ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 25286
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| Date: | Monday 17 January 1949 |
| Time: | 09:50 |
| Type: |  Boeing B-29 Superfortress |
| Owner/operator: | 31st BSqn /301st BWg USAF |
| Registration: | 44-62276 |
| MSN: | 11753 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 20 / Occupants: 20 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Bein Tharsuinn, Succoth Glen, 2.5 miles W of Lochgoilhead, Argyll -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Scampton, Lincolnshire |
| Smokey Hill AFB, Salinas, Kansas |
Boeing B-29A-70-BN Superfortress 44-62279: Delivered to the USAAF 15 February 1946. Assigned to 31st Bomb Squadron, 301st Bomb Wing, Smoky Hill AFB, Kansas.
On the morning of January 17, 1949, Boeing B-29 Superfortress 44-62276 took off from RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire, England, on a return trip to her airfield at Smoky Hill Air Force Base (AFB), Salinas, Kansas, with twenty passengers and crew on board, accompanied by a similar aircraft. The crew were reported to be on leave, having previously been involved in the Berlin Airlift, dropping supplies into the city which had been blockaded by Soviet forces.
The planned route was overland via Scotland, then on to Keflavik, Iceland, where they would stop to refuel and take on supplies. The weather was variable, and as the two aircraft reached Strathclyde, falling temperatures and cloud began to cause icing of their wings and control surfaces. The pilot of the second B-29, Captain Donald E Riggs, decided conditions had become too severe to continue, and turned back for Scampton. Unfortunately, there is no record of the circumstances surrounding the first aircraft, piloted by 1st Lt Sheldon C. Craigmyle.
At 09:50, the B-29 crashed into the side of Stob na Boine Druim-fhinn, a hill in Succoth Glen, near Lochgoilhead, Argyll, spreading wreckage in the valley between Stob na Boine and Beinn Tharsuinn. All twenty passengers and crew perished, with the aircraft being consumed by the resultant fire.
The subsequent inquiry was unable to determine the exact cause of the accident, but the adverse weather and heavy icing were deemed to be contributory factors.
Crew and passengers lost with B-29 44-62276
Pilot 1st Lt Sheldon C Craigmyle
Co-pilot 1st Lt Myrton P Barry
Navigator 1st Lt Richard D Klingenberg
Bombardier 1st Lt Robert A Fritsche
T/Sgt Delbert E Cole
M/Sgt Wayne W Baker
T/Sgt John B Lapicca
S/Sgt Malcolm W Bovard
Sgt Anthony V Chrisides
Sgt Rufus W Mangum
PFC Jack L Heacock
M/Sgt Henry P Prestoch
T/Sgt Frank M Dobbs Jr
Sgt Cecil G Jones
Sgt Charles W Hess
PFC Robert Brown Jr
T/Sgt Rufus G Taylor
Sgt Paul W Knight
PFC Frederick N Cook
PFC Bruce J Krumhols
On April 3, 2004, the Daily Mail ran a feature on the crash, writing that the aircraft carried a cargo of diamonds worth some £250,000 at the time of writing. Nothing has ever been found of the haul its story referred to
Sources:
1. http://www.secretscotland.org.uk/index.php/Secrets/B29Superfortress4462276Lochgoilhead
2. http://www.aircrashsites-scotland.co.uk/boeing_b-29a_succoth.htm
3. https://www.peakdistrictaircrashes.co.uk/crash_sites/scotland/boeing-b-29a-44-62276-beinn-tharsuinn/
4. http://www.helensburgh-heritage.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=594:20-died-in-1949-air-tragedy&catid=88:military&Itemid=462
5. http://www.wtdwhd.co.uk/SuccothGlen.html
6. http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1944_4.html
7. https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-boeing-b-29a-70-bn-superfortress-near-lochgoilhead-20-killed
8. https://rafmountainrescue.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/B-29-Accident-Report-final-version-27th-February-2013.pdf
9. Cumberland Evening Times from Cumberland, Maryland January 18, 1949, Page 8 at https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/1475745/
10. https://www.americanairmuseum.com/archive/media/upl-60320-0
11. https://www.thelodge-scotland.com/inspiration/boeing-crash-site-walk
12. https://virtualglobetrotting.com/map/b-29-superfortress-44-62276-crash/view/google/
13. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_surviving_Boeing_B-29_Superfortresses#Known_wrecks
14. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lochgoilhead#B-29_Superfortress_44-62276_crash
Media:
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 27-Sep-2008 01:00 | ASN archive | Added |
| 03-Sep-2011 05:12 | Uli Elch | Updated [Cn, Operator, Location, Nature, Source, Narrative] |
| 12-Mar-2017 15:59 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Phase, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative] |
| 23-Jun-2017 22:13 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Operator, Source, Narrative] |
| 06-Apr-2020 14:16 | Reno Raines | Updated [Operator, Operator] |
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