Date & Time:
Jan 24, 1943 at 2005 LT
Type of aircraft:
Consolidated B-24 Liberator
Operator:
Registration:
41-24038
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Military
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
Mountains
Schedule:
Topeka - Holloman
MSN:
833
YOM:
1942
Country:
United States of America
Region:
North America
Crew on board:
12
Crew fatalities:
10
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
10
Circumstances:
The airplane departed Topeka AAF at the end of the afternoon on a flight to Holloman AFB, Alamogordo. Approaching the destination from the north at an altitude of 12,500 feet, the crew encountered clouds and icing conditions. As the airplane was highly contaminated with ice, the pilot began to lose control and ordered his crew to bail out. Two crew members were able to parachute to safety before the airplane entered an uncontrolled descent and crashed in hilly terrain located in the Sacramento Mountain Range, near Mescalero, some 45 km northeast of Holloman AFB The airplane was destroyed and 10 crew members were killed.
Crew:
2nd Lt Merle C. Brock, pilot,
F/O Robert D. Long, pilot,
2nd Lt Reed J. Berrett, pilot,
F/O Thomas N. Padon, copilot,
S/Sgt Harry W. Ostrom, flight engineer,
Sgt Vernal O. Christensen, flight engineer,
S/Sgt Guy L. Archambeau, radio operator,
S/Sgt Louis C. Fuller, radio operator,
2nd Lt Walter C. Henning, bombardier,
2nd Lt David R. Fedder, bombardier.
Crew:
2nd Lt Merle C. Brock, pilot,
F/O Robert D. Long, pilot,
2nd Lt Reed J. Berrett, pilot,
F/O Thomas N. Padon, copilot,
S/Sgt Harry W. Ostrom, flight engineer,
Sgt Vernal O. Christensen, flight engineer,
S/Sgt Guy L. Archambeau, radio operator,
S/Sgt Louis C. Fuller, radio operator,
2nd Lt Walter C. Henning, bombardier,
2nd Lt David R. Fedder, bombardier.
Probable cause:
Icing.
