Date:	Thursday 28 April 1955
Time:
Type:	Boeing B-29A Superfortess
Owner/operator:	581st ARGp USAF
Registration:	44-61677
MSN:	11154
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 10 / Occupants: 10
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	5 km SE of Naha AFB, Okinawa -   Japan
Phase:	Initial climb
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	Kadena AFB, Okinawa, Japan
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Boeing B-29A-40-BN Superfortress 44-61677: Delivered to USAAF 9 May 1945. Assigned to 793rd Bomb Squadron, 468th Bomb Group. Named ‘Southern Belle’. Re-Assigned to 581st Air Resupply Squadron, Mountain Home AFB, Idaho. Damaged in an Accident 27 December 1951 at Mountain Home AFB, Idaho.

Repaired and returned to service: re-Assigned to 581st Air Resupply and Communications Wing, Kadena AFB, Okinawa, Japan.

Written off (destroyed) 28 April 1955: The crew was engaged in a local training sortie out from Kadena AFB, Okinawa, Japan. After completing low-level maneuvers, the crew was trying to get height when, flying in clouds, the airplane struck a hill located 5 km south-east of Naha, Okinawa, Japan. The aircraft was destroyed by fire with no survivors from the ten crew members.

This was the 581st's first major accident. Sp3C Lee L. Bean, Artillery, U.S. Army, on duty with the First Composite Service Unit, and was awarded the Soldier's Medal on 19 April 1956 for his attempts to rescue any survivors when he voluntarily enters the fiercely burning wreckage in which oxygen bottles are exploding and removes several victims with no regard for his own safety, before abandoning his efforts when it becomes clear that there are none alive.

Crew (581st Air Resupply Group):
Victor C. Marston (pilot)
Chesley H Jackson Jr, A/2C

The names of the other eight crew members are not yet known

1. http://ufdc.ufl.edu/AA00010883/0727/1J
2. [LINK NOT WORKING ANYMORE:http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1944_4.h]tml
3. [LINK NOT WORKING ANYMORE:http://www.baaa-acro.com/1955/archives/crash-of-a-boeing-b-29a-40-bn-superfortress-in-naha-10-killed/]
4. Santa Cruz, California, "10 Die As B 29 Crashes in Okinawa", Santa Cruz Sentinel, Thursday 28 April 1955, page 14.
5. Haas, Michael E., "Apollo's Warriors: US Air Force Special Operations During the Cold War", University Press of the Pacific, Honolulu, Hawaii, 2002, ISBN 1-4102-0009-4, page 92.
6. The Progress-Index from Petersburg, Virginia April 28, 1955 Page 1 at https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/40789789/_/
7. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/27357479
8. [LINK NOT WORKING ANYMORE:http://www.baaa-acro.com/1955/archives/crash-of-a-boeing-b-29a-40-bn-superfortress-in-naha-10-killed/]
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_accidents_and_incidents_involving_military_aircraft_(1955%E2%80%9359)#1955

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
27-Nov-2015 16:38	TB	Added
11-Jun-2017 17:38	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Registration, Cn, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Location, Phase, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
11-Jun-2017 17:41	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]
17-Sep-2019 20:33	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Operator]
03-Mar-2021 20:52	Anon.	Updated [Operator, Operator]