Boise

The crew was involved in a bombing exercise and left Boise-Gowen Field Airbase in the day. En route, one of the right engine caught fire. Shortly later, the right wing failed and the aircraft dove into the ground and crashed in a field located 8 miles northwest of the airbase. All eleven occupants were killed.

The sortie was an instrument check ride which included a blind takeoff and the student was taking his first check. The B-17 started to take off with the student under the hood and an instructor pilot of considerable experience was sitting in the right hand seat. The airplane ran 1,550 feet down the runway then turned off the runway under full power. It was straightened out momentarily while still under full power and swerved further to the right. Finally, after proceeding in a wide arc for approximately 3/10 of a mile from the runway, it hit the left wing of an airplane parked on the north side of the ramp (B-17F 42-29548). It swung further to the right, still under full power at an estimated speed of 70 or 80 miles an hour and proceeded south across the ramp. It collided with the transformers furnishing power to one of the main water wells on the field and smashed head-on into another parked plane (B-17F 42-2987). As the airplane came onto the ramp, witnesses stated that it was in a nose-down attitude under full power. The propellers were observed to strike the ground and the left tire blew out just before the airplane struck the wing of the first parked plane. At the time of the accident the airplane was travelling at an angle of approximately 45° or more with the original takeoff direction, and was swerving violently to the right. When 42-5751 collided head-on with 42-2987, both planes were badly damaged and fire started, without an explosion, which completely destroyed both planes. Four men in the airplanes were killed as a result of the crash; one man who was on the ramp was struck and killed by the airplane.
Crew:
S/Sgt Clifford J. Hawthorne,
1st Lt Richard Pease,
2nd Lt Elbert J. Williams Jr.,
2nd Lt William D. Workman.
The man killed on the ground was Sgt Thomas E. Lovelace.

The airplane suffered a mechanical failure and crashed 10 km southeast of Boise-Gowen Field. There were no fatalities.

While cruising in the vicinity of Boise-Gowen Field at an altitude of 7,000 feet, the airplane collided with a second USAAF B-17 registered 41-2603. Out of control, it entered a dive and crashed in Kuna, southwest of the airport. Ten crew members were killed and one bailed out and was seriously injured. 41-2603 landed safely at Gowen Field.
Crew:
2nd Lt Paul C. Painter, pilot,
2nd Lt William W. Reed Jr., copilot,
S/Sgt Rollen H. Eubank, flight engineer,
Sgt Pasquale P. Patri, assistant flight engineer,
2nd Lt Raymond A. Hay, navigator,
S/Sgt William J. Griffiths, radio operator,
S/Sgt Raymond A. Etherton Jr, assistant radio operator,
2nd Lt Howard H. Norton Jr, bombardier,
Sgt Christian F. Weinhold, assistant radio operator,
Sgt Arthur P. Mayer, air gunner.

Upon landing at Boise-Gowen Field, the pilot lost control of the airplane that veered off runway and collided with a parked B-17 registered 41-2601. Both airplanes were destroyed and all six crew members were killed.
Crew:
Pvt Stephen O. Brown,
Sgt Edmond Buckanovitch,
Pvt Wilbert S. Hairiston,
Cpl Leroy G. Heintzleman,
2nd Lt Martin J. Miller,
2nd Lt Gilbert W. Planchon.

The bomber departed Biggs AAF (El Paso) on a night navigational flight to Boise, Idaho. Soon after departure, the pilot encountered some lightning and moderate rain as he climbed through heavy cloud banks to 13,500 feet. After the pilot instructed everyone to wear their oxygen masks, the aircraft began to shake and shudder. Strong centrifugal forces held two airmen to the floor of the radio compartment. Unable to move, the two men were finally saved from the stricken bomber when the rear section of the fuselage broke apart at the radio room, tossing both men into the thundering night sky. They immediately pulled their ripcords and hit the ground within a few seconds. Out of control, the bomber crashed 24 km west of Las Cruces, killing the seven other occupants.
Those killed were:
2nd Lt James E. Hudson,
2nd Lt Frank B. Johnson,
Sgt Cato H. Myers,
2nd Lt Eugene E. Rochester,
2nd Lt Leon H. Shane,
2nd Lt William R. Simno,
2nd Lt James Van George.

The airplane was completing a training mission and was returning to Boise-Gowen Field following exercises at Ogden-Hill AFB. While flying at night, the crew encountered poor weather conditions when the airplane went out of control and crashed six miles north of Strevell, Idaho. All eight occupants were killed.
Crew:
Pvt Kenneth S. Biddinger,
2nd Lt Maurice V. Bradley,
Pfc Charles J. Gneiding,
Sgt Hugh P. Jennings,
Pvt Joseph W. Koury,
2nd Lt Albert J. Rich,
2nd Lt James Robert Walker,
Sgt Henry O. Williams Jr.

The crew departed Boise on a cross country training exercise and following a 7-hour flight, he was returning to base. The pilot mistakenly started an approach to the wrong runway and was instructed to initiate a go around to attempt another approach to the correct runway. Within seconds, the airplane impacted the slope of a hill and crashed four miles southwest of the airport. Four crew members were killed and two others were injured.
Those killed were:
1st Lt Charles F. Hosford, pilot,
2nd Lt Duane T. Crosthwaite, copilot,
Pvt Harold L. Gilliam, gunner,
Pvt Arthur L. Schipper, gunner.

The airplane departed Boise-Gowen Field on a liaison flight to Pendleton, Oregon. While cruising at night in marginal weather conditions, the airplane deviated from the prescribed route and impacted the slope of a mountain located in the Blue Mountain Range, some 20 miles southeast of the destination airport. The airplane disintegrated on impact and all 10 crew members were killed. It appears that the airplane caroming from the peak to another more than a mile away and the wreckage then strewn over a small valley.
Crew:
2nd Lt Lawler C. Neighbors, pilot,
2nd Lt John L. Bailey, copilot,
2nd Lt Glen R. Metsker Jr., copilot,
Sgt Weldon G. Wilson, flight engineer,
Cpl James T. Mitchler, radio operator,
Sgt Frank D. Gillis, gunner,
Sgt Charles C. Parsons, gunner,
Sgt Raymond J. Paveglio, gunner,
Cpl George R. Hall, gunner,
Cpl Frank H. Spooner Jr., gunner.

The airplane crashed in unknown circumstances 15 km southeast of Boise, killing the entire crew.
Crew:
2nd Lt Elmer M. Munn Jr., pilot,
Pvt Robert F. Adams,
Pfc Andre A. Chisholm,
S/Sgt Carl Funkhouser,
S/Sgt Carmen R. Gismondi,
Pvt Lloyd Knight,
Pvt Stanley Sansenbach,
Pvt Leland Saunders,
2nd Lt Darrell S. Wing.