ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 98635
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| Date: | Tuesday 16 December 1947 |
| Time: | 19:00 LT |
| Type: |  Boeing B-29A Superfortress |
| Owner/operator: | 49th BSqn /2nd BGp USAF |
| Registration: | 44-84036 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 12 / Occupants: 20 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | 5 miles South West of Tucson, Arizona -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Take off |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | Davis Monthan AFB, Tuscon, Arizona |
| Vernam Field, Jamaica |
Bell-Atlanta B-29-55-BA Superfortress 44-84036: Built under licence by Bell Aircraft Company, Marietta, Atlanta, Georgia. Delivered to the USAAF 12 July 1945. Assigned to 39th Bomb Group, 49th Bomb Squadron.
Written off (destroyed) when crashed after takeoff 5 miles South West of Tucson, Arizona December 16, 1947. Of the 20 on board 12 were killed, 8 survived. According to contemporary newspaper reports ("Kingsport Times", Tennessee December 17, 1947):
"TWELVE DIE AS BOMBER GOES DOWN.
Tucson, Ariz. -- (AP) -- Twelve of the 20 crew members of a Jamaica-bound B-29 died in the flaming wreckage of the four-engined bomber a few minutes after taking off from Davis-Monthan Field last night, Maj. D. D. Burke, press relations officer, announced today.
The base reported the ship had just taken off from the field and was being watched from the tower. It was within sight of the tower when it crashed in flames. The announcement said two planes of the 49th Squadron of the 2nd Bomber Group at Davis-Monthan took off shortly after 7 p.m., heavily laden with fuel and bound on a non-stop flight to Vernam Field, Jamaica.
One of the ships was slowly gaining altitude when it is believed to have banked in and to return to the field and crashed into the desert approximately five miles southwest of the base and in an uninhabited section of suburban Tucson. It caught fire almost instantly.
Seconds later crash wagons and fire trucks had been dispatched from the base tower and rolled across the roadless, cactus studded desert, toward the 50-foot flames. Arizona Highway Patrolman Walter Sheets said:
"I saw eight men leaving the crash area, dazed and shaken. Miraculously, all were walking and did not appear to be badly hurt although, one of them was obviously suffering from burns. I didn't bother asking them the cause of the crash, being more anxious to get them to the hospital." Unofficial reports said one engine, possibly two, failed a few minutes after the takeoff."
Casualties were:
First Lt. JOHN P. PRIECKO, 1079 Marelda Avenue, Donora, Pa., the bomber commander.
Capt. BOONELL P. COACHMAN, Donaldsville, Ga.
First Lt. CEDRIC A. TOOKER, 2300 East 124th Street, Willowbrook, Calif.
Second Lt. WALTER WIGLEY, Laguna Beach, Calif.
Capt. HAROLD ROSENWEIG, 139-33 229th Street, Laurelton, Long Island, N. Y.
Second Lt. GORDON B. ODLORNE, R. R. 4, Wetumtha, Ala.
First Lt. THOMAS A. FERIAZO, 10201 103rd Avenue, Ozone Park, N.Y.
Sgt. JOHN A. WOUDALL, 365 East Warren, Elmira, N.Y.
T/Sgt. JOHN A. HAYS, 823 West 11th Street, Safford, Ariz.
S/Sgt. ERNEST L. FRAZIER, 906 S. Nelson Avenue, Pampa, Texas.
M/Sgt. GEORGE C. SMITH, 279 North Pasadena Avenue, Pasadena, Calif.
Of the eight survivors only Sgt. THOMAS E. LEONARD, 2912 Topax Road, Baltimore, was reported in critical condition.
The other seven survivors, most of whom suffered minor injuries, were:
Sgt. JOSEPH E. MACIS, 4332 South Fairfield Avenue, Chicago.
S/Sgt. WILLARD C. LAMBERT, 413 Louisiana Avenue, Opeloussa, La.
Cpl. PAUL M. MUENCH, 716 South McKinley Avenue, Freeport, Ill.
Pfc. WILLIAM D. PRETICE, 35 Bodwell Street, Hartford, Conn.
S/Sgt. BRIAN J. MARCORELLE, 41 Central Street, Ipswich, Mass.
M/Sgt. WALTER L. TOMPOR, 4421 Garvin, Detroit, Mich.
S/Sgt. HAROLD E. ANDREWS, 330 W. Pennsylvania Street, Muncie, Pa.
The plane crashed last night a few minutes after it had taken off from the Davis-Monthan field on a routine flight to Varam Field, Jamaica. Army air corps investigators were assigned to investigate the cause of the crash."
Sources:
1. El Informador 18 December 1947, page 24
2. http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1944_6.htm]l
3. http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/src/dbaloc.asp?Loc=uc&offset=650
4. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/44116185
5. Long Beach Independent, Long Beach, California, December 18, 1947
6. Kingsport Times, Tennessee, December 17, 1947
7. http://www.gendisasters.com/arizona/14016/tucson-az-bomber-crash-dec-1947
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 28-Sep-2016 17:48 | TB | Updated [Time, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source] |
| 03-Jul-2017 00:29 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 06-Apr-2020 09:05 | Reno Raines | Updated [Operator, Source, Operator] |
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