Date:	Friday 17 August 1945
Time:	evening
Type:	Boeing B-29A-10-BN Superfortress
Owner/operator:	234 CCTS BU USAAF
Registration:	42-93895
MSN:	7302
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 9 / Occupants: 11
Other fatalities:	9
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	3 miles West of Weatherford, Parker County, Texas -   United States of America
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	Clovis AAF, NM
Destination airport:	Clovis AAF

Narrative:
Boeing B-29A-10-BN Superfortress 42-93895: Delivered to USAAF 7 November 1944. Assigned to 17th Bomb Squadron, 16th Bomb Group, 315th Bomb Wing, Fairmont AAF, Geneva, Nebraska. Accident 26 January 1945 taxying at Borinquen Field, Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. Repaired and returned to service: re-assigned to Combat Crew Training Squadron, 234th Army Air Force Base Unit, Clovis AAF, New Mexico

Written off (destroyed) in a mid-air collision 17 August 1945: The aircraft departed Clovis Airfield on a night training mission. While flying at an altitude of 15,000 feet in the region of Weatherford, Texas, the aircraft collided with a second USAAF Boeing B-29 registered 44-86276 and carrying a crew of nine from Alamogordo. After the collision, both aircraft went into a dive but during the descent, two crew members of the 42-93895 were able to bail out and survived.

Both aircraft crashed in a field located 3 miles west of Weatherford and were totally destroyed. 18 others were killed.

Crew of 42-93895:
Corporal Anthone J. Agliata,
Corporal Robert M. Apirian,
2nd Lt John W. Burtis,
Corporal Willard A. Byerly,
2nd Lt Robert L. Knight,
S/Sgt Clifford D. Longmire,
1st Lt Robert A. Mayer,
Corporal Jasper C. Wilson Jr.,
Flight Officer Robert O. Zaleska.

The two survivors were:
Corporal. Earl E. Wischmeier (waist gunner)
2nd Lt. Edwin F. Smith (Co-pilot)

Smith and Wischmeier were released from the Camp Wolters Army Hospital after 34 days. Edwin F. Smith remembered that he had no clothes, no wallet, nothing. The medical staff had cut his flight suit off in the emergency room the night of the accident and he was missing his right shoe. The missing shoe was located on the Edward's farm with the end chopped off. Smith realised then that the propeller on that number three engine chopped the end of the shoe off and must have broken his right leg in the process.

On Saturday October 18, 2003 a memorial marker was unveiled at the Weatherford Public Library, next to the Mary Martin (as Peter Pan) statue, with the two survivors of the accident in attendance

1. http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1942_5.html
2. [LINK NOT WORKING ANYMORE:http://www.baaa-acro.com/1945/archives/crash-of-a-boeing-b-29a-10-bn-superfortress-near-weatherford-9-killed/]
3. http://www.texasescapes.com/WorldWarII/TragedyOverWeatherfordTexas.htm
4. Accident 26 January 1945: http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/src/dbagrp.asp?offset=7375
5. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/104366557
6. http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/src/dbasta.asp?thestate=tx&offset=6375
7. http://ww45.usafunithistory.com/PDF//0200/234%20COMBAT%20CREW%20TRAINING%20SCHOOL.pdf
8. https://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/54882
9. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/69067957
10. https://lasvegassun.com/news/2003/oct/17/reunited-dedication-of-historical-marker-chance-fo/

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
31-Mar-2011 17:28	angels one five	Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
15-Sep-2013 22:19	angels one five	Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Narrative]
02-Jun-2015 13:20	Heil	Updated [Operator]
28-Jun-2017 16:35	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Cn, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
13-Feb-2020 16:59	Iwosh	Updated [Operator, Departure airport, Destination airport, Operator]