This information is added by users of ASN. Neither ASN nor the Flight Safety Foundation are responsible for the completeness or correctness of this information.
If you feel this information is incomplete or incorrect, you can
submit corrected information.
Date: | Sunday 8 October 1944 |
Time: | 16:30 LT |
Type: | Boeing B-29 Superfortress |
Owner/operator: | 43rd BSqn /29th BGp USAAF |
Registration: | 42-6395 |
MSN: | 3528 |
Fatalities: | Fatalities: 15 / Occupants: 15 |
Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
Location: | Texaco Oil Tank Farm, 5 miles SSW of Love Field, Dallas, Texas -
United States of America
|
Phase: | En route |
Nature: | Military |
Departure airport: | Pratt AAF, Pratt, Kansas |
Destination airport: | Love Field, Dallas, TX |
Narrative:B-29-15-BW 42-6395: Delivered to USAAF 20 March 1944. Assigned to 43rd Bomb Squadron, 29th Bomb Group, 314th Bomb Wing.
Written off (destroyed) when crashed 8 October 1944. The aircraft was on a training flight from Pratt AAF, Pratt, Kansas. Crashed and burned near the Texas Oil refinery (TEXACO) oil tank farm, 5 miles from the heart of Dallas, Texas. All 15 crew listed as KIT (Killed In Training). The airmen killed were:
2nd Lt. Earl F Cannon, Jr , pilot
2nd Lt. William W Jones
2nd Lt. Lynn E Pavitt
2nd Lt. Walter E Rock
Flt. Off. Walter A. Trymbulak
T/Sgt. Stephen J Kovalich
T/Sgt. Herbert C Lingafelt
Sgt. Benjamin P Calhoun
Cpl. William W Roberts
PFC George E Orr
PFC Joseph H Paetz
PFC Joseph G Panici
PFC Jerome M Peters
PFC Daniel J Sughrue
Pvt. Carroll W Smith
Note that T/Sgt. Herbert C Lingafelt and Sgt. Benjamin P Calhoun were omitted from official casualty reports, but were mentioned in contemporary newspaper reports (see link #6). According to the following eyewitness account:
"I believe I saw the crash. I Was 11 yrs old, standing in yard; heard drone of 4 engines, looked up & saw silver thing high in sky, almost motionless. As I watched, it did a 360 degree wing-over-wing, straightened up & flew on. "A B-29 can't do that!", I thought. A few seconds later, it did another one. Only this time it didn't come out & started cartwheeling down. After what was probably a few minutes it disappeared behind a rooftop, then I heard a dull thud, then came a plume of black smoke. Hundreds of people started running toward the crash site & some drove their cars (in spite of gas rationing). I started out on my bicycle but gave up when I saw the crowded gravel road leading to the crash site. Was this a test pilot, or was it a 19 yr old feeling invincible?"
Sources:
1.
http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/src/dbaloc.asp?Loc=ssw&offset=100 2.
http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1942_1.html 3. prattveteransmemorial.org/content/download/397/2156/.../CANNON%20CREW.pdf
4.
http://usafunithistory.com/PDF/30-49/43%20BOMB%20SQ.pdf 5.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/136904950 6. Dallas Morning News October 10, 1944
Revision history:
Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
05-Sep-2012 12:14 |
Trebor |
Updated [Time, Narrative] |
08-Jun-2017 23:10 |
Dr. John Smith |
Updated [Cn, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Phase, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
05-Oct-2019 09:27 |
TigerTimon |
Updated [Time] |
23-Mar-2020 17:41 |
DG333 |
Updated [Operator, Destination airport, Operator] |