Date & Time:
Jan 26, 1943 at 1330 LT
Type of aircraft:
Consolidated B-24 Liberator
Operator:
Registration:
41-11587
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Training
Survivors:
No
Site:
Plain, Valley
MSN:
83
YOM:
1941
Country:
United States of America
Region:
North America
Crew on board:
2
Crew fatalities:
2
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
2
Circumstances:
En route, the four engine airplane suffered a major structural failure, disintegrated in the air and crashed in a field located 3 km west of Donnellsville. Both pilots were killed.
Crew:
Cpt Harris F. Collier,
2nd Lt John Blasdell Westmoreland.
Crew:
Cpt Harris F. Collier,
2nd Lt John Blasdell Westmoreland.
Probable cause:
Investigators speculated the pilots may have inadvertently put the aircraft in a dive while flying in instrument conditions, excessively stressing the airframe and causing the failure of the port wing and control surfaces. The outer 12 feet of the port wing was found several miles from the main crash site and portions of the tail section also separated. Excessive forces may have prevented the pilots from bailing out.
