ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 138575
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| Date: | Wednesday 16 November 1949 |
| Time: | 23:45 LT |
| Type: |  Boeing B-29 Superfortress |
| Owner/operator: | 325th BSqn /92nd BGp USAF |
| Registration: | 44-69939 |
| MSN: | 10771 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 9 / Occupants: 11 |
| Other fatalities: | 9 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Hindge Tract, 14 miles North West of Stockton, California -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | Fairchild AFB, Spokane, WA (KSA/KSKA) |
| Hill AFB, Ogden, Utah (HIF/KHIF) |
Boeing B-29-70-BW Superfortress 44-69939: Delivered to USAAF 13 March 1945. Assigned to 504th Bomb Group. Assigned to 325th Bomb Squadron, 92nd Bomb Wing.
Written off (destroyed 16 November 1949) in a mid air collision: In midair collision with B-29 44-86364 at 26,000 feet over Stockton, California on November 16, 1949. 18 crew of 21 lost. 44-69939 crashed 14 miles North West of Stockton, California. The aircraft were on a "round robin" training flight from Spokane Air Force Base, with a mock bombing target to Stockton, California, then onward to Ogden, Utah, then a return home when tragedy struck on the night of November 16th, 1949.
Two in the group of thirteen Superfortresses collided at 26,000 feet above Stockton and plunged to earth in flaming wreckage. Only two airmen (of the eleven on board) survived from this aircraft by bailing out in time and parachuted safely to the ground. One survivor was identified as Lt. Warren Sherrick.
Nine other fliers perished when the aircraft impacted in 6-10 feet of mud on Rindge Tract Island in the San Joaquin Delta, about 11 miles to the northwest. One crew member parachuted to safety from the other B-29 (44-86364) but nine were killed when it impacted on McDonald Island about 2 miles further south of this crash site.
According to the following contemporary newspaper report ("Madera Tribune, Number 116, 17 November 1949):
"10 Die, 7 Missing as B-29s Crash At 26,000 Feet North of Stockton Four Leap Safely Into Peat Bogs of San Joaquin Delta.
STOCKTON' (CA.) Two Air Force bombers collided at 26,000 feet last night and crashed into the fog-shrouded peat bogs of the San Joaqnin river delta I4 miles northwest of here. Ten of the 21 airmen aboard the two B-29 Superfortresses were known to have died. Seven men were missing and four parachuted to safety and escaped with minor injuries.
Rescuers, hampered by the dense tide fog which blanketed the area and the widely-scattered wreckage of the giant planes, were unable to determine the fate of the seven missing crewmen, hours after the crash. Some may have parachuted and landed in an inaccessible part oi the delta region or they may all have perished when the planes smashed into the earth and buried deep in the mud.
Lt. Rome O. Freer. Falrfield Air Force Base, in charge of rescue operations, made a minute examination of one of the B-29s. which caught fire at impact and exploded on McDonald Island, hurling wreckage more than 700 yards. He found three bodies and some fragments of bodies. "It is very difficult to tell," he said, "whether they are parts of the three known dead or remains of the other members of the crew."
One man from the McDonald Island bomber parachuted to safety. The other B-29 crashed across the river three miles away on the Hindge tract and buried itself 20 feet into the slimy delta mud. Under-sheriff Michael N. Carlis of the San Joaquin county sheriff's office said seven bodies had been counted in the Hindge tract crash. Rescuers could not search the wreckage immediately because the plane and the area around it was covered with high-octane gasoline and the fire hazard was considered to dangerous"
Sources:
1. El Tiempo 18 November 1949, page 8.
2. http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1944_4.html
3. http://www.baaa-acro.com/1949/crash-of-a-boeing-b-29-70-bw-superfortress-near-stockton-9-killed
4. http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/src/dbahb.asp?HB=af&offset=27825
5. Madera Tribune, Number 116, 17 November 1949
6. https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=MT19491117.2.21
7. The San Bernardino County Sun from San Bernardino, California November 19, 1949
8. https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/49390921/
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 17-Sep-2011 02:22 | gerard57 | Added |
| 17-Sep-2011 05:11 | RobertMB | Updated [Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 23-Oct-2011 01:02 | Anon. | Updated [Registration, Source, Narrative] |
| 09-May-2014 18:17 | TB | Updated [Date, Time, Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Country, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Damage, Narrative] |
| 22-Jun-2017 20:32 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Cn, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Phase, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 22-Jun-2017 21:03 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 22-Jun-2017 21:04 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Source, Narrative] |
| 22-Jun-2017 21:35 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Narrative] |
| 06-Apr-2020 14:34 | Reno Raines | Updated [Operator, Departure airport, Source, Operator] |
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