ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 75576
This information is added by users of ASN. Neither ASN nor the Flight Safety Foundation are responsible for the completeness or correctness of this information.
If you feel this information is incomplete or incorrect, you can submit corrected information.
| Date: | Tuesday 4 January 1944 |
| Time: | 10:20 |
| Type: |  Boeing B-17G-10-BO Flying Fortress |
| Owner/operator: | 326th FGTGp USAAF |
| Registration: | 42-31257 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 13 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | 67 miles NNE of Las Vegas Army Air Field, Nevada -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Training |
| Departure airport: | Las Vegas AAF, NV |
| Las Vegas AAF |
The B-17 t/o from Las Vegas AAF at about 07:00 hours on a routine training flight for student air gunners.
The flight was to consist of two phases; about two hours at 20,000 feet where the students would practice the clearing of gun stoppages at altitude and a gun camera exercise carried out in affiliation with a fighter plane.
With the high altitude phase completed in about 1.5 hours, the bomber descended to 9,000 feet and the gun camera exercise commenced.
The first student in the Sperry mid-upper turret noticed that the intercom was not functioning and the flight engineer was called in to fix the problem. The engineer was unable to rectify the fault and went forward to inform the pilot.
A second student took his place in the turret but noticed that the turret had ceased to respond to control inputs.
At this point sparks and a torch-like flame emerged from beneath the turret platform and a fierce fire developed within moments, spreading rapidly and filling the plane with smoke.
The pilot ordered a bale out and all on board did so, with the exception of one of the gunnery students whose body was found in the burned out wreckage.
Another of the students failed, for unknown reasons, to pull his ripcord in time and was found dead.
Two of the survivors were lightly injured but all made a gruelling 17-hour hike to safety.
The official enquiry into the cause of the accident found that a manufacturing fault in the Sperry turret allowed an electric cable in the mid-upper gunner's position to become worn through, allowing sparks to come into contact with the oxygen supply hose to the turret. The highly inflammable gas ignited and was fed by the remaining contents, about 200 pounds weight, of four oxygen bottles.
The Sperry turret was redesigned to keep electrical wiring away from the oxygen hoses.
Sources:
http://www.qnet.com/~carcomm/new.htm
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 11-Jul-2010 17:36 | angels one five | Added |
| 11-Jul-2010 17:39 | angels one five | Updated [Aircraft type] |
| 11-Jul-2010 17:44 | angels one five | Updated [Narrative] |
| 31-Jul-2010 19:38 | angels one five | Updated [Narrative] |
| 11-May-2011 17:35 | angels one five | Updated [Operator, Narrative] |
| 08-Sep-2011 05:55 | angels one five | Updated [Narrative] |
| 16-Feb-2012 04:03 | Nepa | Updated [Time, Registration, Operator, Narrative] |
| 20-Dec-2012 11:18 | angels one five | Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Narrative] |
| 23-Mar-2020 10:55 | DB | Updated [Operator, Departure airport, Narrative, Operator] |
| 04-Apr-2020 15:43 | Reno Raines | Updated [Operator, Operator] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
The Aviation Safety Network is an exclusive service provided by:
Quick Links:
| ASN Home | Send Correction / Feedback |
| FSF Home | Disclaimer | Copyright |
| Contact Us | Privacy Policy |
| Press / Media |
CONNECT WITH US:
©2024 Flight Safety Foundation