Date:	Saturday 22 January 1944
Time:	16:27
Type:	North American AT-6 Texan
Owner/operator:	Prov FGTS USAAF
Registration:	41-361
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Little Marco Pass, near Naples, Florida -   United States of America
Phase:	Unknown
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	Buckingham AAF
Destination airport:

Narrative:
Lieutenant Joseph E. O’Flaherty, Ozone Park, NY, was a newly rated pilot stationed at Buckingham Army Air Base near Ft. Myers on the southwest coast of Florida. Training to be a fighter pilot, he had flown nothing hotter than an AT-6 Texan.

In late afternoon of 22 January, 1944 he took off from Naples Airdrome (a sub-base of Buckingham) on his third flight of the day. His AT-6 41-361 of Prov FGTS was one of the aircraft scrambled to intercept a simulated attack at 4,000’ against nine B-17s of 715th FGTS, also based at Buckingham AAF, approaching from the south over the Gulf of Mexico. Weather was CAVU. The flight of AT-6 "fighters" successfully intercepted the B-17s and each made several passes at the B-17s.

Following his instructor’s lead O’Flaherty positioned his plane above and behind the seventh bomber to begin his attack out of the sun. The instructor dove on the bomber from astern and broke to the left at about 250 yds. Lt. O’Flaherty closed on the B-17 and failed to break away and his left wing struck the left wing of the bomber. The wing of the T-6 sheared off, throwing the plane into a violent roll. He somehow managed to bail out and landed on a mosquito infested mangrove island three miles north of Little Marco Pass, near Naples, where he was rescued at nightfall and treated for facial lacerations and shock.

Witnesses saw the bomber, the B-17F 42-31005, fall onto its left wing and slowly spiral downward. Ten seconds later at 200 ft above the Gulf, the plane caught fire and exploded. It was 1627 EWT. All on board were killed including the pilot, co-pilot, flight engineer, a gunnery instructor and six student gunners.

Crew of the B-17 (all killed):
2nd Lt Robert G. Pritchard (pilot)
2nd Lt Abe E. Lamb (co-pilot)
Sgt Paul Lazar (engineer)
Sgt Donald O. Johnson (gunnery instructor)
A/C Russel L. Grossnickle (student gunner)
A/S Henry A Ganey (student gunner)
A/S William T. Cavaris (student gunner)
A/C Edward Goldberg (student gunner)
A/C James I. Higgins (student gunner)

After that accident, tactics used for this type mission were changed. Major William Walters, an instructor in the Flying Training Command at that time explained: "We have been teaching three types of attack as used in combat, each with a definite system of break away. All attacks in the future will concentrate on one type and the curve of pursuit developed in such a manner that a definite break away at 300 yds is assured." He continued; "With the AT-6 it has been necessary to be about 1,500’ above the bomber to get into position for a sweeping curve of pursuit for the training of flexible gunnery. All attacks in the future will be started from 1,000’ above and farther to the side - a high side approach - assuring a maximum speed of 200 mph. To increase chances for the crew to abandon ship in case of an accident the altitude for this type mission is being raised from 4,000 ft to 6,000 ft."

Six weeks to the day after that accident, Lt. O’Flaherty was killed when the T-6 in which he was a passenger crashed. He was flying as observer on a simulated strafing mission on troops in a bivouac area ten miles north of Naples Airdrome.

"Aircraft Accidents in Florida from Pearl Harbor to the atomic bomb", by Robert Widner. ISBN 978-0-557-03523-6
"Fatal Army Air Forces Aviation Accidents in the United States, 1941-1945. Volume 2, July 1943-July 1944", by Anthony J. Mireles. ISBN 0-7864-2789-2
http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/src/AARmonthly/Jan1944S.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naples,_Florida
https://www.topoquest.com/place-detail.php?id=285737

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
22-Jan-2016 11:52	Laurent Rizzotti	Updated [Time, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Location, Nature, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]