ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 94061
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| Date: | Tuesday 25 October 1955 |
| Time: | c. 23:50 LT |
| Type: |  Boeing WB-29A Superfortress |
| Owner/operator: | 53rd WRSqn /53rd SRWg USAF |
| Registration: | 44-61600 |
| MSN: | 11077 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 11 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Lupton Fell, Kirkby Lonsdale, Westmorland, England -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Burtonwood, Warrington, Lancashire |
| RAF Burtonwood, Lancashire | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
Boeing B-29A-35-BN Superfortress 44-61600: Delivered to the USAAF 20 April 1945. Assigned to 301st Bomb Wing, Smoky Hill AFB, Kansas. Accident 10 December 1947 due to mechanical failure taking off at Smoky Hill AFB, Salina, Kansas. Named ‘Miss Irene’
Modified to WB-29A. Assigned to 57th Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron (Medium) Weather, Hickam AFB, Hawaii. Named ‘Haulin’ Ass’. Re-Assigned to 53rd Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron (Medium) Weather, Kindley Field, Bermuda, 21 February 1951.
Unit Re-designated 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, on 15 February 1954, and posted to RAF Burtonwood, Warrington, Lancashire, England.
Written off destroyed) when crashed on Lupton Fell, near Kirkby Lonsdale, Westmorland, England, October 25, 1955. The WB-29 took-off from RAF Burtonwood, Warrington, Lancashire (USAF BAD-2) at 07:13 hours. The flight was to take them out over the North Atlantic via Northern Ireland and with enough fuel for 19 hours flight on board the crew settled into their routine. The aircraft reached the furthest point of its flight (56 degrees North, 41 degrees West - 281 miles South of the tip of Greenland), without incident and Gander Control (Newfoundland) gave clearance for the return leg of the flight. However by this time it became clear that due to strong headwinds, they were in fact one hour fifteen minutes behind their flight plan. As the flight continued, the crew also began to experience problems with their radio equipment making receiving messages difficult, though they continued to transmit their hourly position reports and weather observations.
As the aircraft continued, the repaired fuel booster pump failed and all engines were placed on direct tank to engine fuel supply, after which all engines continued to operate satisfactorily, except numbers one and four, the two outer engines, where intermittent fuel flow and pressure fluctuations were indicated. At a point 56 degrees North, 41 degrees West - 196 miles from West Coast of Ireland, the aircraft commander decided that a landing at Prestwick in Scotland would be prudent to refuel and check the problem, before returning to base. At the end of their weather track, they set course for Prestwick and the flight engineer reported two hours fuel remaining, not including the tank with the faulty pump. However on arriving over the Prestwick area, radio problems continued and the crew had great difficulty in locating the required radio beacons and could not establish contact with the tower. In view of the problems, Major Hilkeman requested clearance from Scottish control for a change of flight plan, to continue back to their Burtonwood base.
With a calculated one hour and thirty minutes fuel remaining, the WB-29 should have had no trouble making it home, but it was now that the crew began to experience further engine problems. As they made contact with Preston control, Number one engine began to show signs of fuel starvation and was feathered and shut down. Although Preston was notified, no emergency was declared. At this time some icing of the aircraft was noted and as the aircraft descended to 4,000 feet to counteract this, numbers two and four engines began to give indications of fuel starvation. Shortly before midnight, at an altitude of 3,200 feet and an indicated air speed of only 130 Mph the order was given to abandon the aircraft.
Though the pilot would have set the stricken aircraft to fly out towards the sea, with two engines failing on one side and only one operational on the other it immediately began to turn and came down in a slow spiral descent. Occupants of a local farm near Kirby Lonsdale heard the plane flying very low, followed shortly after by a terrific crash and the night sky lit up with an orange glow. The farmer - Mr George Richardson, rang the police and then rushed to the blazing wreck, meeting the first of the crew with his parachute on the way. At the site he found five other airmen who informed him that everyone had bailed out, though they were worried for the pilot who would have been the last to leave the aircraft. Before long the local ambulance and fire brigades arrived at the scene, though by this time, the fire had largely burnt itself out as the little remaining fuel had been consumed. Over the next couple of hours all the 11 crewmen were accounted for, all having made safe landings, apart from a few bruises and one man being slightly injured on his hand, breaking a finger when dragged by his parachute. They were taken to Westmorland County Hospital at Kendal by ambulance to be checked over. Crew of 44-61600 were:
Major Benjamin S. Hilkeman (Flight Commander)
Captain James R. Bergevin (Pilot)
Major Leo V. Sayre (Navigator)
1st Lieutenant Joseph F. Daly (Navigator)
T/Sgt. Raymond Smith (Flight Engineer)
A/1C Weldon D. Wegner (Radio Operator)
A/2C Virgil A. Herck (Radio Operator)
A/1C Richard H. Serogna (Dropsonde Operator)
S/Sgt. Harry S. Reynolds (Student Dropsonde Operator)
T/Sgt. Juan De La Cruz Bou (Weather Observer)
S/Sgt.William C. Aken (Scanner Operator)
Sources:
1. North-West Aircraft Wrecks: New Insights into Dramatic Last Flights By Nick Wotherspoon
2. http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1944_4.html
3. http://laituk.org/WB29%2044-61600.htm
4. https://forum.keypublishing.com/showthread.php?139614-Post-war-B29-crash-site-in-Derbyshire&p=2328777
5. Accident Dec 10 1947: http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/src/dbaloc.asp?Loc=af&offset=15350
6. http://ww35.usafunithistory.com/PDF/50-74/53%20WEATHER%20RECONNAISSANCE%20SQ.pdf
7. https://www.historicaviationmilitary.com/53rdWeather.html
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_accidents_and_incidents_involving_military_aircraft_(1955%E2%80%931959)#1955
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 28-Jun-2017 18:52 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Date, Time, Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Country, Phase, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 31-May-2020 21:47 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Operator, Source, Narrative] |
| 07-Jun-2020 15:21 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Source, Narrative] |
| 09-Feb-2021 08:41 | Paco | Updated [Operator, Location, Destination airport, Operator] |
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