ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 98392
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| Date: | Thursday 20 April 1944 |
| Time: | 11:00 LT |
| Type: |  Boeing B-29 Superfortress |
| Owner/operator: | 768th BSqn /462nd BGp USAAF |
| Registration: | 42-6357 |
| MSN: | 3491 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 5 / Occupants: 11 |
| Other fatalities: | 9 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | 2 1/2 miles NE of Karachi, Sindh Province -
 Pakistan
|
| Phase: | Approach |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | AAF Sta.7, Payne Field, Cairo, Egypt |
| Karachi, India |
Boeing B-29-15-BW 42-6357: Delivered to the USAAF 23 February 1944. Departed Smoky Hill AAF, Kansas for the CBI (China-Burma-India Theater of Operations) on 14 April 1944. Assigned to 768th BS, 468th Bomb Group, but crashed before receipt on April 20, 1944 on landing at Karachi, Sindh Province, India. The aircraft slid along the ground and into a British barracks killing some soldiers. According to the following published sources (said to derive from personal diaries and the squadrons operational record book):
"April 20th 1944 (Thursday) - We arrived at Karachi, India with Blackmore's plane (42-6357) due to land in front of us. We were running low on fuel. There were no electronic approach systems available as there are today. Everyone was having difficulty finding the runway. Blackmore's plane crashed just before we landed. His plane slid on the ground, and into a British barracks, killing some of the soldiers inside. This was the second B-29 crew in our squadron to crash with a loss of life. Killed in this plane were:
Major Ernest L. Blackmore, Pilot
Lt. Richard I. McChesney, Navigator
Lt. Paul W. Endlich, Flight Engineer
Sgt. Christopher D. Montagno, Tail Gunner
Sgt. William G. Lester, Gunner
Survivors were:
Lt. Roy H. Anderson, Co
Lt. Dave Castleberry, extra Pilot
Lt. Donald E. Baxter, Bombardier
Sgt. Benjamin C. Ridgeway, Central Fire Control Gunner
Sgt. James R. Green, Radio Operator
Cpl. Gordon E. Prestebak, Gunner
Lt. Roy Anderson and Sgt. Green were seriously injured and hospitalised for a period at Karachi. They were later returned to the United States for hospitalisation. Corporal John Havey, Radar Operator, had travelled to India by boat, and was not involved in the accident. When he arrived at Kharagpur, he was assigned to Captain Heneveld's crew. Prestebak was reassigned to another crew when he arrived at Kharagpur.
Lt. Donald Baxter was assigned to ground duties at Kharagpur. Sgt. Ridgeway was assigned to another crew, and was forced to bail out over occupied China. He and other survivors were smuggled out by the Chinese underground, and sent back to the States. Lt. Dave Castleberry saved the life of Lt. Roy Anderson by pulling Anderson from the burning aircraft.
Lt. Castleberry was assigned to Clinkscale’s crew, and was rammed over the daylight Yawata mission on August 20th 1944. It was his first mission with the crew. Roy Anderson was hospitalized for 16 months in the States, and was retired in November 1945 with a physical disability. It was the first overseas loss in the squadron from the crash of a B-29.
Sources:
1. http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/src/db.asp
2. http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1942_1.html
3. http://www.468thbombgroup.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=Kgm8JIlXYtA%3D&tabid=105&mid=555
4. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/90940187 ..
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 01-Jun-2017 23:40 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Registration, Cn, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Phase, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 01-Jun-2017 23:41 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Source, Narrative] |
| 01-Jun-2017 23:45 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Date, Time, Source] |
| 17-Jun-2019 05:52 | Ajai | Updated [Location] |
| 17-Jun-2019 05:53 | harro | Updated [Location, Country] |
| 23-Mar-2020 08:51 | DG333 | Updated [Operator, Departure airport, Operator] |
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