Date:	Friday 9 November 1951
Time:	00:25 LT
Type:	Boeing B-29A Superfortress
Owner/operator:	343rd BSqn /98th BGp USAF
Registration:	42-93974
MSN:	7381
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 12
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Chongju, North Pyongan -   North Korea
Phase:	Combat
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	Yokota AB, Fussa, Tama Area, Western Tokyo, Japan (RJTY)
Destination airport:	Yokota AB, Fussa, Tama Area, Western Tokyo, Japan (RJTY)
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Boeing B-29A-20-BN Superfortress 42-93974: Departed Smoky Hill AAF, Kansas for Andersen AFB, Guam 29 Marcg 1945. Assigned to 62nd Bomb Squadron, 39th Bomb Group,and named ‘City of El Paso’. Re-named ‘Rainbow’s End’. Re-named ‘The Uninvited’. Returned to CONUS (CONtinentl US) 1 November 1945.

Re-assigned to Sacramento Air Materiel Area (SMAAR), McClellan AFB, California. Re-Assigned to 98th Bomb Group, Spokane AFB, Washington. Re-assigned to 343rd Bomb Squadron, 98th Bomb Wing, Yokota, Japan. Named ‘Bigham’

Written off (destroyed) 9 November 1951 on combat operations: The crew was completing a leaflet dropping mission over North Korea when the heavy bomber was shot down by enemy anti-aircraft fire, but stayed aloft long enough to allow the crew to bail out over friendly territory on the island of Pawengnyong-do. Captain Donald G. Bigham was seen bailing out with a dinghy attached. All 12 crew members to bailed out successfully, and the aircraft crashed near Chongju, North Pyongan. A search-and-rescue effort was mounted, and eleven crew members were rescued by friendly forces, while Captain Bigham became a POW, and is believed to have died in captivity sometime before June 1953.

Crew of 42-93974:
Captain Donald G. Bigham, posted as MIA (believed KIA) February 28, 1954
1st Lt Richard M. Bryan,
1st Lt Donald R. Clancey,
1st Lt Raymond B. Garcia,
Pfc Vernon O. Heitsenrader,
Cpl Joseph R. La Fleur,
S/Sgt David Lipsky,
Pfc Benjamin F. Livingston,
S/Sgt Winston P. McKinney,
Sgt William J. G. Northey,
Pfc Joseph P. Pershica,
1st Lt Daniel B. Vance.

Cause: Shot down by enemy anti-aircraft fire

1. http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1942_5.html
2. http://www.koreanwar-educator.org/topics/b29s/p_b29s_losses_personnel.htm
3. [LINK NOT WORKING ANYMORE:http://www.baaa-acro.com/1951/archives/crash-of-a-boeing-b-29a-20-bn-superfortress-in-chongju/]
4. http://39th.org/39th/aerial/62nd/crew58.html
5. http://www.dpaa.mil/portals/85/Documents/KoreaAccounting/korwald_all.pdf
6. [LINK NOT WORKING ANYMORE:http://www.baaa-acro.com/1951/archives/crash-of-a-boeing-b-29a-20-bn-superfortress-in-chongju/]
7. https://abmc.gov/node/567478#.WUK0TGjyvIU
8. http://koreanwarpowmia.net/Reports/Air_Intel.htm

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
15-Jun-2017 16:29	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Cn, Operator, Location, Country, Phase, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
08-Feb-2021 08:56	T.Rita	Updated [Operator, Operator]