine failure during a ferry flight and crashed into Wolf Hill, a mile W of Farnum Pike, near Smithfield, Rhode Island, killing all three crew members. "The pilot having insufficient altitude to recover properly, crashed on a wooded hill," states the accident investigation report, issued 19 August 1943. Killed are 2d Lt. Otis R. Portewig, 27, Richmond, Virginia, pilot, of the 1st Towing Squadron, Otis Field, Massachusetts; T/Sgt. Herbert D. Booth, 21, Rahway, New Jersey, crew chief. also of the 1st Towing Squadron; and 2d Lt. Saul Winsten, 25, Pawtucket, Rhode Island, of the 901st Quartermaster Company, Aviation Service, Otis Field, passenger.^[554]

5 August 

"Las Vegas, Nev., Aug. 6, (AP) - Four fliers attached to the Las Vegas Army Air field were killed yesterday as their plane crashed eight miles northwest of here, base officials announced. The plane, a navigator trainer, was on a routine flight when it went into a spin from 3,000 feet. It burst into flames as it struck the ground."^[555] Lockheed AT-18A-LO Hudson, 42-55494, c/n 414-7216,^[556] of the 50th Flexible Gunnery Training Squadron, Las Vegas Army Airfield, piloted by Avalon L. Finlayson, was destroyed.^[557] The Aviation Archaelological Investigation and Research website lists the crash location as 10 miles WSW of the air base.

8 August^[558] or 11 August

^[559] Future ETO double ace Captain Walker Melville "Bud" Mahurin gets off to an ignominious start this date when, "On a training mission over England he had spotted a B-24 Liberator – at the time not a particularly common aeroplane in English skies. While flying formation with the bomber he took his Thunderbolt (41-6334) a little too close resulting in the empennage being slashed off by the Liberator's propellers. Mahurin came down by parachute, his P-47 disintegrated in an English field and the Liberator made a successful landing having sustained only minor damage. Thunderbolts, costing $104,258 each, were still in short supply and Mahurin's folly did not endear him to the authorities."^[558] The P-47C-5-RE, of the 63d Fighter Squadron, 56th Fighter Group, impacted ~one mile NW of Metfield, Suffolk.^[242][559] Mahurin will somewhat redeem himself on 17 August 1943 when he downs two Focke-Wulf Fw 190s. The 11 August date may be the date that the airframe was officially written off.

8 August 

"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."^[560] Consolidated RB-24E Liberator, 42-7159, c/n 183, built as a B-24E-15-FO, and redesignated in the Restricted category,^[561] of the 605th Bomb Squadron, 399th Bomb Group, Wendover Field, piloted by Herbert Williams, Jr., experienced engine failure^[562] 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 to 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."^[560] 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."^[563] The bomber did not burn.^[564] The locomotives powering the freight were an EMD FTA-FTB semi-permanently coupled pair.

8 August 

"Spokane, Wash., Aug. 8 (UP) - Second Lt. George F. Morris, 28, of San Pedro, California, was killed instantly when the small observation plane he was flying crashed at the seven-mile gunnery range, Geiger field officers announced today."^[565]

10 August 

"Pearl Harbor, Aug. 10, (AP) - A Navy bomber crashed in the Pearl Harbor Navy yard during maneuvers today, killing three of its crew and injuring 17 persons, among them four civilian employes.[sic]."^[566] The aircraft struck a loaded bus and eight civilians died, in addition to the three plane crew.^[567][568]

13 August 

Naval Auxiliary Air Facility Lompoc, California, is commissioned as a blimp base on 8 August 1943. Five days later, as ground crews manoeuver ship K-29 in the damp, foggy morning for launch from Circle #2, the blimp's tail pendants approach a high-voltage power line and 11,000 volts arcs through the ship. Four men holding the metal handling bars on the control car are electrocuted and a fifth is seriously burned. The power company was supposed to have moved this hazard but had not. These were the only fatalities at the Lompoc facility during both civilian and military use.^[569]

14 August

Curtiss XP-60E-CU, 42-79425, is damaged in a forced landing just before being released to the USAAF for official trials. Becomes XP-60C when it is retrofit with wings, landing gear, and other items from the Curtiss XP-60A-CU, 42-79423. Meanwhile, original Curtiss XP-60C-CU, 42-79424, becomes second XP-60E with removal of 2,000 hp (1,500 kW) R-2800-53 engine and contraprops, replaced with R-2800-10 engine and four-blade prop.^[570] Whole P-60 project is essentially a dead-end, being nothing more than Curtiss' attempt to stretch pre-war design that started out as the P-36, and the company's unwillingness or inability to start fresh with a new fighter design will force them out of the airframe business a few years after the war.

16 August

Fleet Air Arm Grumman Avenger I, (TBF-1c), FN762, of 738 Squadron, out of Naval Auxiliary Air Facility Lewiston, Maine, ditches in Sebago Lake near Raymond, Maine and sinks. Crew uninjured. Plane listed as missing, so it's still out there.^[571][572]

18 August

Following a Royal Air Force raid on the test facilities at Peenemünde on 17 August, the Messerschmitt Me 163B Komets of training unit EK 16 are moved to a new airfield at Anklam. The airframes are towed to the new location, with one Komet, ferried by test pilot Paul Rudolf Opitz, suffering malfunctioning flap hydraulics. After casting-off from the tow plane, the rocket fighter's landing skid fails to function, the airframe decelerates over a patch of rough and rutted ground at the end of the landing run following an otherwise normal approach. Pilot suffers two damaged vertebrae due to hard landing, spends three months in hospital. Investigation reveals that a force of 15 to 30Gs were required to cause this injury, and Me 163Bs are subsequently fitted with a torsion sprung seat for the pilot, eliminating this type of injury.^[573]

23 August 

"Madison, Wis., Aug. 24 [Special] - Lt. Harold Nicholson, 25 years old, son of Mr. and Mrs. Jens Nicholson of Madison, was killed last night in a plane crash near Oroville, Cal., the parents were informed today by the war department."^[574] Harold J. Nicholson was killed in the crash of Bell P-39Q-1-BE Airacobra, 42-19593,^[575] of the 363d Fighter Squadron, 357th Fighter Group, two miles N of Oroville Army Air Field.^[576]

29 August 

The Thirteenth Naval District public relations office confirms on 4 September the probable death of five Navy men from Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Washington, whose aircraft went missing on 29 August.^[577] Lockheed PV-1 Ventura, BuNo 34637, of VB-146,^[578] crashed on Mount Baker, Washington, but wreckage only discovered by a hiker in October 1997. There were actually six crew on board, all fatal.^[579]

31 August 

Boeing B-17F-50-BO Flying Fortress, 42-5451,^[580] of the 582d Bomb Squadron, 393d Bomb Group, piloted by James A. McRaven, crashes two miles NE of Kearney Army Air Field, Nebraska,^[581] during a routine training flight, killing all eight crew. Among the dead is Leonard Supulski, 23, former football player for the Philadelphia Eagles.^[100] The 393d was reassigned to Kearney AAF from Sioux City AAB, Iowa, this date.

1 September 

"Great Falls, Mont., Sept. 2. (AP) - Ten crew members of a four-engined bomber from the Great Falls army air base, killed early today when the ship crashed five miles east of Fort Benton, were identified tonight by Capt. John R. Lloyd, base public relations officer, as follows: Sergeant Robert H. Hall, Coldwater, Mich.; Sergeant John T. Huff, Cherokee, Kan.; Sergeant Carl E. Lower, Van Wert, Ohio; Sergeant Chester W. Peko, Throop, Pa.; Private First Class Paul Peterson, Colfax, Wis.; Sergeant Curio C. Thrementi, Vassar, Mich.; Lieutenant Harold L. Wonders, Waterloo, Iowa; Lieutenant Warren H. Maginn, Glendale, Los Angeles; Lieutenant Jack Y. Fisk, Los Angeles, and Lieutenant Arnold J. Gardiner, New York. The crash occurred during a routine training flight."^[582] Boeing B-17F-35-BO Flying Fortress, 42-5128,^[583] of the 612th Bomb Squadron, 401st Bomb Group, was flown by Lt. Maginn.^[584]

2 September 

"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."^[585] Consolidated B-24E-25-FO Liberator, 42-7237, c/n 261,^[586] of the 703d Bomb Squadron, 445th Bomb Group, flown by Lt. "Atkinson", according to the crash report, crashed one mile E of the base.^[587]

2 September 

Boeing B-17F-40-VE Flying Fortress, 42-5977,^[588] of the 540th Bomb Squadron (Heavy), 383d Bomb Group (Heavy), Geiger Field, Washington,^[589] on a routine local flight with three aboard, piloted by Robert P. Ferguson, clips the tops of trees for several blocks, crashes into scrub pines two miles S of Geiger Field and burns. Only three were on the bomber, said a report by Lt. R. E. Reed, public relations officer at the field. Names were withheld pending notification of next of kin.^[590]

3 September

A U.S. Navy ensign is killed when his plane dives into a peat bog near Redmond, Washington, this date, the Thirteenth Naval District public relations office confirms on 4 September.^[577]

4 September 

All eight crew of Consolidated B-24E-25-CF Liberator, 41-29071,^[591] of the 701st Bomb Squadron, 445th Bomb Group, Sioux City Army Air Base, Iowa, piloted by Jack D. Hodges,^[592] are killed when the bomber crashes in a corn field four miles SW of Moville, Iowa.^[593]

4 September 

"Norfolk, Va., Sept. 4 (AP) - Three navy men were killed and a small Negro boy was fatally burned when a navy land plane crashed late Friday near Manteo, N. C., the 5th naval district announced today. A second boy was burned."^[594]

9 September

A Reggiane Re.2000, launched from the Italian battleship Vittorio Veneto to look for survivors of the sunk Italian battleship Roma, subsequently crashes when it tries to land near Ajaccio airfield, Corsica.

9 September

During carrier compatibility trials, test pilot Capt. Eric "Winkle" Brown crashlands Fairey Firefly F Mk.I, Z1844, on the deck of HMS Pretoria Castle when arrestor hook indicator light falsely shows "down" position. Fighter hits crash barrier, shears off its landing gear, shreds propeller, but pilot unhurt.^[595]

11 September 

North American B-25G Mitchell, misreported as 41-13240,^[596] a serial belonging to a Curtiss P-40C, of the 472d Bomb Squadron, 334th Bomb Group, Greenville Army Air Base, South Carolina, piloted by Eugene E. Stocking, collides four miles NW of Spartanburg, South Carolina, with B-25G-5 42-65013, of the same units, flown by Solon E. Ellis. 65013 crashes, killing five crew, while the unidentified Mitchell lands safely.^[597]

11 September 

The prototype Airborne and General MC-1, NX21757, prototype of the XCG-16, begins tests at March Field, California, but on the second flight, inadequately secured ballast comes loose when the glider flies through the Lockheed C-60 glider tug's propwash, causing a catastrophic rearward shift in the centre of gravity. The uncontrollable MC-1A releases from tow and enters a flat spin at 3,000 feet from which it does not recover, and crashes in a plowed field. Three of the crew and passengers bail out but only two survive the parachute jump.^[598] Paul G. Wells and Harry M. Pearl descend safely, but the parachute of Richard Chichester du Pont, 37, who won the national soaring championship five years in a row, serving as special assistant to Gen. Henry "Hap" Arnold, does not open in time and he is killed. Also killed in the wreck are Col. P. Ernest Gabel, another glider specialist, deputy director of the Army Air Forces glider program, on the staff of the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, Washington, D.C., C. C. Chandler, Tarzana, California, test pilot and thrice soaring champion, and test pilot Howard L. Morrison, San Fernando, California.^[599]

12 September 

A U.S. Navy Grumman F4F Wildcat flown by Lieutenant John Lewis Morelle, USNR, 24, of Georgetown, Texas,^[600] strikes a suspension cable of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge. The wings and tail were sheared off and the plane fell burning into the bay 200 feet below. The pilot's body is not recovered. Portions of the wings and tail assembly rained down onto the roadway but no civilian was injured despite many vehicles on the span at the time. Six of seven strands of one suspension cable were snapped, but the safety of the bridge was not endangered.^[601] This was the first time a plane hit the span since its 12 November 1936 opening.^[602]

26 September

A Vought OS2U-3 Kingfisher, BuNo 5767, of VS-34, from Naval Air Station New York, Floyd Bennett Field, crashes 7 miles S of Little Egg Inlet, near Atlantic City, New Jersey. Two survivors, pilot William K. Stevens, and radio operator-gunner Frank W. Talley,^[603] are picked up by Coast Guard 83-foot Wooden Patrol Boat WPB-83340.^[604][605]

29 September 

A Douglas C-53D-DO Skytrooper, 42-68788, of the 93d Troop Carrier Squadron, 439th Troop Carrier Group, departs Alliance Army Airfield, Alliance, Nebraska,^[606] on a night training mission to practice communication with the Scottsbluff Radio Range, but crashes three miles S of the base for unknown reasons shortly thereafter, killing both crew. Heavy fog hindered the search from the air, however, a rancher found the wreckage while checking his stock. KWF were 2d Lt. William Cardie, pilot, of Plainfield, New Jersey, and 2d Lt. Robert G. Bartels, co-pilot, of Blasdell, New York.^[607][608] The left wing had struck the ground.^[609]

2 October

Second prototype Arado Ar 234 V2 crashes at Rheine, near Münster, after suffering fire in port wing, failure of both engines, and various instrumentation failure, the airframe diving into the ground from 4,000 feet (1,200 m), killing pilot Flugkapitän Selle.^[610]

8 October

First (of two) Northrop XP-56 tailless flying wing fighters, 42-1786, suffers blown left main tire during ~130 mph (210 km/h) taxi across Muroc Dry Lake, Muroc Air Base, California. Aircraft tumbles, goes airborne, throws pilot John Myers clear before crashing inverted, airframe destroyed. Pilot, wearing a polo helmet for protection, suffers only minor injuries.^[611]

20 October

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.^[612]

24 October 

Curtiss SB2C Helldiver, of VB-8, coded '8-B-24', suffers major damage in a barrier crash aboard USS Intrepid during shakedown cruise in the Caribbean, engine breaking loose from mounts and dropping down towards the deck adjacent to the island.^[613]

25 October 

Four Consolidated B-24H Liberators of the 724th Bomb Squadron (Heavy), 451st Bomb Group (Heavy), from Fairmont Army Air Field, Nebraska,^[614] 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.^[615] 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,^[616] piloted by 2d Lt. Brown,^[617] while the sole survivor of ten on B-24H-1-FO, 42-7673, flown by 2d Lt. Williams,^[618] was 2d Lt. Melvin Klein, who was thrown free of the wreckage and managed to deploy his parachute.^[619] 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.^[620]

30 October 

U.S. Navy Goodyear ZNP-K airship K-94, BuNo 33486,^[621] probably assigned at NAS Richmond, Florida, on a ferry trip from Guantanamo, Cuba, to San Juan, Puerto Rico, is lost. After the 13th hourly position report at 2200, nothing more is heard from the flight and it disappears abruptly from the shore radar-tracking screen. Eyewitnesses on surface craft report seeing a small flaming object similar to a flare dropping from the airship. Almost immediately afterward, a bright colored flame was noticed, increasing in size until the entire airship was engulfed in flames on its descent into the Caribbean Sea. Eight crew lost. A B-25G-10 Mitchell, 42-65118, of the 417th Bomb Squadron, 25th Bomb Group,^[622] piloted by Jaspar J. Kraynick,^[623] searching for survivors of K-94, also disappears ~3.5 hours later at approximately the same position, 15 miles NW of Borinquen Field.^[624][625]

8 November

Boeing B-17F-75-DL Flying Fortress 42-3553, c/n 8489,^[626] 'QJ-H', "Sad Sack", of the 339th Bomb Squadron, 96th Bomb Group,^[627] crashes at Middle Farm, West Harling, Norfolk, United Kingdom shortly after taking off from RAF Snetterton Heath with the loss of all ten crew.^[628]

10 November

Boeing B-17G-15-DL Flying Fortress, 42-37831, c/n 8517,^[545] suffered a hydraulics and brakes failure at RAF Snetterton Heath and was written off.^[628]

Lt. Walter L. Chewning effecting pilot rescue aboard USS Enterprise, 10 November 1943.

10 November 

U.S. Navy Grumman F6F-3 Hellcat, BuNo 25974,^[629] '30', of VF-2, on a routine training exercise off of USS Enterprise en route to Makin Atoll, piloted by Ensign (later Lieutenant) Byron Milton Johnson of Potter, Nebraska, suffers engine problems, makes emergency landing, catches 3 wire on his third attempt, slams into deck and ends up with port landing gear leg in the port catwalk near 20mm (.78 caliber) Oerlikon anti-aircraft guns. Airframe rests on belly tank, which begins to leak, propeller blades turning against deck edge emit sparks which set fuel alight. Hard landing jams canopy, retaining pin sheared. One of the Pacific war's iconic images is caught as Lieutenant (later Lieutenant Commander) Walter Lewis Chewning of Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, Enterprise new catapult officer, rescues Johnson, stepping on the burning tank to reach the cockpit. While waiting for '30' to be cleared from the deck, Ensign S. S. Osbourne in F6F-3, BuNo 25985, has to ditch. USS Brown picks Osbourne up. Both Hellcats written off.^[630] "Chewning was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for his actions. The commander of VF-2's Air Group, famed fighter pilot Edward "Butch" O'Hare (March 13, 1914 – November 26, 1943) recommended that night that all pilots drop their external tank before landing to prevent such an accident repeating."^[631]

The first XP-55 lies inverted following a crash during flight testing.

15 November

First of three prototypes of the Curtiss XP-55 Ascender, 42-78845, on test flight out of Lambert Field, St. Louis, Missouri, crashes when pilot is unable to recover from a stall, engine then quits, Curtiss test pilot J. Harvey Gray divorces airframe after 16,000-foot (4,900 m) plummet, landing safely, fighter impacts inverted in an open field.^[632][633]

Night of 23–24 November

The Deutsche Luftfahrt Sammlung (Berlin Air Museum), at Lehrter Bahnhof, is destroyed in an RAF bombing raid by 383 aircraft:365 Avro Lancaster, 10 Handley Page Halifax, and 8 de Havilland Mosquito bombers.^[634] Many exhibited aircraft are destroyed, including the Dornier Do-X, the last surviving example of the PZL.30 Żubr, and the Focke-Wulf Cierva C.19a demonstrator, Wrke Nr. 35, D-1960 / D-OBIR.^[635] Surviving types are moved E from Berlin where they are discovered post-war. Most of these survivors are now in the Muzeum Lotnictwa Polskiego w Krakowie, the Polish Aviation Museum, at Kraków, Poland.^[636]

6 December

USAAF Douglas A-20G-20-DO Havoc, 42-86782,^[637] of the 649th Bomb Squadron, 411th Bombardment Group (Light), out of Florence Army Airfield, South Carolina,^[638] crashed near Woodruff, Spartanburg County, South Carolina, three miles E of Switzer. Pilot 2nd Lt. Hampton P. Worrell, 26, (b. 27 September 1917 in South Carolina), gunners Sgt. Harry G. Barnes, 19, (b. 22 September 1924 in New York) and Sgt. John D. Hickman, 21, (b. 31 December 1923 in California), all killed.

7 December

During a joint U.S. Navy–U.S. Marine simulated close air support exercise near Pauwela, Maui, Territory of Hawaii, the pilot of a U.S. Navy Douglas SBD-5 Dauntless, BuNo 36045^[639] of squadron VB-10,^[640] initiates a slight right-hand turn and deploys dive brakes in preparation for a bomb run, but his aircraft is struck by a second VB-10^[640] SBD-5, 36099,^[639] that did not have dive brakes deployed. Both aircraft crash, and a bomb knocked loose from 36045 falls in the midst of a group of marines and detonates, killing 20 and seriously injuring 24. Both SBD pilots parachute to safety, but both SBD gunners die, one after an unsuccessful bailout attempt. The collision is attributed to poor judgment and flying technique by both pilots.^[639] Aviation Archaeology Investigation & Research gives the date of this accident as 6 December.^[640]

9 December 

Boeing B-17G-20-BO Flying Fortress, 42-31468,^[641] "The Galley Uncle", force landed during ferry flight from Gander^[627] in a field adjacent to Graan Monastery, near Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. One crew died and five were saved by local monks.^[642][643]

22 December

Lt. Col. William Edwin Dyess (1916–1943) is killed when the Lockheed P-38G-10-LO Lightning, 42-13441, of the 337th Fighter Squadron, 329d Fighter Group,^[638] he is undergoing retraining in catches fire in flight near Burbank, California. He refuses to bail out over a populated area and dies when his Lightning impacts in a vacant lot at 109 Myers St, Burbank, saving countless civilians on the ground. Dyess had been captured on Bataan in April 1942 by the Japanese, but escaped in April 1943 and fought with guerilla forces on Mindanao until evacuated by the submarine USS Trout in July 1943. Abilene Air Force Base, Texas, is named for him on 1 December 1956.^[644]

29 December

1st Lt Robert L. Duke is killed in the crash of Curtiss A-25A-20-CS Shrike, 42-79823, near Spencer, Tennessee, this date. He was assigned as Assistant A-3 of Eglin Field, Florida. Eglin Auxiliary Field 3 is later named Duke Field in his honor.^[645]

Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress, 42-97493 of the 2nd Ferrying Group out of Dover Army Airfield, crashes 2 miles SW of Gander shortly after takeoff, December 29, 1943. KWF was pilot, 1LT Bruce E. Ryan of Short Hills, NJ, and all crew and passengers. Aircraft was completely consumed by fire pursuant to the crash and no cause was ever determined. <http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/src/dbaat.asp?theAT=B-17&offset=1875>

30 December

Luftwaffe pilot Lt. Joschi Pöhs is killed when, upon takeoff in a Messerschmitt Me 163A of training unit EK 16 from Bad Zwischenahn, near Oldenburg, he releases the takeoff dolly too soon. The bouncing dolly strikes the airframe, apparently damaging a T-Stoff line, and the engine loses power. The pilot banks the Komet round for an attempted landing but just prior to lining up for touchdown a wingtip grazes a flak tower, all control is lost, and the rocket fighter crashes just outside the airfield perimeter. It was felt that if Pōhs had begun his turn back to the airfield immediately after the power loss he would have made a safe return; however, he lowered the landing skid and dropped flaps before beginning the turn and ate up precious altitude.^[646]

Post-December

Sole prototype of the Kawasaki Ki-64 (Allied code name: Rob), an experimental heavy, single-seat fighter with two Ha-40 engines in tandem; one in the aircraft nose, the other behind the cockpit, both being connected by a drive shaft, driving two 3-bladed, contra-rotating propellors, first flown in December 1943. During the fifth flight, the rear engine catches fire, the aircraft makes an emergency landing, but is damaged. The design is subsequently abandoned in mid-1944 in favour of more promising projects. The airframe survives the war and parts are sent to Wright Field for examination.^[647]

1944

January

Thirtieth Mitsubishi J2M2 Raiden (Thunderbolt) disintegrates over Toyohashi airfield. Cause never satisfactorily explained but believed to have been either violent engine shaking due to failed attachment point causing secondary airframe failure, or, possibly, engine cowling detaching and striking tail assembly. Both power attachment points and cowling fasteners strengthened, but Raidens continue to be lost after these modifications.^[648]

2 January 

"Nornick, [sic] Iowa, Jan. 2 (AP) - Nine crew members of a Flying Fortress based at Sioux City, were killed when the plane crashed and burned on a farm near here late today. Persons within a radius of several miles said they saw the plane explode and crash."^[649] B-17F-40-VE, 42-6013, of the 393d CCTS, piloted by Frank R. Hilford, appears to be the airframe involved.^[650]

2 January 

"Sacramento, Calif., Jan. 2 (AP) - Thirteen army flyers were killed today when a B-17 Flying Fortress, headed for Los Angeles from McChord field, Tacoma, Wash., exploded in flight over McClellan field and plunged 3000 feet to the ground in flames. Thousands of Sacramentans, startled by a terrific explosion, looked skyward and saw the crippled and burning four-motored bomber emerge from the overcast sky and fall. Only one member of the plane's crew of 14 escaped the flaming wreckage, parachuting to safety before the crash. He was Maj. James H. Wergen of Kingman field, Ariz., the bomber's home base. The plane went to pieces in the air as it fell, scattering a wingtip, one of its motors and other parts over a vast area. McClellan field authorities said medical officers were attempting to identify the dead, but that names would be withheld pending notification of next of kin."^[651] The B-17G was piloted by Frederick M. Klopfenstein.^[652]

3 January 

CDR. Frank A. Erickson, U.S. Coast Guard, receives an official commendation after he pilots a Sikorsky HNS-1 helicopter with two cases of blood plasma lashed to its floats from New York City to Sandy Hook, New Jersey, for treatment of U.S. Navy crewmen of the destroyer USS Turner, which had exploded, burned, and sunk off New York harbor, this date. In this heroic deed, in violent winds and snow that grounded all other aircraft, Erickson became the first pilot in the world to fly a helicopter under such conditions as well as making the first "lifesaving flight" ever performed by a "chopper". Without the plasma, many of the severely injured survivors of the Turner would have died.^[653]

3 January 

The crash of Cessna AT-17B Bobcat, 42-38897, c/n 3106,^[654] of the 986th SEFTS, Douglas Army Airfield, Arizona,^[655] kills Aviation Cadets Loris Gale, 20, of Walla Walla, Washington, and James C. Gallagher, 20, of Lima, Ohio. The twin-engined trainer came down three miles S of the Cochise Ranger Station, Arizona, said the Douglas Field public relations officer.^[656]

4 January 

Boeing B-17G-10-BO Flying Fortress, 42-31257,^[657] flying in formation with other B-17s, catches fire near Alamo, Nevada, while en route between Indian Springs Army Airfield and Las Vegas Army Airfield, Nevada, and twelve of thirteen aboard bail out. One is killed when his chute fails to open in time, and one aboard the bomber dies in the crash 67 miles NNE of Las Vegas AAF.^[658] Other planes circled the spot where the plane went down and radioed the base news of the crash. "Eleven of their number were brought to the airfield hospital hospital last night (5 January), suffering from minor injuries and exposure after having spent the intervening time in heavy snow on a high mountain plateau."^[659]

8 January

1st Lt. Andrew Biancur, a test pilot of the Medium Bombardment Section of the 1st Proving Ground Group, is killed in crash of Northrop YP-61-NO Black Widow, 41-18883, c/n 711, at Eglin Field this date. Eglin Auxiliary Field 6 is later named in his honor.

8 January 

Five men are killed and two missing in the crash of Consolidated B-24J-40-CO Liberator, 42-73365,^[660] (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,^[661] when it crashes on the grounds of the Idaho National Laboratory,^[662] 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.^[663] 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.^[664]

12 January 

Yank in the R.A.F. ace, Wing Commander Lance C. Wade is killed in a flying accident just after takeoff from Foggia-Main Airfield, Italy, when Auster AOP Mk III, MT415, c/n 506, of Desert Air Force HQ, RAF, stalls and spins in.^[665] Wade was alone.^[666] Wade, from Reklaw, Texas, joined the RAF in Canada in April 1941,^[667] and is credited with 22 kills and two shared.

12 January 

Consolidated B-24D-165-CO Liberator, 42-72887,^[668] c/n 2447,^[669] of Biggs Field, Texas, piloted by 2d Lt. Donald E. Hermo, makes a crash landing 30 miles N of Biggs following mechanical failure.^[670] (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.^[671]

12 January

U.S. Navy Grumman F6F-3 Hellcat, BuNo 66237, c/n A-1257, 'Z 11', suffers engine failure on functional check flight out of NAS San Diego, North Island, California, pilot Ens. Robert F. Thomas ditches in the Pacific Ocean ~12 miles (19 km) from the base, gets clear of sinking airframe and survives to become an ace in the Pacific theatre. Hellcat is discovered in 3,400 feet (1,000 m) of water by Lockheed research submarine RV Deep Quest on 17 March 1970. Recovered by USN on 9 October 1970. An M-2 .50 calibre machine gun from the wing is taken to the Naval Weapons Laboratory at Dahlgren, Virginia, for test firing. Showing little signs of deterioration after the long immersion, the weapon, after cleaning and lubrication, fires without a stoppage or mechanical failure.^[672] Airframe was displayed as of 1974 at Pima County Air Museum, Tucson, Arizona, now at the National Museum of Naval Aviation, NAS Pensacola, Florida.^[673]

13 January 

Boeing B-17G-30-DL Flying Fortress, 42-38094, flown by Ralph M. Calhoon, and B-17G-10-VE, 42-40038, piloted by Thomas W. Williams,^[674] of the 99th Bomb Squadron, collide ~10 miles SW of Brooksville Army Airfield, Florida,^[675] killing four officers and five enlisted men, reports Brigadier General Hume Peabody, commander of the Army Air Forces Tactical Center (AAFTAC), at Orlando. One victim is Sgt. Benjamin B. Estes, son of J. M. Estes, Burley, Idaho.^[676]

13 January 

"Astoria, Ore., Jan 13. (AP) - Two navy planes collided off of the mouth of the Columbia river today and several soldiers were injured in a futile attempt to rescue one of the pilots who parachuted. The pilot of the other plane brought his badly damaged craft back to base. The two planes collided within sight of shore while on routine training flights. One pilot bailed out and was seen floating in the ocean, but observers were unable to determine if he was alive or dead. Soldiers from Fort Stevens went out to the end of the Columbia river's south jetty, but were unable to reach the life-jacketed pilot. A strong wind came up suddenly while the rescue attempt was under way and several soldiers lost their footing on the jetty and toppled to the rocks below. How many were injured or extent of their injuries was not announced."^[677]

14 January

Squadron Leader, B. B. Howe, 28, and Squadron Leader, R. S. Harmon, 25, of the British Royal Air Force bailed out of their disabled plane over the Ohio River about nine miles above St. Marys, West Virginia. The two were flying from Dayton, Ohio, to Bolling Field, Washington, D.C. Harmon parachuted to safety on the West Virginia side of the river while Howe, the pilot, plunged into the river and drowned. The plane crashed against a hillside on the Ohio side of the river and burned. Harmon managed to land against a hillside, but Howe apparently unable to direct his parachute plunged into the ice-filled river. He managed to break loose from his parachute harness just before he went in. He was about midway of the river and remained afloat for about 15 minutes. He was seen struggling to climb onto the ice, which was so thin it broke at his every attempt. Probably exhausted and benumbed with cold he sank and drifted under the ice while witnesses were making hasty efforts to rescue him. His body was recovered two days later about 200 feet from where he went into the river. Both men had engaged in many flights of the RAF, Harmon being credited with twenty-seven bombing raids over Germany. They had been sent to the U. S. to serve as trainers in the field.^[678][679] Basil B.W. Howe was buried in Arlington National Cemetery, Section 15.^[680]

15 January 

Boeing B-17F-50-VE Flying Fortress, 42-6147,^[681] of the 818th Bomb Squadron (H), 483d Bomb Group (H),^[682] MacDill Field, Florida, piloted by William R. Sablotny,^[683] lost in a blizzard over the Allegheny Mountains, crashes three miles N of Rich Mountain, West Virginia, killing six of seven aboard, state police said 16 January.^[684]

15 January 

North American AT-24A-NA Mitchell, 42-87531,^[685] built as a B-25D-30 and converted, of the 311th FTG, La Junta Army Airfield, La Junta, Colorado, flown by 2d Lt. Burton M. Paddock,^[686] former Portland, Oregon, policeman, crashes seven miles E of Rocky Ford Aux #1. The pilot and two California aviation cadets are killed, officials at the La Junta base said 16 January.^[687]

18 January 

Douglas C-47A-60-DL Skytrain, 43-30682,^[688][689] of the 94th Troop Carrier Squadron, 439th Troop Carrier Group, Laurinburg–Maxton Army Air Base, South Carolina, piloted by Ralph L. Zimmerman,^[690] experiences engine failure on takeoff from Oakland Airport, and falls on an East Oakland residential area, coming down at 38th and Mare Streets, Oakland, California. All eight aboard die as the plane demolishes one house and sets two others afire. "The demolished house was that of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur E. Jacobsen, who escaped death because they were having breakfast in the only room left even reasonably intact. As the plane struck and exploded both were thrown to the floor. A neighbor, Mrs. Gwendolyn Wright, was thrown from her bed, which overturned on her. Her home partly burned but she and her 12-year-old son escaped serious injury."^[691]

21 January 

Army pilot 2d Lt. Harry E. Pape,^[692] of Sacramento, California, bails out of Bell P-39Q Airacobra, 42-8862, out of Concord Army Air Base, California,^[693] moments before it crashes aboard Naval Air Station Alameda, California, within feet of Building 5.^[694][695] Flying debris injures ten employees in Building 5, three seriously. A Navy photo of the pilot descending under his canopy is carried by Associated Press wirephoto on 23 January. He is not injured.^[692]

22 January 

Two Consolidated RB-24E Liberators 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,^[696] piloted by Carlos N. Clayton,^[697][698] makes a crash landing in a swamp, none of the eight crew suffering serious injury despite the aircraft being virtually demolished.^[699]

25 January 

Consolidated B-24E-25-DT Liberator, 41-28544,^[700] of the 34th Combat Crew Training Squadron, Blythe Army Airfield, California, piloted by Donald J. Harris,^[701] crashes four miles N of Quartzsite, Arizona, killing all seven aboard, Col. Dave Wade, commandant of Blythe AAF, announces on 26 January.^[702]

28 January

Col. Robin E. Epler, deputy commander (Technical) of the Air Proving Ground Command, Eglin Field, Florida, is killed this date in crash of Douglas A-20G-10-DO Havoc, 42-54016, one mile (1.6 km) NE of Crestview, Florida. Eglin Auxiliary Field No. 7 is named in his honor.

31 January 

Short Stirling, EF232, of 1660 HCU, departs RAF Swinderby for a night exercise, with a crew that includes a pupil pilot and two flight engineers. The aircraft crashes at Carlton-le-Moorland at 2132 hrs., shortly after takeoff, killing all eight aboard, although some linger until the next day.^[703]

4 February

Boeing B-17F-90-BO Flying Fortress, 42-30188, "Temptation", with nose art of a black cat considering dropping a bomb,^[704] previously "Kats Sass II", 'MZ S' of the 413th Bomb Squadron, 96th Bomb Group, during takeoff for a Frankfort mission,^[705] suffers runaways on Nos. 1 and 2 propellers. Lt. Joseph Meacham attempts landing at near-by as yet unfinished base, but crash lands at East Shropham, Norfolk, NNW of RAF Snetterton Heath.^[706] All eleven crew survive but the aircraft is damaged beyond repair and is written off, fit only for parts salvage.^[628]

12 February 

Lt. James P. (Jimmy) Christy, (20 November 1915 – 12 February 1944) former Chicago Catholic Youth Organization boxing champion, and later a contender for the world professional Featherweight title,^[707] is killed in the crash of Lockheed P-38J-10-LO Lightning, 42-67913, of the 311th Ferry Squadron, 27th Air Transport Group, RAF Langford Lodge, (Army Air Force Station 597),^[708][709] Northern Ireland, near Hawarden, Wales. Christy enlisted in the Army Air Forces in 1942, was commissioned at Randolph Field, Texas, and served as a flight instructor before being posted overseas. He is survived by his mother, Mrs. Mary Christy, 550 Surf Street, Chicago.^[710]

16 February

Focke-Wulf Ta 152 V19, Werke Nummer 110019, prototype for the Ta 152B-5/R11 (Ta 152C-3/R11) with 1,750 hp (1,300 kW) Jumo 213A engine, is written off this date in a crash during test flight out of Langenhagen. Airframe had been damaged in 1943 wheels-up landing during testing but was repaired.^[711]

18 February

Curtiss C-46A-10-CU Commando, 41-12339, c/n 26466, of the 3d OTU, Henry F. Harvey piloting,^[712] departs McClellan Field, California, at 0045 hrs. on a flight to homebase at Reno Army Air Base, Nevada. Some 15 minutes after takeoff arcing wiring ignites hydraulic fluid. The fire burns though oxygen lines and de-icer lines, airframe impacting in American River Canyon, California. Five crew members bailed out, ~0100 hrs., but two died when exiting the plane.^[713]

Douglas SBD-2 Dauntless, BuNo 2173, of the Carrier Qualification Training Unit, NAS Glenview, Illinois, piloted by LTJG. John Lendo, suffers engine failure, probably due to caburetor icing, while on approach to a Type IX training carrier on Lake Michigan. Pilot ditches dive bomber and is rescued. On 19 June 2009, the airframe was retrieved from the lake bottom and will go to the Pacific Aviation Museum on Ford Island, Oahu, Hawaii.^[714]

11 March

Two Consolidated B-24H Liberators of the 782d Bomb Squadron (H), 465th Bomb Group (H), deployed temporarily at Oudna Field #1 (says one source)^[715] or Oudna Field #2 (according to another account)^[716], near Tunis while the intended base, Pantanella Army Air Base, in south central Italy, is prepared for the heavy bomb group, suffer a mid-air collision during a training mission with both demolished. B-24H-15-FO, 42-52471,^[717] piloted by Charles A. Melody,^[718] and B-24H-15-FO, 42-52551,^[719] flown by Robert E. Murphy,^[720] are destroyed and both full crews killed.^[721]

23 March

Consolidated B-24J-25-CO Liberator, 42-73228,^[722] of the 3330th Combat Crew Training Squadron,^[723] on training mission out of Biggs Field, Texas, crashes into the eastern slope of Franklin Mountain near El Paso, Texas, at 2240 hrs. during routine training flight. Seven crewmen are killed in the crash: 1st Lt. Lyle R. Jensen, Big Springs, Nebraska, whose wife was in El Paso; 2nd Lt. Benjamin C. Fricke, Indianapolis, Indiana; 2nd Lt. Robert Spears, Indianapolis; 2nd Lt. Donald B. Harris, Deming, New Mexico; Staff Sgt. Richard I. Stoney, Stoneham, Massachusetts; Sgt. William T. Hinson, Norwood, North Carolina; and Sgt. John H. House, Black River, New York.^[724]

24 March

Major-General Orde Charles Wingate flies to assess the situations in three Chindit-held bases in Burma. On his return, flying from Imphal to Lalaghat, the USAAF North American B-25H-1-NA Mitchell bomber, 43-4242,^[725][726] of the 1st Air Commando Group^[727] in which he is traveling crashes into jungle-covered hills near Bishnupur, Manipur, in the present-day state of Manipur in Northeast India. He is killed along with nine others.^[728] Local thunderstorms with extreme turbulence have been suggested as the cause of the crash. Remains of Wingate and crew are later recovered and interred at Arlington National Cemetery.

24 March

Royal Air Force tailgunner Flight Sergeant Nicholas Alkemade jumps without a parachute from a burning Avro Lancaster BMk.II, DS664,^[729] 'S for Sugar', of No. 115 Squadron RAF, E of Schmallenberg, flying at 18,000 ft (5,500 m) during a raid on Germany. Alkemade falls into a forest and is decelerated by fall through tree branches before landing in deep snowdrift. Alkemade survives fall with severe bruising and a sprained leg. Captured and unable to show them his parachute, his captors disbelieve his story and suspect him of being a spy until he shows them bruising and indentation in snowdrift. Alkemade finishes war in Stalag Luft III and dies in 1987.

TBF ramp strike, 25 March 1944.

25 March 

Grumman TBF-1 Avenger, BuNo 24295, of VC-9, piloted by Lt.(jg) William Francis Chamberlain,^[730] suffers a ramp strike coming aboard USS Solomons, during operations in the Atlantic while en route from NS Norfolk, Virginia, to Recife, Brazil.^[731] Despite the aircraft exploding and falling into the sea, the two aviators in the rear fuselage are rescued by the plane guard destroyer. Pilot stayed with the forward section which remained on deck.^[732] They will perish while sinking U-860 at dusk on 15 June 1944,^[733] when their Avenger is caught in the blast from its low-altitude depth charge drop.^[734] This ramp strike incident has been misreported as occurring 25 May 1944, and the pilot identified as William F. Chamberlin. Chamberlain had heavily damaged U-569 on 22 May 1943, which led to its scuttling in mid-Atlantic.

31 March / 1 April 

Marshal Admiral Mineichi Koga, commander-in-chief of the Imperial Japanese Navy's Combined Fleet, is killed when his plane, a Kawanishi H8K2 "Emily" flying boat, crashes at 0200 hrs. during a typhoon between Palau and Davao while overseeing the withdrawal of the Combined Fleet from its Palau headquarters on this date. His death is not announced until May 1944 when he is formally replaced by Admiral Soemu Toyoda. Koga was promoted to Marshal Admiral posthumously and he was accorded a state funeral. His grave is at the Tama Cemetery, outside of Tokyo. Eight others on board survive the crash.^[735]

8 April

Fifth Fisher XP-75-GC Eagle, 44-32163, out of the Fisher Plant No.2, Cleveland, Ohio, crashes at Cleveland after pilot engaged in low-level aerobatics that reportedly exceeded the placarded limitations. Pilot Hamilton J. Wagner^[736] killed.^[737]

9 April

Fairey Albacore, X9117, of No. 415 Squadron RCAF, engaged in a fighter affiliation exercise, crashes near Bosham, West Sussex while making a low turn. All four crew KWF.^[738]

9 April

Consolidated B-24D-135-CO Liberator, 42-41128, c/n 2203,^[739] 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,^[740] Mojave, California, while on a routine training mission to simulate a long range bombing mission. All ten crew members are KWF.^[741][742] Site rediscovered in 2005.

11 April

Short Stirling B.Mk.III, EH947, of 75 Squadron, suffers engine failure during non-operational flight, force-landed at Icklingham, Suffolk.^[743]

13 April

After downing 3 planes on 8 April,^[744] Don Gentile was the top scoring 8th Air Force ace when he crashed his personal North American P-51B-7-NA Mustang, 43-6913, 'VF-T', named "Shangri La", this date while stunting over the 4th Fighter Group's airfield at Debden for a group of assembled press reporters and movie cameras. He buzzed the airfield too low, struck the rising ground, and broke the back of his fighter.^[745][746] Col. Donald Blakeslee immediately grounded Major Gentile as a result, even though his combat tour was completed, and he was sent back to the US for a tour selling War Bonds.

13 April

During a Naval Air Training Command (NATC) evaluation flight of a Budd RB-1 Conestoga prototype, U.S. Navy BuNo 39293, NX37097, at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland, the aircraft crashed, killing one of the crew.^[747] The aircraft was damaged beyond repair and written off, but the pilot reported that the stainless steel construction of the plane contributed to saving his life.

15 April

Second prototype Dornier Do 335 V2, Werkenummer 230002, CP+UB, suffers rear engine fire while undergoing testing at the Erprobungsstelle Rechlin central Luftwaffe test facility just outside Rechlin, Germany, written off.^[748][749]

19 April

U.S. Navy K-class blimp K-133, of ZP-22, operating out of Naval Air Station Houma, Louisiana, is caught in a thunderstorm while patrolling over the Gulf of Mexico. Ship goes down and twelve of thirteen crew are lost. Sole survivor is recovered after spending 21 hours in the water.^[750]

21 April

Generaloberst Hans-Valentin Hube (29 October 1890 – 21 April 1944), a German general who served in the German Army during the First and Second World Wars, and recipient of the Diamonds to the Knight's Cross, is killed when the Heinkel He 111 which was shuttling him to Berlin crashes shortly after takeoff in Salzburg at Ainring. Hube was nicknamed der Mensch ("The Man" or better "The human being") by his troops during the Second World War.^[751]

21 April

Southeast door of blimp hangar at Naval Air Station Houma, Louisiana, goes inoperable, is chained open. A gust of wind carries three Goodyear ZNP-K airships, all of ZP-22, out into the night; K-56, BuNo 30178, travels 4.5 miles (7.2 km), crashes into trees, K-57, BuNo 30179, explodes and burns 4 miles (6.4 km) from the air station, K-62, BuNo 30184, fetches up against high-tension powerlines a quarter mile away, burns. K-56 is salvaged, sent to Goodyear at Akron, Ohio, repaired and returned to service.^[750][752]

24 April 

A Boeing B-17G-55-BO Flying Fortress, 42-102685, of the 271st Air Base Unit, Kearney Army Airfield, Kearney, Nebraska, crashes six miles N of Bertrand, Nebraska,^[753] after an oxygen fire breaks out in flight.^[754] Six crew bail out but both pilots are killed. Dead were 2d Lt. Thomas G. Eppinger, pilot, of Huntington Woods, Michigan; and 2d Lt. Robert D. Shaw, co-pilot, of Vicksburg, Mississippi. Survivors were 2d Lt. Voris H. Fabik, navigator, of East St. Louis, Illinois; 2d Lt. Lewis E. Louraine, bombardier, of Purcell, Oklahoma; 2d Lt. Robert Durocher, assistant bombardier, hometown not available; S/Sgt. Clifford M. Bowen, engineer, of Jefferson, Oregon; S/Sgt. Obert M. Lay, radioman, of Aurora, Illinois; and Sgt. James T. Grantham, waist gunner, of Phoenix, Arizona.^[755][756]

8 May 

Vought OS2U-2 Kingfisher, BuNo 3092, suffers midair collision with OS2U-3 Kingfisher, BuNo 5422, 1/2 mile S of NAS Pensacola, Florida.^[98]

10 May 

An instructor pilot and a student pilot flying Vultee BT-13B Valiant, 42-90353, of the 262d Combat Crew Training School,^[757][758] back to Bruning Army Air Field, Nebraska, after a training session, and Republic P-47D-15-RA Thunderbolt, 42-23149, of the same unit,^[759][760] whose pilot had been conducting individual training, returning to the same airfield, suffer a mid-air collision. Neither pilot was aware of the other aircraft's presence and both planes were far from the airfield control tower. After both aircraft made simultaneous turns, they were headed directly toward one another at high speed. They struck at approximately 4,000 feet, causing both aircraft to spiral toward the ground. The BT-13 crashed on the Frank Stych farm, ~3 miles W and 2 miles S of Milligan. The P-47 crashed on the Fred and Dorothy Stych farm, ~3 miles W and 3 miles S of Milligan. The P-47 pilot, F/O John Dobony, was killed. Both pilots in the BT-13 bailed out. The instructor pilot, 2d Lt. Frank W. Mrenak, survived, but the student pilot, 1st Lt. William D. Jaeger, lost his life. A Nebraska historical marker was erected in 2010 by the Milligan Memorial Committee for the World War II Fatal Air Crashes near Milligan, Nebraska.^[620] Accident reports give the location of the crash as 3 miles E of Ohiowa, Nebraska.^[761]

15 May 

Ex-RAF de Havilland Mosquito B.IV, DK296, formerly flown by 105 Squadron as 'GB-G', delivered to the Soviet Union for testing on 19 April 1944 by Soviet flight crew, is written off this date in landing accident at Sverdlovsk when pilot A. I. Kabanov loses control with engines at low power setting, turns to port, runs off runway, shears off landing gear and skids to a stop on its belly. Pilot and navigator P. I. Perevalov unhurt. This was the ninth flight of DK296 (which never received a Soviet serial) since it arrived in Russia and was the only Mosquito delivered to Russia. Kabanov was the Deputy Director of the Scientific Research Institute of the Air Force at this time, and had much experience flying foreign types.^[762]

16 May 

Two Fleet Air Arm Vought Corsair Is of 732 Naval Air Squadron, HMS Saker, out of NAS Brunswick, crash into Sebago Lake, Maine, killing Royal Navy pilots SubLt. Vaughan Reginald Gill and SubLt. Raymond L. Knott. Knott, in JT160, ex-USN BuNo 18182, hit the water first and then Gill, in JT132, ex-USN BuNo 18154, struck the water column from the first crash (or possibly collided with JT160 on a skip)^[763] and went into the lake inverted. Neither pilot's body was recovered. When Historic Aircraft Restoration Corp. located one airframe in July 2003, they attempted to lay claim to the salvage rights,^[764] but a federal judge ruled in November 2003 that admiralty law does not apply as the lake is non-navigable from a federal standpoint, so ownership of the lake bottom and of the airframes lies with the State of Maine.^[765] By dismissing the case, the judge essentially ruled for the Maine and British governments, both of which oppose salvage as the airframes are regarded as wargraves.^[766][767]

16 May 

Lt. Cmdr. David Wooster Taylor, 32, departs NAS Quonset Point, Rhode Island, for a routine training mission in Grumman F6F-3 Hellcat, BuNo 41944,^[768] but is killed when his fighter crashes and burns at the Sunset Valley Reservation in East Greenwich. The First Naval District headquarters at Boston said that Taylor was survived by his wife Virginia, 24, of North Kingston, and two young children, Jean, 4, and David Wooster Taylor III, 3.^[769]

28 May

Luftwaffe Messerschmitt Bf 109G-6, 'Red 3', formerly carrying RQ+DR, werke nummer 163306, crashes into Lake Trzebun in Pomerania, northwest Poland in 0831 hrs. takeoff accident from airfield at Gebbert (now Jaworze), killing pilot Feldwebel Ernst Pleines of 2 Staffel, Jagdgruppe West. (Luftwaffe Verlustmeldung 174 – Casualty Report 174.) He was buried 15 June at Gebbert. Wreck discovered June 1999 in 56 feet (17 m) of water, subsequently recovered by Gdańsk-based Klub Pletwonurków Rekin (Shark Divers' Club) for the Polish Eagles Aviation Foundation for restoration and display.^[770]

29 May

Luftwaffe fighter experten Friedrich-Karl "Tutti" Müller (140 victories in 600 combat sorties) is killed in a landing accident at Salzwedel, when his Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-6, Werknummer 410827, stalls on landing approach at low altitude. He is posthumously promoted to Oberstleutnant.^[771]

4 June 

Capt. James W. Wilkinson, 31, of Swarthmore, Pennsylvania,^[772] C.O. of the 82d Fighter Squadron, 78th Fighter Group, theorizes that if steam locomotives can be hit in the right places when strafed they will be put out of action for months rather than weeks. "The RAF was keen for him to demonstrate his theory, and arranged for a real locomotive to serve as his target in Wales. The exercise was scheduled for 4 June, but bad weather en route from Duxford held up Wilkinson's flight clearance. In an effort to get airborne he radioed the control tower and stated that he was going on a local test flight."^[773] Heading west, he flew Republic P-47D-22-RE Thunderbolt, 42-26256,^[774] 'MX-G',^[775] into a mist-shrouded mountain ~4.5 miles NE of Llandovery, in Carmarthenshire, Wales, and was killed. Wilkinson transferred to the 78th FG in November 1943 and became commanding officer of the 82d FS on 23 May 1943. He was awarded the Air Medal, Distinguished Flying Cross with 4 oak leaf clusters, Distinguished Service Cross and the Silver Star.^[776] He was credited with seven victories, six air, one ground.^[777]

8 June 

Two North American B-25J Mitchell bombers collide in mid-air over the Kalihi neighborhood of Honolulu, five miles E of Hickam Field. B-25J-1-NC, 43-27786, piloted by James L. Pauley, and B-25J-5-NC, 43-27842, flown by James M. Owens II,^[778] plunge into a congested residential area, setting eleven or twelve dwellings alight. Ten women and children are killed in addition to all four air crew. This appears to be the largest death toll in a single fire in the history of the Hawaiian Islands.^[779][780]

8 June

Consolidated 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.^[165][781]

9 June

Mid-air collision between two Naval Auxiliary Air Facility Lewiston-based Vought Corsair I fighters, JT128, flown by Mid. Edward Fredrick Kingsley Webb, and JT183, flown by SubLt. Richard George Bennett, over Lewiston, Maine; both are able to land and crew are uninjured.^[571][572]

11 June 

2d Lt. Lawrence R. Casey, on a fighter sweep on D-Day + 5 in Republic P-47D-11-RE Thunderbolt, 42-75610, of the 83d Fighter Squadron, 78th Fighter Group, out of USAAF Station 357, RAF Duxford, suffers prop failure due to lack of oil, but suffers no fire, and bails out, coming down ~10 miles N of Evreux, France. Hidden by the Resistance, he meets up with the 66th Tank Regiment on 25 June and soon is aboard a C-47 back to England.^[782]

12 June

On this date, IJN submarine I-10 assembled and launched her Yokosuka E14Y to reconnoiter Majuro, in the Marianas. "Since the American expeditionary force had departed six days earlier, the aviator saw nothing important, and his plane, crashing on landing, had to be abandoned."^[783] I-10 will be sunk on 4 July 1944.

Circa 13 June

As Vice Admiral Jisaburō Ozawa sorties from Tawi-Tawi for Operation A-Go, a deck crash occurs "that cast a deep gloom over the Mobile Fleet. A Jill torpedo-bomber, flown by an inexpert pilot, made a crash landing on the deck of flagship Taihō, collided with another bomber, burst into flames; and before the fire was put out two Zekes, two Judys and two Jills had been consumed. To the Japanese mind this was more than the loss of six valuable planes; coming so shortly after the sortie, it was considered an evil omen."^[784][785] Taihō, commissioned on 7 March 1944, will sink on 19 June during the Battle of the Philippine Sea after suffering a single torpedo hit from the USS Albacore, due to explosions resulting from design flaws and poor damage control.

13 June 

The Bäckebo Bomb – A German Aggregat-4 (Vergeltungswaffe 2) rocket, V-89, c/n 4089, specially equipped to be hand-controlled in flight by the Wasserfall anti-aircraft system, test-fired from Peenemünde, goes astray, exploding at ~1605 hours over a cornfield at gräsdals gård in Knivingaryd, close to Bäckebo, N of Nybro in Småland,^[786] near Kalmar, Sweden, creating a 13-foot wide crater after a flight of 350 km. The Swedish government later transfers two tons of debris to England, transported in a Douglas Dakota, reportedly in exchange for two squadrons of new tanks,^[787] or Supermarine Spitfires. The last leg of the delivery flight, from Scotland to London, was flown by Bernt Balchen.^[786]

20 June

Lt. Donald A. Innis, U.S. Navy, out of the Naval Ordnance Test Station at Inyokern, California, flying over the Salton Sea in Southern California on a rocket firing flight, launches weapon but the rocket body explodes prematurely on his starboard wing. His F6F-3 Hellcat, BuNo 40860,^[788] which was in a 15-degree dive at the time went into a slow spin and crashed into the sea.^[789]

22 June 

A U. S. Army Air Force Luke Field flight instructor, flying low over Highway 89 near Wittmann, Arizona, becomes momentarily distracted and accidentally strikes an automobile, the wing of his AT-6 Texan^[790] decapitating a motorist. "Marana Field, Ariz., July 15 [Special] - Convicted of murder in the decapitation of a motorist with the wing of his low flying plane on an Arizona highway, a 21 year old Luke field flying instructor today heard a court martial order him imprisoned for life at hard labor and dismissed from the service. The officer, Lt. Howard E. Stittsworth of Wakefield, Kas., was ordered confined to his quarters at Luke field pending a review of the verdict by Maj. Gen. Ralph Cousins, commanding general of the western flying training command, by the judge advocate general in Washington, D. C., and by President Roosevelt. Lt. Dean C. Fundingsland, 23, Grand Forks, N. D., senior officer in the plane with Stittsworth at the time of the accident, was convicted Monday of a violation of flying regulations and was ordered dismissed from the service. Standing at attention as the verdict was read, Lt. Stittsworth appeared stunned by the decision. He closed his eyes momentarily as if comprehending the significance of the sentence. He turned and slumped into a chair with his head in his arms as members of his defense staff consoled him. The dark haired officer admitted on the stand yesterday that he was piloting a plane that bounced on the highway near Wittmann, Ariz., on June 22 and decapitated Earl W. Nepple, Los Angeles, Cal., hotel man. Stittsworth said he was flying low between two auxiliary fields adjacent to highway 89 and was leaning into the cockpit, trying to fix a balky landing gear, when he felt an impact. He said he was not aware of an automobile below him. Corp. Hammond Waugh, Luke field, who was inspecting lights on an auxiliary field, testified that the plane flew low over the field, 'buzzing' his truck."^[791][792]

29 June

Republic P-47D-1-RA Thunderbolt, 42-22331, c/n 82, accepted 30 March 1943, of C Flight, 1st AF / 1st FG / E Section / 124th Base Unit (Fighter), "A-362", from Bluethenthal AAF, piloted by 2nd Lt. Robert B Boyd, Jr., makes gear-up crash landing on Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina. Abandoned in place, the hulk of the wings and lower fuselage is uncovered by Hurricane Floyd in 1999. Now stored at the Carolinas Aviation Museum, Charlotte, North Carolina. Pictures of salvage on beach March 2000, P-47G Salvage c/o Carolina Military Gallery.

11 July

U.S. Army Lt. Phillip "Phee" Russell was attempting to land his Douglas A-26B-5-DT Invader, 43-22253, at the Portland-Westbrook Municipal Airport at 1645 hrs. this date.^[793] For reasons that were never fully determined, Russell lost control of the plane and crashed into a trailer park in a nearby neighborhood in South Portland, Maine. Two crew, and 19 people on the ground were killed and 20 people were injured—mostly women and children—making it the worst aviation accident in Maine history.^{[571][572][794][795]}

11 July

A U.S. Army Air Force Boeing B-17G-75-BO Flying Fortress, 44-38023,^[796][797] en route from Kearney Army Airfield, Nebraska, to Dow Field, Maine, for overseas deployment, crashes into Deer Mountain in Parkertown Township in North Oxford, Maine, during a thunderstorm, killing all ten crew: Sgt. James A. Benson, Sgt. Gerald V. Biddle, 2nd Lt. John T. Cast, 2nd Lt. John W. Drake, 2nd Lt. William Hudgens, Cpl. John H. Jones, Staff Sgt. Wayne D. McGavran, Sgt. Cecil L. Murphy, 2nd Lt. Robert S. Talley, and Sgt. Clarence M. Waln. Locals saw the plane circling before it struck terrain 500 feet below the summit. It apparently descended below the clouds, struck treetops, and cartwheeled across the mountainside. Two days later, after a search by more than 100 spotters from the Civil Air Patrol, the Army Air Force, the Navy, and the Royal Canadian Air Force, the Boeing B-17's wreckage was found on the side of the mountain. Ironically, this is the second worst military crash in Maine history, and it occurred the same day as an A-26 Invader crash at Portland that killed 21.^[571][572]

The earlier Ju 88 R-1 nightfighter flown to RAF Dyce by its defecting crew the year before the 13 July 1944 event

13 July

A Luftwaffe Junkers Ju 88 G-1 night fighter of 7 Staffel/NJG 2, bearing Geschwaderkennung code 4R+UR, on North Sea night patrol landed at RAF Woodbridge. This aircraft carried recent versions of the FuG 220 Lichtenstein SN-2 VHF-band radar, FuG 350 Naxos-Z and FuG 227 Flensburg homer^[798] which were being successfully used to intercept RAF night bombers. The German crew had only just completed 100 hours of flight training, and had flown by compass heading, but proceeded on a reciprocal (opposite) course to that intended and thought they were over their own airfield. Within days, the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) analysed the radar equipment and devised countermeasures. This 'coup' repeated the events of the previous year, when a similar radar-equipped Ju 88 (pictured) was flown by a defecting crew to the UK.

14 July 

The crash of Beechcraft UC-45B Expeditor, 43-35569, of the 115th Base Unit, Godman Army Airfield, Fort Knox, Kentucky,^[799] in a violent storm, at Chattanooga, Tennessee, kills U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Paul W. Newgarden, commander of the 10th Armored Division, and five other officers, including two colonels. "In the plane, which disintegrated after crashing headlong through an orchard, were Col. Renn Lawrence, commander of a combat unit; 2d Lt. J. R. Lockett, Granada,[sic] Miss.; Flight Officer E. S. Ihle, Slater, Ia., and Staff Sgt. F. J. Allbright, Bradford, O. The army withheld the name of the second colonel, pending notification of next of kin. All were en route from Fort Knox, Ky., to Augusta, Ga., where Gen. Newgarden was to have reviewed troops of the 10th armored division in celebration of the second anniversary of his command. Col. Howard Clark, Fort Oglethorpe commander, said the plane was torn into small pieces when it sheared through the orchard after narrowly missing a dormitory of the Bonny Oaks school."^[800][801] The twin-engined aircraft, piloted by Everett S. Ihle, comes down three miles NE of Chattanooga Municipal Airport.^[802]

15 July 

Consolidated B-24J-5-FO Liberator, 42-50871,^[803] of the 272d Base Unit, Topeka AAF, Kansas, piloted by Levine S. Nelson, crashes one mile NW of Ashville, New York,^[804] 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."^[805][801] 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.

16 July 

Royal Air Force Douglas Dakota III, KG472, c/n 12584, built as C-47A-15-DK, USAAF 42-92749, to RAF in March 1944,^[806] with No. 267 Squadron RAF, departs Bari Airport, Italy, on a special infiltration and evacuation mission to Yugoslavia. At Tičevo landing ground (the partisan airfield Cemerica at Bosanska Dubica), the pilot attempted a go around after overshooting.^[807] The aircraft gained height rapidly for a short distance then rapidly lost height as the pilot retracted the flaps and crashed at 2315 hrs. about 500 yards beyond the end of the flare path. striking the ground on an even keel with both motors under power. A Court of Inquiry found that, "the accident was caused by the retraction of the flaps when the aircraft was at low speed near the ground." Four crew and 17 passengers were on board of which 11 were killed, one died of injuries later and nine injured. Other passengers were Yugoslavians. The dead are now buried in the Belgrade War Cemetery, with exception of Air Commodore Guy Lloyd Carter DSO AFC of HQ Balkan AF who subsequently died at Bari Hospital on 18 July 1944 and who is buried at Bari War Cemetery. Among the injured passengers were Winston Churchill's SOE agent son, Randolph Spencer-Churchill, Capt. Evelyn Waugh and Mr P Jordan all of the British Mission.^[808] Spencer-Churchill sustains back and knee injuries, while Waugh is severely burned.^[809]

18 July

Hauptman Werner Thierfelder, unit commander of Erprobungskommando 262, out of Lechfeld, is lost in crash of Me 262A (Me 262 S6), W. Nr. 130011, VI+AK, under unclear circumstances. Luftwaffe records indicate that he was shot down but U.S. and British records show no comparable engagement. A possible cause is that Thierfelder exceeded the airframe's limiting Mach number in a dive, perhaps while pursuing an Allied reconnaissance aircraft, leading to an irrecoverable dive.^[810] Pilot bailed out but chute failed, possibly due to ripping, and he landed near the airframe crash site. This was the first combat loss of the 262.^[811]

19 July 

Boeing B-17G-60-BO Flying Fortress, 42-102937, "Ready Freddie", of the 412th Bomb Squadron, 95th Bomb Group,^[812] crashed at RAF Duxford, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom, when attempting to buzz the airfield at too low an altitude. The aircraft clipped a hangar and crashed into a barracks block killing all thirteen on board and one person on the ground.^[628]

20 July 

Two North American P-51C Mustangs of Pinellas RTU, III Fighter Command, depart Pinellas Army Air Field, Florida, at 0700 hrs. EWT on a local gunnery training mission, but instead of flying the briefed mission, the pilots flew to Jacksonville, 180 miles distant, where 2d Lt. John Keane "Jack" Egar, in P-51C-5-NT, 42-103655,^[813][814] descended at ~0745 hrs. to ~75 feet altitude to buzz his childhood home at 2749 Post Street. He struck two trees and the plane skidded across the street, hit a third tree, several houses and a line of garages. "The engine went through an apartment building, where, according to the July 21, 1944, edition of The Florida Times-Union, it narrowly missed a married couple and their 9-year-old daughter, before coming to a stop in the middle of Willow Branch Avenue."^[815][816] Egar's body was found in the wreckage.^[817][818] His wingman, 2d Lt. James R. Cope, apparently jerked on his controls in P-51C-5-NT, 42-103728,^[819][820] to avoid Egar's fighter, the Army report said, and he then hit a different cluster of trees. "His plane followed a course behind the homes on Post Street before hitting 2865 Post St. That house was demolished by fire and the house next door was gutted by the flames, the report said." Cope was killed, as was Millard E. McGhee, "a 27-year-old shoe store manager, who was in his bathroom shaving when the engine of Cope's plane came through the wall and hit him. According to the report, 18 houses and four apartment buildings sustained some level of damage. So did a dozen garages and eight vehicles. Remarkably, only one civilian was killed. Three others were injured, one seriously."^{[815][821][822]} The cause was found to be pilot error and negligence.^[817][818] A commemoration of the accident was held at the crash site on 21 July 2012.^[822]

21 July

Royal Navy Vought Corsair I, JT117, of 738 Naval Air Squadron, out of Naval Auxiliary Air Facility Lewiston, Maine, crashes in Mount Vernon woods (Cottle Hill area) following engine failure, killing Sub-Lt. Peter John Cann.^[571][572]

21 July

Three US Army Air Force Douglas C-47s (42-100712, 42-92115, and 43-30664) disappear while flying at 500 feet over the Atlantic Ocean. The three aircraft lost radio contact with the squadron leader and flew into a storm.^[823] Lost aboard 42-100712 were: 1Lt. William E. Bechelm, Jr., of Illinois, 2Lt. Oakes M. Colwell of New Jersey, 2Lt. Donald W. Copeland of Iowa, Sergeant Leo C. Fair of Louisiana, and Sergeant Edward G. Hillman of Pennsylvania. Lost aboard 42-92115 were: 1Lt. Chris C. Nicorvo of New Jersey, 2Lt. Junior R. Davidson of Oklahoma, Flight Officer James M. Crew of Alabama, Staff Sergeant Fred J. Carini of Pennsylvania, and Sergeant Frank E. Sherwood of New York. Lost aboard 43-30664 were: Captain Robert J. Miskell of Ohio, 2Lt. Milton J. Verberg of Michigan, 2Lt. Walter H. Zuidema (origin unknown), Corporal Roger O. Weston of Massachusetts, and Sergeant Ben L. Dean of Texas

23 July

Two Curtiss RA-25A Shrikes, of the 4134th Base Unit, Spokane Army Air Field,^[824] collide in flight while participating in a flypast for an air show near Spokane, Washington. Part of a three-plane formation, the left-hand aircraft collided with the middle plane during a turn, both crashing into a valley. Pilot 2nd Lt. George E. Chrep and engineer-rated passenger Sgt. Joseph M. Revinskas were killed in the crash of 42-79804, while pilot 2nd Lt. William R. Scott and passenger Captain Ford K. Sayre, a noted snow skier on the east coast, were killed in the crash of 42-79826. A Paramount Pictures newsreel crew caught the accident on film, which was examined by the crash investigation board for clues to the accident. This footage was later incorporated into the 1956 film Earth vs. the Flying Saucers.^[825]

23 July

Focke-Wulf Fw 190C V33 prototype, Werke Nummer 0058, modified to Fw 190 V33/U1 as prototype for Ta 152H-0 with 1,750 hp (1,300 kW) Junkers Jumo 213E-1 engine and new wing fuel tanks of the definitive Ta 152H-1, comprising three tanks in each inner portion, located just aft of the truncated mainspar, first flown 12 July 1944, crashes this date out of Langenhagen, setting back the flight test programme.^[826]

31 July

Noted aviation pioneer and author Antoine de Saint-Exupéry vanishes without a trace while flying a Free French Forces Lockheed F-5B-1-LO, 42-68223, c/n 2734, of II/33 Squadron, out of Borgo-Porreta, Bastia, Corsica, a reconnaissance variant of the P-38 Lightning, over the Mediterranean; his fate remains a mystery until 2004 when the wreckage of his plane is discovered. While the cause of the crash is unknown, analysis of the wreckage and enemy wartime records suggests that the crash was an accident unrelated to enemy action.^[827] A former Luftwaffe pilot has published a volume in which he claims to have shot down a French-marked Lightning, but his claim is largely discounted.

August

Test program of Lavochkin La-7TK, fitted with turbo-supercharged M-82FN engine in July–August 1944 comes to sudden end when one TK-3 supercharger explodes and airframe is destroyed.^[828]

5 August

During test flight out of the Fisher plant at Cleveland, Ohio, third Fisher XP-75 Eagle, 44-32161, crashes at Fairfield Village, Ohio, three miles (5 km) N of Cleveland, after an explosion and fire at 23,000 feet (7,000 m) – pilot Russell Stuart Weeks bailed out at 4,000 feet (1,200 m).^[737][829]

9 August 

Consolidated B-24J-155-CO Liberator, 44-40348, c/n 4284, to U.S. Navy as PB4Y-1, BuNo 38766,^[830] of VB-116, piloted by Lt. Romane C. Anderson, of Houston, Texas, swerves off runway on takeoff from NAB Eniwetok, Marshall Islands, Central Pacific, crashes into parked aircraft while carrying nine X 500-pound bombs. Load of 2,900 gallons of fuel ignites, setting of seven of the bombs, destroying either 106 parked naval aircraft^[831] or 85 planes destroyed with 55 more damaged.^[832] One source states that nine crew are killed and two injured^[833] while another states that ten crew are killed or died later.^[834] The Navy publicly reveals news of the accident on 24 August 1945.

13 August

Focke-Wulf Fw 190C V30 prototype, Werke Nummer 0055, modified to Fw 190 V30/U1 as prototype for Ta 152H-0, rebuilt with Fw 190D 1,750 hp (1,300 kW) Jumo 213A-1 power egg, but without new wingtanks, crashes this date on flight out of Langenhagen after only one week of testing. First flown in new guise on 6 August.^[835]

21 August

Lieutenant John M. Armitage, USNR, is killed while conducting air firing tests of a Tiny Tim rocket at the Naval Ordnance Test Station at Inyokern, California. He flew into the ground from 1,500 ft (460 m). in a Curtiss SB2C-1C Helldiver, BuNo 018248,^[789] and was killed after the launching the rocket. Accident investigators discovered that the shock wave from the rocket's blast caused a jam in the SB2C's flight controls.^[836] Airfield dedicated 30 May 1945 in his honor as Armitage Field, now part of Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, California.^[837]

23 August

Freckleton Air Disaster – A United States Army Air Forces Consolidated B-24H-20-CF Liberator, 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.^[838]

23 August

Maj. Carlo Emanuele Buscaglia, one of Italy's most noted aviators, crashes this date in a Martin Baltimore light bomber. After the armistice of 8 September 1943, Buscaglia was asked to fight alongside the Allies, as a member of the newly formed Aeronautica Cobelligerante del Sud. In the meantime, in the northern part of Italy still occupied by Germany, a wing of the Aeronautica Nazionale Reppublicana (the Air Force of the puppet Italian Social Republic) had also been named after him. On 15 July 1944 Buscaglia assumed command of the 28th Bomber Wing, equipped with Baltimores, based on Campo Vesuvio airport, near Naples. On 23 August, while attempting to fly one of the new planes during the early transition training phase, without an instructor, Buscaglia crashes on take-off, dying in hospital in Naples the following day.^[839]

27 August^[840] or 28 August

^[841] One of the two Vought OS2U-3 Kingfishers assigned aboard USS New Jersey, BuNo 5549, of VO-7, piloted by Ensign Allen R. Trecartin,^[842] crashes while trying to land ~2,000 yards off the vessel's starboard quarter while the battlewagon is transiting from Pearl Harbor, H.I., to Manus Island in the Admiralties. Pilot and rear seater are rescued by the destroyer USS Hickox and the OS2U sunk by destroyer gunfire.^[841] Date discrepancy may have to do with the carrier's position relative to the international date line.

Post September

Blohm & Voss BV 155 V1, first flown 1 September 1944, crashes on later test flight for unknown reasons. Second prototype, BV 155B (V2), completed just before war's end, is recovered by Allies in hangar at Hamburg-Finkenwärder and taken to RAE Farnborough, England for examination.^[843] Aircraft is currently in the hands of the Paul Garber Restoration Facility.

September

First two attempted test flights of the Fieseler Fi 103R (Reichenberg) at Larz on consecutive days results in both pilots killed.

4 September

Douglas A-26B-15-DL Invader, 41-39158, first assigned to Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Station, Boscombe Down on 11 July 1944 for six weeks' testing (but no RAF serial assigned), then to 2 Group for further evaluation, crashes this date when the upper turret cover left airframe, striking the vertical tail.^[844]

6 September

First prototype (and only one completed) McDonnell XP-67 Moonbat, 42-11677, suffers fire in starboard engine during functional test flight at 10,000 feet (3,000 m). Pilot E.E. Elliot manages to bring stricken airframe into Lambert Field, St. Louis, Missouri, flames gut the fuselage, engine nacelle and wheelwell before firefighters halt blaze. As jet engined project that will become the FD-1 Phantom is already on the horizon, project is cancelled.^[845]

Bell P-39 Airacobra #42-18290 crashes southwest of Victorville Army Airfield, Victorville, California. Pilot 2nd Lt. Pat L. Montgomery is killed instantly.^[846]

8 September 

2d Lt. John T. McCarthy, in Republic P-47D-6-RE Thunderbolt, 42-74782,^[847] of the 262d FPTS, on a combined interception training mission out of Bruning Army Air Field, Nebraska, at ~1540 hrs. CWT, at 16,000 feet altitude, makes a pursuit curve mock attack from the high port side of Boeing B-17G-35-DL Flying Fortress, 42-107159,^[848] terminating his attack from about 250 to 300 yards away from the bomber, but "mushes" into the B-17 while breaking away, hitting the port wing near the number one (port outer) engine. "Both planes burst into flames immediately, the B-17 exploding, disintegrating into several pieces, and crashing to the ground. The P47 hit the ground in a tight spiral, exploding when it hit the ground." The collision occurs ~5 miles NE of Bruning AAF. The fighter pilot is KWF.^[849][850] The B-17, of the 224th AAF Base Unit, out of Sioux City Army Air Base, Iowa, was part of a formation of bombers on a camera-gunnery mission, en route to Bruning AAF, which was flying in several elements. The fighter struck the wing man of the second element of the low formation.^[851] Only four crew of ten aboard the B-17 manage to bail out. Killed are 2d Lts. William F. Washburn, and Bernard I. Hall, pilot and co-pilot, F/O George A. Budovsky, Cpl. John E. Tuchols, and Pvt. Henry C. Sedberry. Surviving are Cpls. LeNoir A. Greer (minor injuries), and Walter A. Divan (major injuries), Pvt. Albert L. Mikels (minor injuries), and Pfc. Reuben L. Larson (minor injuries).^[852][853] "It is the opinion of the Aircraft Accident Investigating Committee that responsibility for the accident is 100% pilot error on the part of the pilot of the P47, in that poor judgement and poor technique was used in 'breaking-off'."^[854] A Nebraska historical marker for the accident was erected in 2010 by the Milligan Memorial Committee for the World War II Fatal Air Crashes near Milligan, Nebraska.^[620]

13 September

The first Supermarine Spiteful prototype, NN660, a converted Spitfire XIV, first flown 30 June 1944, returning from flight from the A&AEE, Boscombe Down, crashes this date while in unplanned mock combat with a Spitfire at low altitude, killing test pilot Frank Furlong. No reason for the loss is officially established,^[855] although after an incident that happened to him, Jeffrey Quill suggests it may have been due to the Spiteful's aileron control rods sticking – previous Sptifires had used cables. Control rods are checked for binding in all future Spitefuls and the problem does not re-occur. Quill had chosen Furlong for his test team after they had flown together during the Battle of Britain.

14 September

Douglas SBD-4 Dauntless, BuNo 10575, 'B-16', crashes off bow of USS Sable during flight operations on Lake Michigan at 1001 hrs. Pilot Ensign Albert Grey O'Dell, A-V(N), USNR, recovered by U.S. Coast Guard 83-foot Wooden Patrol Boat WPB-83476 at 1003, brought back aboard Sable at 1013. Pilot suffers minor contusion of right shoulder, "numerous jagged lacerations of the face, chin and forehead."^[856][857] Airframe rediscovered on 11 April 1989 by A&T Recovery of Chicago, Illinois, and recovered 26 August 1991 on behalf of the National Museum of Naval Aviation and brought initially to Crowley's Yacht Yard for disassembly and shipment for restoration. After restoration it is displayed for a time at the National Museum of the United States Air Force, Dayton, Ohio, marked as a USAAF A-24 Banshee.^[858] It is now on display in Concourse C at Chicago Midway International Airport, marked as the SBD, 'B-3', flown by Ensign Frederick Thomas Weber (4 February 1916 – 4 June 1942) of VB-6, USS Enterprise, at the Battle of Midway. Credited with a bomb hit on the Japanese carrier Hiryū, he was killed in action, and awarded the Navy Cross.^[859]

15 September 

A U.S. Army Air Force Consolidated TB-24J Liberator, 42-50890, (built as a B-24J-5-FO, and converted),^[860] of the 3007th AAF Base Unit, Kirtland Field, piloted by Warren E. Crowther,^[861] 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.^[862][863]

18 September

Second Folland Fo.108, P1775, 'P', one of only twelve built by newly founded Folland company, as dedicated engine-testbed type, specification 43/37, crashes this date. Of the twelve, five were lost in accidents, including three in a 21-day period in August and September 1944, giving rise to the nickname, the Folland "Frightener".^[864]

19 September

RAF Douglas Dakota Mk. III, KG374, c/n 12383, (ex-USAAF C-47A-DK, 42-92568), 'YS-DM', of 271 Squadron, RAF Down Ampney, Gloucester, piloted by F/Lt. David S. Lord, is hit by AAA in starboard engine while on resupply mission for beleaguered troops at Arnhem during Operation Market Garden. Despite fire spreading to whole of starboard wing, pilot spends ten minutes making two passes over very small dropzone (which, unbeknownst to the crew, had been overrun by German forces) to drop eight ammunition panniers. Just after last one has been dropped, fuel tank explodes, tearing off wing, only navigator F/O Harry A. King escaping from stricken aircraft and descending by parachute to be captured as a POW the following morning, spending the rest of the war in Stalag Luft I at Barth. KWF are pilot Lord, second pilot P/O R. E. H. "Dickie" Medhurst (son of Air Chief Marshal Sir Charles Medhurst), wireless operator F/O Alec F. Ballantyne, and four air despatchers of 223 Company RASC, Cpl. P. Nixon, Dvr. A. Rowbotham, Dvr. J. Ricketts and Dvr. L. Harper. Following release of King from prison camp, full details of the action become known and pilot Lord receives posthumous Victoria Cross on 13 November 1945, the only VC awarded to any member of Transport Command during the Second World War. In May 1949 the Dutch Government awards Harry King the Netherlands Bronze Cross.^[865]

19 September

Consolidated B-32-1-CF Dominator, 42-108472, first B-32 delivered, on this date, written off the very same day when nosewheel collapsed on landing.^[866]

30 September

Grumman F6F-3 Hellcat, BuNo. 42782, lost 125 miles (201 km) SE of Nantucket Island, Massachusetts during carrier qualifications. Pilot's name/fate unknown. Located by submarine DSV Alvin, 24 September 1968.^[867]

October

The Lavochkin La-7, which entered combat testing in September, suffers from a batch of flawed wings and causes six accidents, four of them fatal, which causes the fighter to be grounded until the cause is determined to be a defect in the wing spar.^[868]

October

First prototype of two Lavochkin La-7R (Raketny – 'Rocket') conversions from standard production La-7 with rear fuselage and lower rudder cut-away to accommodate RD-1 kHz auxiliary rocket motor designed by S. P. Korolev and V. P. Glushko, to counter threat of high-altitude Luftwaffe attacks against the Soviet capital, attempts first test flight after protracted ground trials. During the take-off run, however, a fuel pipe fails, the rocket motor explodes, and the airframe catches fire, test pilot Georgi M. Shiyanov bailing out. Shiyanov continues test programme with second prototype, and experiences close call on another flight when the nitric acid and kerosene-fuelled rocket explodes during a relight, destroying almost all the elevator surface, and 75 percent of the rudder, but he skillfully lands the damaged airframe, and it is repaired.^[869]

2 October

A B-25D Mitchell bomber, 41-30114, crashes in the Mojave Desert while on a pilot training mission. The plane stalls, spins and crashes into the ground, killing pilot 1st Lt George D. Rosado, copilot WASP Marie Michell Robinson, and crew chief S/Sgt Gordon L. Walker.^[870][871]

5 October

Oberstleutnant Helmut Lent, night fighter ace (110 victories), and the first of only two night fighters to receive the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub, Schwertern und Brillanten), crashes in a Junkers Ju 88 on a routine transit flight from Stade to Nordborchen, 5 kilometres (3 mi) south of Paderborn. On the landing approach one of the engines cuts out and the plane collides with power lines. All four members of the crew are mortally injured. Three men die shortly after the crash and Lent succumbs to his injuries two days later on 7 October 1944. Lent is posthumously promoted to Oberst.^[872][873]

6 October

Junkers Ju 90, G6+AY, blows two tires and crashes on landing at Tatoi Airport, Greece, after flight from Iraklion, Crete. Repairs prove impossible and the aircraft is set on fire by the crew to prevent capture by the British, who are about to occupy Greece.^[874]

8 October

Focke-Wulf Fw 190 V18/U1, Werke Nummer 0040, originally Fw 190A-0, (utilized by Daimler-Benz for engine tests with Hirth exhaust turbine), is rebuilt a second time to Fw 190C standard as Fw 190 V18/U2 with 1,750 hp (1,300 kW) Daimler-Benz DB 603A engine replaced by 1,750 hp (1,300 kW) Jumo 213E. Aircraft, prototype for Ta 152H-1, crashes this date on test flight out of Langenhagen after just a few days in its new configuration.^[875]

10 October

First Fisher P-75A-GC Eagle, 44-44549, crashes on flight test out of Eglin Field, Florida, when propellers apparently run out of oil, pilot Maj. Harold Bolster attempts dead-stick landing but crashes short on approach, dies.^[737]

18 October

A United States Army Air Forces Consolidated B-24H-20-CF Liberator, 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.^[876]

19 October 

En route to the Gulf of Paria, off Trinidad, Ensign T. J. Connors, A-V(N), USNR, of VF-67, crashes in a Grumman F6F Hellcat, astern of USS Bennington, while making a strafing run on a towed target sled. "Search results were negative." This was the Bennington's shakedown cruise.^[877]