Date & Time:
May 7, 1943 at 2208 LT
Type of aircraft:
Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress
Operator:
Registration:
42-5342
Flight Phase:
Landing (descent or approach)
Flight Type:
Training
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
Plain, Valley
Schedule:
Dalhart - Dalhart
MSN:
3881
YOM:
1942
Country:
United States of America
Region:
North America
Crew on board:
12
Crew fatalities:
11
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
11
Circumstances:
The crew was returning to base at Dalhart AAF (West Field) following a training exercise. While on a night approach in a gear and flaps down (one third) configuration, the pilot initiated a steep turn to the left from the downwind leg to the base leg when the airplane impacted ground and crashed 6 km west of the airbase, bursting into flames. Eleven crew members were killed while the tail gunner was injured. It appears that the tail section separated from the main wreckage and did not burn.
Those killed were:
2nd Lt Charles C. Enegbrepson,
2nd Lt Lloyd E. LeRoy,
2nd Lt Willis M. Rogers,
2nd Lt George H. Wuelfing,
S/Sgt Ernst A. Siros,
S/Sgt Paul H. Snider,
S/Sgt Francis J. Wethington,
T/Sgt Joseph T. King,
Sgt Alton E. Barrineau,
Sgt Leon Skiba,
Cpl Rex L. Clifford.
Those killed were:
2nd Lt Charles C. Enegbrepson,
2nd Lt Lloyd E. LeRoy,
2nd Lt Willis M. Rogers,
2nd Lt George H. Wuelfing,
S/Sgt Ernst A. Siros,
S/Sgt Paul H. Snider,
S/Sgt Francis J. Wethington,
T/Sgt Joseph T. King,
Sgt Alton E. Barrineau,
Sgt Leon Skiba,
Cpl Rex L. Clifford.
