Date: | Friday 20 April 1945 |
Time: | 06:40 |
Type: | Douglas C-47-DL (DC-3) |
Owner/operator: | United States Army Air Force - USAAF |
Registration: | 41-18451 |
MSN: | 4513 |
Year of manufacture: | 1942 |
Engine model: | Pratt & Whitney R-1830-92 |
Fatalities: | Fatalities: 25 / Occupants: 25 |
Aircraft damage: | Destroyed, written off |
Category: | Accident |
Location: | 6,5 km SE of Sweetwater, TX -
United States of America
|
Phase: | En route |
Nature: | Military |
Departure airport: | Midland AAF, TX (MAF/KMAF) |
Destination airport: | Nashville Metropolitan Airport, TN (BNA/KBNA) |
Narrative:A Douglas C-47 transport aircraft was destroyed when it crashed during a personnel flight from Midland AAF, TX to Nashville, TN. All three crew members and 22 passengers were killed in the accident. Some fifty minutes into the flight the airplane encountered a line of powerful thunderstorms. The no. 2 propeller was apparently feathered and the pilot probably attempted to divert to Avenger Field, TX. The airplane was manoeuvring in IMC when elevators and horizontal stabilizers failed due to severe stresses on the airframe. The crew lost control and the C-47 spun to the ground.
Sources:
Military aviation disasters : significant losses since 1908 / D. Gero, 1999
USAAS-USAAC-USAAF-USAF Aircraft Serial Numbers--1908 to Present / Joe Baugher Fatal Army Air Forces Aviation Accidents in the United States, 1941-1945, Vol. 3: August 1944-December 1945 / Anthony J. Mireles
Revision history:
Date/time | Contributor | Updates |