Griffiss - Donaldson

On January 10, 1954 at 04:55 PM, Griffiss - Donaldson experienced a crash involving North American B-25 Mitchell, operated by United States Air Force - USAF, with the event recorded near Cowpens South Carolina.

The flight was categorized as military and the reported phase was flight at a plain, valley crash site.

3 people were known to be on board, 3 fatalities were recorded, 0 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 100.0%.

Crew on board: 3, crew fatalities: 3, passengers on board: 0, passenger fatalities: 0, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is weather. The crew left Griffiss AFB in Rome, New York, at 1330LT on a routine flight to Donaldson AFB, Greenville, South Carolina. While descending to Greenville, the pilot encountered foggy conditions when the airplane hit trees and lost its tail before crashing in a wooded area located in Cowpens, about 35 miles northeast of Donaldson AFB. The airplane was totally destroyed by impact forces and a post crash fire and the tail was found about a mile away from the main wreckage. It was reported that the crew encountered difficulties shortly before the accident. Crew: Col Paul C. Schauer, pilot, Maj Russell Kraus, copilot, A1c Frederick W. Walker, flight engineer.

Aircraft reference details include registration 44-30496, MSN 108-33771, year of manufacture 1944.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 35.0168°, -81.8040°.