ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 81117
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| Date: | Sunday 28 November 1943 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  Consolidated PB4Y-1 Liberator |
| Owner/operator: | US Navy |
| Registration: | 32144 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 6 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Palmyra Island -
 U.S. Minor Outlying Islands
|
| Phase: | Landing |
| Nature: | Ferry/positioning |
| Departure airport: | Oahu |
| Palmyra Island |
VMD-254, a Marine Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, had been created in April 1942 and received the new multi-engine PB4Y-1 in August. In October 1942, its sister unit, VMD-154, was sceduled for deployment to the South Pacific but as VMD-254 was better trained as a unit, most of the personnel of the two squadrons swapped. VMD-254 continued its training now under the leadership of a new CO, Lt. Col. Pennebacker, who took the squadron to Mojave in the desert in the months before its deployment in late November, 1943 to relieve VMD-1.
On 28 November 1943, while on the way to South Pacific, the unit commander, Lt. Col Edwin P. Pennebacker made a hard landing at Palmyra resulting in a fire that destroyed his PB4Y-1 Buno 32144 (former B-24D-130-CO bearing the USAAF serial number 42-41052 , that was delivered to US Navy on 25 June 1943). Two crew were killed in the accident. The aircraft had taken off from Oahu and landed at 1431 hrs.
The Board of Investigation conclusions were that the plane made low landing approach to runway 060, striking both main wing wheels of the landing gear against the slope from the approach and runway then to the waters edge. In this case the approached end of the runway was the westerly end. The impact threw the plane about five feet into the air. When the aircraft again made contact with the runway, the port wheel collapsed, causing the aircraft to skid along the runway crashing into revetment #2. About one and a half minutes after the plane came to rest against revetment #2, an explosion occurred of the starboard side, followed immediately by fire which subsequently destroyed the entire aircraft.
Crew:
Lt.Col. Edwin P. Pennebaker (pilot) Minor injuries
Col. Alexander W. Kreiser Ok
Sgt Eddins D. Hilliard Ok
S/Sgt P. J. Vanzan Ok
Sgt W. A. Lowe, Jr Killed (missing)
Sgt John Vincent Fryslie Killed
In honor of the deceased crew members, Palmyra Airfield was named "Lowe Field". VMD-254’s camp area near Piva North Airfield (Piva Uncle) on Bougainville was named "Camp Fryslie". The two crew members killed in the crash were temporarily buried on the island, and are now buried at Honolulu Memorial Cemetery (Punchbowl). Lowe is buried at Plot A Row 0 Grave 707. Fryslie is buried at Plot B Row 0 Grave 406.
John Fryslie was an identical twin, and apparently one of the survivors after being released from the hospital saw his twin across the street and had a nervous breakdown (he didn’t know he had an identical twin), because he had seen that John Fryslie was dead. John Fryslie’s twin, was Norman Fryslie, and he was also in the service.
Sources:
https://www.pacificwrecks.com/aircraft/pb4y-1/32144.html
http://www.vpnavy.com/vmd254_mishap.html
Naval Air Station Palmyra Island War Diary, November 1943 (available online at https://www.fold3.com/image/270912467)
http://www.mcara.us/VMD-254.php
http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/src/USN/PB4Y.htm
https://www.pacificwrecks.com/airfields/usa/palmyra/index.html
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=fr&lat=5.883333&lon=-162.083333&z=4&m=w
Media:
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 14-Nov-2010 11:55 | ASN archive | Added |
| 29-Nov-2015 20:36 | Laurent Rizzotti | Updated [Total fatalities, Total occupants, Location, Country, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 28-Feb-2016 07:48 | Anon. | Updated [Embed code] |
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