Crash of a Consolidated B-24D-35-CO Liberator near Chaparral: 2 killed
Date & Time:
Feb 19, 1943 at 1540 LT
Operator:
Registration:
42-40139
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Biggs - Biggs
MSN:
1216
YOM:
1943
Crew on board:
8
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
2
Circumstances:
The crew departed Biggs AAF on a local training exercise. En route, the engine n°3 propeller governor failed. As the pilot encountered control difficulties, the crew was instructed to bail out. Six crew members parachuted to safety then the airplane entered an uncontrolled descent and crashed near Chaparral, some 24 km north of Biggs AAF. The pilot and the navigator, still on board, were killed.
Crew:
1st Lt Oscar Lee Cantrell Jr., pilot,
2nd Lt John Nelson Gessinger, navigator.
Crew:
1st Lt Oscar Lee Cantrell Jr., pilot,
2nd Lt John Nelson Gessinger, navigator.
Probable cause:
Failure of the propeller governor on the engine n°3.
