Date:	Thursday 19 October 1950
Time:
Type:	Boeing B-29A Superfortress
Owner/operator:	33rd BSqn /22nd BWg USAF
Registration:	44-62279
MSN:	11756
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 8 / Occupants: 11
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Sea of Japan, 5 miles off Okinawa -   Japan
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	Kadena AB, Okinawa, Japan
Destination airport:	Kadena AB, Okinawa, Japan
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Boeing B-29A-70-BN Superfortress 44-62279: Delivered to the USAAF 19 February 1946. Assigned to 98th Bomb Group, Spokane AFB, Washington. Re-Assigned to 33rd Bomb Squadron, 22nd Bomb Group, March AFB, California. Redeployed to Kadena AB, Okinawa, Japan for Korean War Operations

Written off (destroyed) on combat operations 19 October 1950: The heavy bomber left Kadena AB, Okinawa, for the Combat Operations in the Korea War theater. Shortly after takeoff, while climbing, the engine number one developed trouble and the aircraft was too heavy to return immediately to Kadena AB for a safe landing. The crew decided to jettison some of the bombs stored in the bomb bay to lighten the aircraft. Although the bombs were dropped in a safe condition, some of them exploded while impacting the sea.

Fragments of the bombs severely damaged the airplane to the extent that the control wires were severed, and it was necessary to ditch in the sea about five miles from the end of the runway at Kadena AB. Eight crew members were killed while three others were injured. Crew of 44-62279 included:

Anderson, S/Sgt. Clarence D. - injured
Archerd, M/Sgt. James O. - KIA, body recovered
Brandon, S/Sgt. N.Y. - KIA, body recovered
Davis, Captain George Arthur Jr. (co-pilot) - KIA, body recovered
Edgington, S/Sgt. Richard - injured
Gandin, Captain David (navigator) - KIA, body recovered
Kusel, S/Sgt. Harold L. - KIA, body recovered
LeMaster, M/Sgt. Lester E. - KIA, body recovered
Martin, Major John G. - KIA, body recovered
Stowers, Captain Frederick P. - injured
Wohlgemuth, S/Sgt. Edward Jerome - KIA - body not recovered
Willis, Major Robert F. - KIA, body recovered
Published reports of the circumstances of this accident include some erroneous information regarding a detail contributing to the loss of the aircraft. Power was lost during take off and bombs were dropped “in a safe condition”. That statement is not factual. The bombs in use there had one fuse in the nose of the bomb and one in the tail. These fuses were pinned in a safe condition by a wire from the fuse to the bomb release shackle and release mechanism attached to the Bomb rack. The release mechanism had a feature that automatically armed the bomb when it was dropped. This feature prevented the bomb from being armed when it was dropped under conditions surrounding the loss of this aircraft.

However, this safety feature was bypassed when bombs were loaded into the airplanes assigned to the 33rd Bomb squadron (and probably the whole group). I was a member of the 33rd Bomb Squadron at the time. Personnel involved with loading bombs were instructed to hook the safety wire to the release mechanism in such a way as to make it impossible to drop bombs in a safe manner. I strongly believe this airplane and it’s crew would not have been lost had the installation been done properly. I talked to one of the surviving crew members that survived by bailing out the rear entry hatch. The had enough altitude so that he swung back and forth one time before hitting the water after his chute opened. He believed the altitude was about 300 feet. The aileron and elevator control cables are exposed where they are routed through the aft entry area where the gunner’s take-off position is located. He saw the control cables go slack at the time of the explosion and he bailed out at that point.

S/Sgt. Robert Kopf was in charge of the loading crews and gave the order to attach the safety wire as mentioned.

Just so the facts are known.

1. [LINK NOT WORKING ANYMORE:http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1944_4.h]tml
2. http://www.koreanwar-educator.org/topics/b29s/p_b29s_losses_damage.htm
3. [LINK NOT WORKING ANYMORE:http://www.baaa-acro.com/1950/archives/crash-of-a-boeing-b-29a-70-bn-superfortress-off-kadena-afb-8-killed/]
4. http://www.dpaa.mil/portals/85/Documents/KoreaAccounting/korwald_all.pdf
5. http://www.koreanwar-educator.org/topics/b29s/p_b29s_losses_personnel.htm
6. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/16049577
7. https://billiongraves.com/burial-record/GEORGE-ARTHUR-JR-DAVIS/27073029#/
8. https://www.koreanwar.org/html/korean_war_project_remembrance_search_6_2013.html?key=32998
9. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/62681687

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
19-Dec-2009 11:21	harro	Added
03-Sep-2011 05:22	Uli Elch	Updated [Cn, Operator, Source]
20-Jun-2017 21:07	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Operator, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
31-Jan-2021 20:16	Anon.	Updated [Operator, Operator]
20-Apr-2021 17:11	Anon.	Updated [Narrative]