Date:	Friday 22 December 1944
Time:	15:39
Type:	Douglas SBD-5 Dauntless
Owner/operator:	VJ-10, US Navy
Registration:	28268
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	one mile off Point Partridge, Whidbey Island -   United States of America
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:
Destination airport:

Narrative:
On 22 December 1944 the SBD-5 Dauntless Buno 28268 of VJ-10 crashed at sea at approximately 1539 hrs one mile off Point Partridge, Whidbey Island, while engaged on a tow target mission for aircraft gunnery school. The plane apparently spun in from about 800 feet altitude and disintegrated upon impact with the water, presumably while reeling in the towing cable or while streaming a new target. The crash was witnessed by two seamen aboard the SS Aleutian. According to their statements, the plane was flying a in a very unusual manner, with nose very high at 1000 to 1500 feet, before it went into a spin and crashed into the water.

The plane sank in about 96 feet of water and dragging operations failed to recover the plane or the bodies of the pilot, Capt Edwin John Whitehouse, and the tow reel operator, AR3c George Norman Kutche. It was the first fatal accident for VJ-10.

Headquarters Western Sea Frontier War Diary, December 1944 (available online at https://www.fold3.com/image/1/295384003)
Commandant, Thirteenth Naval District War Diary, December 1944 (available online at https://www.fold3.com/image/295261251)
VJ-10 War Diary, War Diary, December 1944 (available online at https://www.fold3.com/image/1/293474418)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point_Partridge
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=48.224722&lon=-122.770278&z=10

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
14-Nov-2010 11:55	ASN archive	Added
22-Nov-2018 09:55	Laurent Rizzotti	Updated [Time, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Location, Country, Phase, Nature, Source, Narrative]