Date:	Saturday 30 June 1945
Time:	10:40 LT
Type:	Boeing TB-29A Superfortress
Owner/operator:	233th CCTS BU USAAF
Registration:	44-69943
MSN:	10775
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 12 / Occupants: 12
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	6 miles south of Guadalupe Peak, near Pine Springs, Texas -   United States of America
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	Davis-Monthan AAF, Tucson, Arizona
Destination airport:	Mobile AAF, Mobile, Alabama

Narrative:
Boeing TB-29A Super Fortress 44-69943: Delivered to the USAAF 16 March 1945. Assigned to Combat Crew Training Squadron, 233rd Army Air Force Base Unit, Davis-Monthan AAF, Arizona.

Written off (destroyed) 30 June 1945 in a CFIT (Controlled Flight Into Terrain): The B-29 departed Davis-Monthan Field for a 3,000 mile night cross country navigation flight on the evening of June 30, 1945. The non-stop route was to take the bomber from Tucson to Mobile, Alabama and back. The crew was to fly at 11,000 feet elevation until Pecos, Texas, where they would descend 100 feet per minute until they were 1,000 above the terrain, and continue this altitude until Mobile, Alabama. This would keep them above the 8,700 foot high mountains 100 miles east of El Paso.

At 10:40 pm, an American Airlines pilot reported he saw a huge fireball below him and believed it was a large aircraft that had impacted the side of a mountain, 6 miles South of Guadalupe Peak, south east of Pine Springs, Texas The Investigation revealed the B-29 hit the side of a mountain while at normal cruising speed. The wheels were retracted, flaps were up, cowl flaps were closed, and there was no indication of any malfunction

Crew (233rd CCTS AAF Base Unit):

Flight Officer Eugene R. Chale,
1st Lt James Harrison Couch,
2nd Lt James M. Green,
Sgt Aristo Landers,
M/Sgt Orval R. Lawless,
Corporal Ralph I. Martin,
1st Lt Joseph J. Mennen Jr.,
Pfc Clark J. Moore,
Sgt Fayette H. Stanfield,
Flight Officer James A. Thomas,
2nd Lt Wesley A. Waldron,
Flight Officer Ernest E. Wilson.

Cause: At the time of the accident, the aircraft was cruising at an insufficient altitude estimated between 5,000 and 5,400 feet by night. According to investigators, such flight should not be conducted by night as the crew was not familiarised with the topography of this region. No technical failure was pointed out on the aircraft. Also, the pre-flight briefing on behalf of the crew was incomplete.

NOTE: A contemporary newspaper report (see link #6) gives the date and location of the death of 2nd Lt Wesley Allen Walden as "July 1 1945, near Carlsbad, New Mexico" (sic) which is about 50 miles south west of the crash site. Guadalupe Peak, also known as Signal Peak, at approximate Coordinates: 31°53′29″N 104°51′39″W is the highest natural point in Texas, with an elevation of 8,751 feet (2,667 metres) above sea level

1. [LINK NOT WORKING ANYMORE:http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1944_4.h]tml
2. [LINK NOT WORKING ANYMORE:http://www.baaa-acro.com/1945/archives/crash-of-a-boeing-b-29-super-fortress-in-texas-12-killed/]
3. http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/B29tdy1.htm
4. http://www.aircraftarchaeology.com/b29texas.html .
5. https://www.findagrave.com/virtual-cemetery/364680
6. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/53391386
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guadalupe_Peak

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
28-Jun-2017 17:14	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Cn, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Phase, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
28-Jun-2017 17:18	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]
28-Jun-2017 17:20	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]
13-Feb-2020 17:05	Iwosh	Updated [Operator, Location, Operator]