ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 101762
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| Date: | Thursday 15 July 1943 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  Consolidated LB-30 |
| Owner/operator: | United States Army Air Force (USAAF) |
| Registration: | AL604 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: / Occupants: |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | 5 mi W of Rio Hato AAF, CZ -
 Panama
|
| Phase: | Unknown |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | |
After aborting a radar search mission on July 15, 1943, because No. 1 engine of an LB-30 piloted by 2d. Lt. Clement Telep was not producing power, Lt. Telep returned the aircraft to Rio Hato Air Base. When the problem could not be duplicated on a ground check of the aircraft, Lt. Telep, his co-pilot 2d. Lt. Theodore B. Small, and four other members of the crew re-boarded the old bomber for a test hop in anticipation of returning to base for the rest of the crew if the hop proved the plane was okay. The test showed the balky engine still was not developing proper power, and as Lt. Telep headed the LB-30 on downwind leg of the landing pattern, the engine began to burn. Fire extinguishers only caused the blaze to falter momentarily before blistering back to life. The electric prop would not feather. Lt. Telep climbed the LB-30 to afford the aircrew an altitude of about 900 feet from which to bail out. Lt. Telep ordered Lt. Small, whose parachute got soaked with water, rendering it unusable, to go back to the waist of the Liberator and jump with one of the spare chutes left by the other crew members still waiting on the ground. Lt. Small, along with three other crew members, all bailed out from the waist of the aircraft. Lt. Small and two of the three crew members who parachuted from the burning aircraft survived. MSgt William L. Armstrong, the third crew member, died because his parachute burned. When the burning Liberator crashed, Lt. Telep and SSgt Earl Stopher his radio operator were still in their seats, and died in the crash. Lt. Telep was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross by General Orders Number 56, Headquarters, Sixth Air Force, August 4, 1943, for remaining at the controls of his burning aircraft until it exploded, thereby enabling three of his fellow crew members to parachute to safety, at the forfeiture of his own life.
Sources:
http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/src/db.asp
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 01-Apr-2022 06:36 | shootski | Updated [Narrative] |
| 24-Sep-2023 13:54 | Ron Averes | Updated [[Narrative]] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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