Topeka-Forbes Field

Crash landed at Forbes Field. No casualties among the 12 crew members.

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.

Shortly after takeoff from Topeka AAF, while in initial climb, the airplane stalled and crashed 1,5 km south of the airfield, bursting into flames. All eight crew members were killed. The airplane was en route to Holloman AFB, Alamogordo.
Crew:
1st Lt William L. Stephenson,
2nd Lt James B. Hinds,
2nd Lt Jack C. Mulligan,
S/Sgt Arthur J. Harvey Jr.,
S/Sgt Blaine W. Huston,
S/Sgt George P. Richards Jr.,
S/Sgt Louis A. Scheer,
Sgt Donald R. Groves.