ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 98507
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| Date: | Wednesday 16 May 1945 |
| Time: | night |
| Type: |  Boeing B-29 Superfortress |
| Owner/operator: | 770th BSqn /462nd BGp USAAF |
| Registration: | 42-24801 |
| MSN: | 4212 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 11 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | West Field AAF, Tinian Island -
 Northern Mariana Islands
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | West Field AAF, Tinian, Northern Mariana Islands |
| West Field AAF, Northern Mariana Islands |
Boeing B-29-50-BW Superfortress 42-24801: Delivered to USAAF 21 October 1944. To the Bechtel-McCone Modification Center, Birmingham, Alabama. Departed 23 November 1944 after completions of modifications. To the Oklahoma City Air Depot, Tinker AAF, Oklahoma. Departed 30 November 1944. Departed CONUS (CONtinenetal US) for CBI (China-Burma-India Theater of Operations) 18 December 1944.
On arrival,assigned to 770th Bomb Squadron, 462nd Bomb Group, Piardoba, India. Transferred to North Field AAF, Tinian, Northern Mariana Islands. Named "Phony Express"
Written off (destroyed) when crashed on takeoff near West Field, Tinian due to engine failure May 16, 1945. Engine number three caught fire on take off which resulted in the crash of the plane. The B-29 was on its way on a bombing mission to Nagoya, Japan, as part of "Mission 176": Between 03:00 and 06:00 hours local, 457 of 522 B-29s attack the Nagoya urban area in the last great attack on this city; the Southern part of Nagoya, the site of the Mitsubishi Aircraft Works, Aichi Aircraft Company's Atsuta plant, and the Atsuta branch of the Nagoya Arsenal, the Nippon Vehicle Company and other targets are attacked. The attack was made from low level; 11 other B-29s hit targets of opportunity; 3 B-29s were lost on this mission, the third of which was #42-24801
All 11 crew bailed out and survived, either landing in the ocean and on Tinian. The aircraft crashed on Tinian, and was destroyed.
Partial Crew list of B-29 #41-24801:
Pilot Captain Albert Abranovic
Engineer 1st Lt Rudy Thompson
Radio Operator Paul Myers
1st Lt Rudy Thomson ended up on the East end of Able Runway at Tinian. He survived the war, and died of natural causes in Florida, USA, on December 8, 2010, aged 90. Paul Myers landed about a mile off of Tinian.
Sources:
1. http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1942_1.html
2. http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/src/AARmonthly/May1945O.htm
3. https://www.pacificwrecks.com/aircraft/b-29/42-24801.html
4. https://user.xmission.com/~tmathews/b29/56years/56years-4505b.html
5. Nose art: http://www.markstyling.com/b_29.1/b29_cu_23.jpg .
6. http://www.462ndbombgroup.org/Portals/0/Documents/462nd-Plane-list-master.pdf
7. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/62844905
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 07-Jan-2014 19:54 | gerard57 | Updated [Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Phase, Source, Narrative] |
| 14-Jul-2017 22:25 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Operator, Total occupants, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 14-Jul-2017 22:27 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Cn, Source] |
| 22-Mar-2020 12:55 | DG333 | Updated [Operator, Destination airport, Operator] |
| 06-Jun-2022 06:14 | Ron Averes | Updated [Location] |
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