Date: | Friday 9 July 1943 |
Time: | 13:27 |
Type: | Douglas C-54-DO (DC-4) |
Owner/operator: | United States Army Air Force - USAAF |
Registration: | 41-37271 |
MSN: | 3057 |
Year of manufacture: | 1943 |
Fatalities: | Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 5 |
Other fatalities: | 5 |
Aircraft damage: | Destroyed, written off |
Category: | Accident |
Location: | near Dayton-Wright Patterson AFB, OH (FFO) -
United States of America
|
Phase: | Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.) |
Nature: | Military |
Departure airport: | Dayton-Wright Patterson AFB, OH (FFO/KFFO) |
Destination airport: | Dayton-Wright Patterson AFB, OH (FFO/KFFO) |
Narrative:Douglas C-54 41-37271 was scheduled to fly over Wright Field at 2000 feet altitude. A dummy combat tank equipped with parachutes was slung under the fuselage. The crew were planning to release the tank over the field. A twin engine USAAF Lockheed C-40A Electra plane (38-546, c/n 1263) was flying in formation so the occupants were able to photograph the tank dropping. After the tank was released, the C-40 made a quick turn to the left, striking the C-54 wing tip. It severed 19 feet of the C-54's wing.
The C-40 entered a spin and crashed near the runway. The C-54 continued for 500-750 feet, allowing two passengers to bail out with parachutes. The airplane then dropped off on the right wing and crashed in a vertical dive near Wright Brothers Hill.
Sources:
8 Die in air crash (Lima News, 1943-07-10)
Aviation Archaeological Investigation and Research (AAIR) Fatal Army Air Forces Aviation Accidents in the United States, 1941-1945, Vol. 2: July 1943-July 1944 / Anthony J. Mireles
Location
Images:
photo (c) U.S. Army Air Force; in flight (publicdomain)
Revision history:
Date/time | Contributor | Updates |