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.

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

photo (c) U.S. Army Air Force; in flight (publicdomain)

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