B-17F #42-2998 or 2993, UPDATED

This is, of course, a B-17G. F models are more difficult to come by.

On the morning of June 21, 1943, at about 10:20AM, B-17F #42-2998, plioted by Lyle E. Graham, broke apart in mid-air and fell to the ground some 30 miles SW of Moses Lake, Washington. All eight men aboard perished. They were members of the 352nd bombardment squadron of the 396th bombardment group.

The ship left Moses Lake Army Air Field with 10 bombs on a routine training mission.

Mr. E. J. Barnes was standing in his driveway when it happened. He saw the aircraft at about 6000 feet in a 45 degree dive, apparently spinning to the left. At an altitude of about 3000 feet the aircraft came apart. With him was Mr. F. W. Richerson. Both drove to the scene of the crash and arrived about 30 minutes later. They were the first at the scene of the crash. A small army liason plane landed about 15 minutes later and one of the two crew stayed with the wreck when it took off again.

The report includes the statements from several individuals. Most add no information to the report. On the other hand, there are a few that appear to offer some explanation or information that might have been helpful in determining the cause of the crash. One radio operator on another B-17 about 10 miles away reported seeing a B-17 apparently practicing stalls, and that it seemed "out of the ordinary," but he did not see it crash. Another aircraft was apparently nearby when 2998 crashed. The pilot stated that he saw the tail and then wings depart the aircraft, and had to change his heading to avoid possible 'chutes or wreckage.

The "Agent" who took the statements is interesting in his inclusion of his own opinion of the interviewees. One, the Chief of Police of the city of Moses Lake, he had a strong opinion of: "It is the opinion of this agent....that Mr. McClean is the type of person tht would be eager to give information in order to be involved in any investigtion made."

Given the information in this accident report, it seems likely that the pilot had been practicing stalls after dropping their bombs and somehow either got disoriented or lost control. The aircraft went into dive and broke up. There was no explosion, although there were some small fires at the scene of the crash. The report indicates that the majority of the wreckage was eventully recovered, despite covering a large area.
The following crewmen were aboard the aircraft:
2nd Lt. Lyle E. Graham, pilot
2nd Lt. Kenneth F. Westover, co-pilot
2nd Lt. Russell H. Wolff Jr. ,bombadier
Sgt. Charles H. Land, engineer
Sgt. Guy H. Reeves, radio operator
Sgt. John J. Babb, radio operator(?)
Sgt. Jackson B. Woodley, gunner
Sgt. Lois S. Sacerino, gunner


This page shows an engine and two props, plus an instrument panel.

This photo shows a pair of .50 cal machine guns

*Author's Note: This crash has been referred to as #42-2993 in most instances (i.e., several databases and other referrence works), but upon viewing the actual report it is, without doubt #42-2998. I originally based this on the fact that the threes in this type-font had flat tops and the eights had round tops. The rough copies of the first page had a round topped digit as the last of the serial. Tonight, I was leafing through the report and found the photos clearly marked 2998 in someone's handwriting.

I was asking my wife her opinion of the writing when she said, "Hello! Eight!!" She pointed at a photo of the tail number that I had overlooked...Clearly and without a doubt an eight.

I want to thank Mr. G. Gould for his sharp eyes and his kind emails! He is the one who called attention to the discrepancy between the AAIR database (Aviation Archeology Investigation & Research site) and this post. The funny thing is I used the AAIR database to obtain this report, so it would seem that even the USAF Historical Research Agency has it filed under 2993. It is for people like Mr. Gould that I created this site. Thank you Mr. Gould.

B-17F 42-5289, August 10, 1943

I got a comment a month or so ago concerning aircraft from Walla Walla Army Air Base. I took a look through my accident reports and located one in which the aircraft had originated from Walla Walla. I present, for your reading enjoyment, in a slightly more reader friendly format, the accident report of B-17F 42-5289 (condensed version).

B-17F 42-5289 was on a training mission out of Walla Walla AAB on the morning of Augst 10, 1943. It crashed at 0530 due to an engine fire. Seven crewmembers were lost, though three survived. The aircraft was a total loss.

(From S.Sgt. Marvin D. Anderson’s account)
Staff Sergeant Marvin D. Anderson, the engineer, was sitting on the floor of the top turret watching the instruments, when “All of a sudden the co-pilot, Lt Abel said, ‘No. three’s on fire.’” He got up and looked out to find the engine burning so hot that the cowling was melting and blowing off in the slipstream. He told the Pilot to feather it while he and the co-pilot attempted to put the fire out with the extinguisher carried by that ship. It did not work. He then feathered the prop and pushed the power to full on number two, which for some reason the pilot had reduced. The bombardier came up from the nose and asked what to do. Sgt. Anderson told him to salvo the bombs. At that point everyone began to put on their chutes. He then went through the bomb bay where he found that the bombardier had indeed dropped the bombs, but failed to open the bomb bay doors. Sgt. Block was jumping on the doors. Sgt. Anderson told him to get off the doors and then used the emergency release. The bombs fell away into the Columbia River. He called to the pilot to get out from over the river so they could jump. He waived Sgt. Block over the side and as he was watching the pilot come toward the bomb bay the fuselage melted away and the bomb bay was filled with smoke, flame, and molten metal. He jumped and floated to safety.

B-17 42-5383 was flying at 12,000 feet at 0528 and noticed a fire on the ground about two miles north of the range, across the river. When they let down to take a look, they saw three chutes and three men on the ground. They orbited giving details by radio to Boardman tower until a civilian car showed up. They landed back at Walla Walla at 0800.

The abstract of the accident says: The accident happened “12 MILES WEST OF PATTERSON COMMA OREGON AUGUST 10 COMMA 1943 AT APPROXIMATELY 0530 PERIOD NUMBER 3 ENGINE CAUGHT ON FIRE COMMA 7 FATALITIES PERIOD PLANE MANUFACTUREDJANUARY 4 COMMA 1943.” It goes on to say that the gear on that plane had been damaged in a previous accident, but the engines were new. Two things don’t add up. Patterson is in Washington State, on the North side of the river, while Boardman Range is in Oregon on the South side of the river. Elsewhere in the report it mentions that the crashed was only 2 miles West of Patterson.

The wings were torn from the aircraft and parts were strewn over a mile along the flight path. Examination of the wing indicated an internal explosion. This explosion would explain why the rest of the crew failed to exit the aircraft.

Crew list:

• Pilot: Forrest F. Harvey, Fatal.
• Co-pilot: Donald Abel, Fatal.
• Navigator: Bernard Rote, Fatal.
• Bombadier: Robert Drew, Fatal.
• Engineer: Marion D. Andersonm, Survivor.
• Engineer: William P. Bryant, Survivor.
• Radio Operator: Ora W. Block, Survivor.
• Radio Operator: Jerome J. Hatzewski, Fatal
• Gunner: Edward R. Gesl, Fatal.
• Army Air Force Gunner?(AAG): George W. Clark, Fatal.

The photos here are those that came from the report. They are obviously of poor quality due to the photocopying process used by the AFHRA. I also include one photo of a telegram so you can see some of the better copies, others are positively illegible. My appologies, Blogger posted it sideways.

If anyone is aware of the area of this crash, please let me know, I am curious and would appreciate any pictures you can spare of the area. I have not checked local papers.

Fatal Twins, #42-29500 AND #42-5313

In the early morning hours of March 29, 1943, in Central Washington State, two B-17F bombers fell earthward, taking their crews to the next life. These two crews were training at Ephrata Army Air Base. Although training losses were a common and unfortunate side effect of the ramped up pilot training required to destroy the Axis Powers in the air, it was not common, however, for two aircraft to go down within such a short time from the same base in unrelated incidents. That cold morning, though, that is exactly what happened.

2nd Lieutenant Derek Bovingdon, pilot of B-17F #42-29500, took off from Ephrata Air Base at 0037. The bomber’s mission was to complete Second Air Force Model Mission #8, which included 1 hour landings, 1 hour of night dry bombing runs on PDI, and an hour of instrument practice. The bomber was instructed to check in every 30 minutes. They did three times. The last was at 240AM, when the bomber checked in. It began to give a position report when the signal cut-off. Despite ground stations attempts, the ship could not be raised again.

At 0052, Captain Robert Stafford took off in 42-5313 to conduct a weather flight. Ceiling was between 4000 and 6000 feet. He landed at 0210, and reported no malfunctions with the aircraft. At 0254, Lt. Furch took of with #42-5313 to do some local flying.

At 0300 hours, control advised all ships to stand by for a weather up-date. All ships but 42-29500 and 42-5313 acknowledged. At 0310 hours an explosion was observed from the tower, approximately 5 miles NE, which caused the base to call all aircraft back for a landing.

Later, base personnel found that only 42-5313 had crashed 5 miles NE. It was not until April 2 that searchers found 42-29500 approximately 16 miles East of Ellensburg, or about 40-5 miles SW of Ephrata. It had hit a ridge about 40 feet from the top. The propellers had cut furrows for about 250 feet. It hit, bounced over the top and the majority of the wreckage ended up on the opposite side of the ridge.

The official opinion was that the pilot did not know where he was, and that staying under the 3300 foot ceiling caused him to plow into the mountainside which was a few feet above 3300. Also, he did not have permission to be in that particular air space. The entire crew died. There was no sign of parachute usage.

Bad luck was rampant that night. At 0310, Marvin Furch apparently had some difficulties. His aircraft, 42-5313, disintegrated in a fatal collision with the ground. Second Lieutenant Furch took off at 0254 for a planned 1 hour and thirty minute flight. About 0310 the control tower operator, Sgt Dunmire, observed an explosion in the vicinity of the base ammo dump. It was finally found that this was an aircraft and not the base ammo dump. Only 5313 was in that crash and only small pieces of her were found.

Pilot error was determined in both incidents. Lt. Furch’s error was in his transition from contact to instrument flight or vice-versa.

On the up side, both accidents saw such ramifications as having the co-pilot retain one type of flight profile while the pilot transitioned to the next. 42-29500 made it necessary for pilots to take better account of their navigation and know where they were.

(Resources for this post were the accident reports of #42-29500 and #42-5313, both B-17Fs from Ephrata AB)