Greenville

Air South Flight 168 departed Atlanta at 21:07. At 21:13 the flight reported level at its assigned cruising altitude of 7,000 feet. The Beech had been cruising for eleven minutes when it attained a gradual nose down attitude due to a change in the longitudinal trim. The pilots noticed the change after about six seconds and initiated a recovery action. The horizontal stabilizer continued to move to a full nose down position. Excessive pulling force on the control column was necessary to recover from the high speed dive. The necessary stick forces for such an out-of-trim condition can exceed the capability of one pilot, and in some cases two pilots, to control. The Beech continued to descend until both wings failed at high speed, just before the airplane crashed into the ground in a near vertical attitude.

The crew was engaged in a training flight out from Westover AFB. While cruising at low height, control was lost. Three crew members were able to bail out before the aircraft crashed in the Elephant Mountain Range located near Greenville. Seven crew members were killed while two survived.
Crew (99th BS):
Lt Col Dante Bulli, pilot,
Maj Robert J. Morrison, copilot, †
Cpt Gerald Adler, navigator,
Lt Col Joe R. Simpson Jr., †
Maj William W. Gabriel, †
Maj Robert J. Hill, †
Cpt Herbert L. Hansen, †
T/Sgt Michael F. O'Keefe, †
Cpt Charles G. Leuchter. †

During a night approach to Greenville, the aircraft crashed in flames and burned. At least one crew member was killed in the accident.

Enroute from Fort Sumner to Greenville, Texas, while cruising in bad weather conditions, the aircraft went out of control, disintegrated in the air and crash in a prairie in Spring Lake. All five crew members were killed.
Crew:
S/Sgt Joseph V. Andruskevich,
Pfc Christine H. Davis,
1st Lt Frederick H. Jacoby,
S/Sgt Merle W. Sullivan,
1st Lt Rex M. Tharp.

The crew was performing a ferry flight from the US to India when flying off the Liberian coast, the pilot was forced to ditch the aircraft due to a fuel exhaustion. The four engine aircraft came to rest off Greenville coast and was lost. All crew members were rescued.

The airplanes were part of a three-ship flight on a formation-training mission. The three-ship flight had been part of a seven-ship formation that had broken up. The formation had taken off from Morrison Field, Palm Beach, Florida, and was flying back to the home station at the Army Air Base at Greenville, South Carolina. The formation was flying above the clouds at about 10,000 feet when the flight leader, Lt Wilson flying B-25C registered 41-13281, noticed a break in the overcast and began to descend through it. His flight following him down and the other four airplanes remained above the overcast. The three-ship flight descended to about 1,500 feet agl near Lake Murray. After flying northwest at this altitude for a short period of time, flight leader Lt Wilson made a sudden and steep turn to the right in an attempt to avoid low hanging clouds. Lt Mannio, flying in B-25C registered 41-13275 in the number two position, attempted to follow the maneuver and overran the leader. The two airplanes collided just as they were entering broken clouds. The airplanes fell from the overcast out of control and shedding pieces. The airplanes slammed to earth and exploded into flames some 19 km south of Newberry. The tail section of Lt Wilson was not located at the time of the investigation. All 14 crew members in both airplanes were killed.
Crew 41-13275:
2nd Lt Kauko K. Mannio, pilot,
2nd Lt Donald G. Halley, copilot,
2nd Lt Randolph V. Donaldson, navigator,
T/Sgt Lyle E. Vinson, flight engineer,
Sgt John B. McFalls, flight engineer,
S/Sgt Basil R. Sink, radio operator,
S/Sgt Allen M. Steen, air gunner.
Crew 41-13281:
1st Lt John E. Wilson, pilot,
2nd Lt Francis Bardell, copilot,
2nd Lt Julius X. Zarchin, bombardier,
S/Sgt Harold B. Brown, flight engineer,
S/Sgt Franklyn G. Morris, flight engineer,
S/Sgt Dean L. Loren, radio operator,
Sgt Walter W. Pratt, air gunner.
Source: Anthony J. Mireles.

The airplanes were part of a three-ship flight on a formation-training mission. The three-ship flight had been part of a seven-ship formation that had broken up. The formation had taken off from Morrison Field, Palm Beach, Florida, and was flying back to the home station at the Army Air Base at Greenville, South Carolina. The formation was flying above the clouds at about 10,000 feet when the flight leader, Lt Wilson flying B-25C registered 41-13281, noticed a break in the overcast and began to descend through it. His flight following him down and the other four airplanes remained above the overcast. The three-ship flight descended to about 1,500 feet agl near Lake Murray. After flying northwest at this altitude for a short period of time, flight leader Lt Wilson made a sudden and steep turn to the right in an attempt to avoid low hanging clouds. Lt Mannio, flying in B-25C registered 41-13275 in the number two position, attempted to follow the maneuver and overran the leader. The two airplanes collided just as they were entering broken clouds. The airplanes fell from the overcast out of control and shedding pieces. The airplanes slammed to earth and exploded into flames some 19 km south of Newberry. The tail section of Lt Wilson was not located at the time of the investigation. All 14 crew members in both airplanes were killed.
Crew 41-13275:
2nd Lt Kauko K. Mannio, pilot,
2nd Lt Donald G. Halley, copilot,
2nd Lt Randolph V. Donaldson, navigator,
T/Sgt Lyle E. Vinson, flight engineer,
Sgt John B. McFalls, flight engineer,
S/Sgt Basil R. Sink, radio operator,
S/Sgt Allen M. Steen, air gunner.
Crew 41-13281:
1st Lt John E. Wilson, pilot,
2nd Lt Francis Bardell, copilot,
2nd Lt Julius X. Zarchin, bombardier,
S/Sgt Harold B. Brown, flight engineer,
S/Sgt Franklyn G. Morris, flight engineer,
S/Sgt Dean L. Loren, radio operator,
Sgt Walter W. Pratt, air gunner.
Source: Anthony J. Mireles.

Crashed in unknown circumstances and destroyed by fire. There were no fatalities.

The crew was performing a local training exercise at Greenville AAB. For unknown reasons, it overshot on landing and crashed. There were no fatalities.

Crashed in unknown circumstances 5 km northeast of Greenville Airport while completing a local training exercise. All three crew members were killed.
Crew:
2nd Lt Charles T. Humphreys,
2nd Lt Melvyn R. Quast,
S/Sgt Otis K. Fryer Jr.