Date:	Wednesday 26 January 1949
Time:	c. 12:15 LT
Type:	Boeing B-29A Superfortress
Owner/operator:	341st BSqn /97th BGp USAF
Registration:	44-61775
MSN:	11250
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 15 / Occupants: 15
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Sea 35 miles S of Canary Islands -   Spain
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	Dakar airfield, Senegal
Destination airport:	RAF Marham, Norfolk

Narrative:
Boeing B-29A-45-BN Superfortress 44-61775: Delivered to the USAAF 31 May 1945. Assigned to 874th Bomb Squadron, 498th Bomb Group (as a replacement for 42-24763 "Geisha Gertie", which was lost on combat operations on 14 January 1945). Re-assigned to 341st Bomb Squadron, 97th Bomb Group, Biggs AFB, Texas. Accident 16 September 1948 due to friendly fire at Range 52, Eglin AFB, Florida

Written off (destroyed) 26 January 1949: The aircraft was performing a flight from Dakar to UK. While approaching the Canary Islands, it crashed in unknown circumstances some 35 miles south of the Spanish archipelago. No trace of the aircraft nor the 15 crew members was found. According to the following contemporary newspaper report ("The Escanaba Daily Press" from Escanaba, Michigan, January 28, 1949 Page 1 - see link #5):

"Atlantic Fog Halts Hunt For Lost B-29 Plane Missing With 15 On Trip To England
London, Jan. 28 (AP)—

A heavy fog hampered today’s efforts to search for a U. S. Airforce B-29 missing over the Atlantic with 15 men aboard. Six B-29s were to have taken off last midnight from Marham, England — the missing plane’s home base—to join the hunt. But an air force spokesman here said only two got away before the fog closed in. The heavy fog presumably also hampered R.A.F. planes aiding in the search.

An Admiralty spokesman said two planes had been reported ready to leave Gibraltar early today but no later message confirmed the takeoff. The missing plane was on a 3,000 mile flight from Dakar, French West Africa, to England. Its fuel should long since have been exhausted and authorities said it “definitely is down somewhere.”

The staff duty officer at Third Air division headquarters here said the plane made its last radio contact shortly after midnight. He said air force control at Frankfurt at that time picked up a signal showing the plane near the Canary Islands. Previous reports had placed its last definite location 200 miles south of Casablanca."

1. Toledo Blade 29 January 1949, page 3
2. El Tiempo 31 January 1949, page 8
3. http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1944_4.h]tml
4. http://www.baaa-acro.com/1949/archives/crash-of-a-boeing-b-29a-45-bn-superfortress-into-the-atlantic-ocean-15-killed/]
5. "The Escanaba Daily Press" from Escanaba, Michigan January 28, 1949
6. https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/51026380
7. "The Times Recorder" from Zanesville, Ohio January 28, 1949
8. https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/19382083
9. http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/src/dbasn.asp?offset=66025
X. http://b-29.org/73BW/bomb-wing-data/498-group.html
XI. http://b-29.org/73BW/bomb-wing-data/lossdate.html

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
22-May-2009 12:58	XLerate	Added
25-Apr-2014 10:02	TB	Updated [Date, Aircraft type, Registration, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Country, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Damage, Narrative]
23-Jun-2017 20:46	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Cn, Operator, Location, Country, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
23-Jun-2017 21:04	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
23-Jun-2017 21:06	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source]
23-Jun-2017 21:13	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]
06-Apr-2020 14:23	Reno Raines	Updated [Operator, Departure airport, Source, Operator]
26-May-2022 23:39	Ron Averes	Updated [Location]