Date:	Thursday 8 March 1951
Time:	night
Type:	Boeing B-29A Superfortress
Owner/operator:	436th BSqn /7th BGp USAF
Registration:	44-62319
MSN:	11796
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 10
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	2.5 miles east of Zamora, Yolo County, California -   United States of America
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	Travis AFB, California
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Boeing B-29A-75-BN Superfortress 44-62319: Delivered to the USAAF 29 May 1946. Assigned to 5th Bomb Squadron, 9th Bomb Group

Written off (damaged beyond repair) 8 March 1951: While performing a training flight, the aircraft suffered an engine failure and fire. The plane's engine caught fire and fell off the aircraft wing. Because of the damage to the plane, the crew was forced to bail out. According to a newspaper article in Solano County's Times Herald of Mar 9, 1951, Lt Bolton was the third man to exit the plane by the nose wheel hatch. Lt Bolton did not survive the bail out. The Times Herald incorrectly reported his name as Henry D Bolton.

The aircraft dove into the ground and crashed in a field located 2,5 miles east of Zamora, Yolo County, California. (At approximate Coordinates: 38°47′48″N 121°52′55″W).

As stated above, the only known fatality was 1st Lt Harry Donald Bolton. He landed in a nearby river and was drowned. The airplane captain was James "Jim" Wooffork Welch, who appears to have bailed out safely, as he died of natural causes on November 22, 2016, aged 98.

Names and ranks of the other eight crew not yet discovered, but all are presumed to have bailed out successfully

Cause: Engine failure and fire.

1. [LINK NOT WORKING ANYMORE:http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1944_4.h]tml
2. http://dainthecbi.com/bolton.html
3. [LINK NOT WORKING ANYMORE:http://www.baaa-acro.com/1951/archives/crash-of-a-boeing-b-29a-75-bn-superfortress-in-zamora/]
4. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/110010399
5. http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/src/1950s/1951Mar.htm
6. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/173164765
7. https://www.fold3.com/page/640259219_harry_donald_bolton/
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zamora,_California

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
19-Jun-2017 22:13	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Cn, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Phase, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
08-Feb-2021 08:37	E.Robot	Updated [Operator, Location, Operator]